PC killed the console star?

A host of hyped PC games are on the way

The more hardcore Supreme Commander and the long awaited first person adventure S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of the Chernobyl have also proven critical and commercial hits.

While the Wii and PlayStation 3 undergo the traditional post launch games drought the rest of the year has titles such as the stunning looking Crysis, the PC orientated Bioshock, iD Software's Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and the incredible "everything simulator" Spore.

Although some, but not all, of these games will also see a console release they all look better on the PC - some by a considerable margin.

It's not just raw horsepower where the PC outdoes the consoles though.

Its range of online games and services is still years ahead of the pack, with episodic content such as Sam & Max already a reality and massively multiplayer online games like World of WarCraft and Second Life supporting millions of players at once.

The PC is also still the only format to properly support user content and mods - without fear of the publisher being sued to hell and back.

There's still no getting away from the fact that a PC is considerably more expensive than a console, and ironically less easily upgradeable than ever, but rather than lay down and give up in the face of its new competition the granddaddy of gaming has never looked healthier.