Since their beginnings, video games have been constrained by two key factors: the performance offered by each new generation of hardware and developers' capacities to bypass limitations and fully utilize that hardware. This paved the way for astonishing games that, at the time, seemed impossible on a technical level, and it has also facilitated a sustained evolution that has ushered in a time when photorealism is "a stone's throw away."
Video game consoles have also played a key role in this regard. I know that many of us prefer gaming on a PC, but consoles have been the industry's driving force, so much so that they've ended up monopolizing present-day development cycles with their enormous influence. Gone are the days of exclusive PC games that truly utilized the platform's hardware. Today, everything is focused on each generation's star consoles, and this has very clear consequences.
Consoles have had very positive effects on the world of video games, but they've also had negative effects. Life cycles have been lengthening considerably, something which, along with console exclusives, has ended up hindering the full utilization of the latest generation of PC hardware and has slowed the evolution of video games as a whole.