"That same fever is infecting the console side of the industry as well."
But not nearly at the same rate.
How many makers of high-end video cards are there, all competing for the ubiquitious PC market, which itself has dozens, if not hundreds, of players all supplying parts, games, add-ons, etc.
That's not happening in the console market nearly to the same degree. You can't add a newer, higher powered video card to the XBox every three to six months, with everyone building new games to those specifications, or above.
The consoles are proprietary - it prevents a lot of the arms race from ever happening in the first place.
Yes, you get new consoles, but they're spaced out over years, not months, and the console market has two major players, not dozens.
Many of the console game developers have also managed to keep high standards for game play as the console capabilities have increased, as well.
Ghost Recon is a perfect example of that. I played it in-depth for the first time this evening. Yes, there are some quirks to it, but it's more realistic, than Summit Strike but at the same time it keeps the intensity of the earlier versions.