Can they both fail? Consoles kind of suck. Closed platform owned by mega corps. Their main appeals of "easy" and "cheaper" haven't been true for years.
Microsoft could have done like a ... Steam machine for windows like 25 years ago. Optimized windows install on certified hardware, games that also play on desktop windows. They could've made steam. Except they couldn't because they're a souless corporate husk full of parasitic ghouls.
Fuck em. Fuck them all.
The up-front cost of a console is probably cheaper, barring putting some labor in and getting lucky on sales. You're right about that.
A PC has more utility, a larger library, and no subscription fee. That $80/year PsPlus subscription eats into the savings pretty fast. And when your playstation is end-of-life, it's far less useful than an older PC.
I'm sure some PC-building nerds would be happy to help put together a cost effective machine for you, but sadly I'm not that kind of nerd. I splurged on a pre-built machine when I had a nice job.