The PC for a long time has been seen as the third wheel in Gaming, if you can't afford a console? get a PC. That was the mantra. But with the growth of the Steam Engine from valve, the guys that brought you Half life (if you haven't heard about it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_%28software%29 ) The balance of power may well end up in the hands of this new breed of personal gaming computers. The PC could well end up being the undisputed victor of 8 years of console wars.

While Nintendo successfully vanquished Sega in the 90s and subsequently itself got vanquished by the PS2 in the late 90s. it's looking like Sony and Microsoft ain't gonna have their oligopoly on console gaming for much longer. The arrival of the Steam Engine, The Steam OS and Machine, ushers in a new era of cloud gaming which Microsoft by the way has sort of had it's eye on for awhile. so it's possible that the coming new age of gaming might well be dominated by the new boys. Microsoft and Steam.

But for now the PS4 and the Xbox One are gonna have in Steam a serious competitor to the throne of Gaming. Sony and Microsoft have been duking it out for most the 2000s and have literally taken their eyes off the ball as consoles have become very synonymous and interchangeable with each other, It doesn't really matter if you're buying a PS4 or an Xbox One cause you're get the same games anyway.

In conclusion, It's gonna be very interesting to see what happens. the console wars have generally been dominated by 2 major brands. Is it going to be Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo or the Steam Machine? I don't know but i do know, that cloud gaming is here to stay. Let's see how the dominant players adapt to new technology. we shall in time see whose gonna share the same fate as the dinosaurs and who shall emerge from the ashes of fallen enemies and claim the throne of Gaming till another technology cycle comes along.

Source: http://moonspawn.com/blogs/news/18961537-steam-engine-the-end-of-console-gaming-as-we-know-it