They never really launched. They're just cheap PCs put in a box running SteamOS, a Linux distro.
I can make a better rig than any console for less than 500 euros, hell my old PC still kicks console ass and it's 3 years older and cost 1000 euros and it also got me a 3D monitor and some little accessories at the time. And games are much cheaper on PC since there is competition and there are tons of distribution services that compete for attention and offer discounts to get it. Steam has massive sales regularly and it's probably the worst on offer. There's humblebundle.com , greenmangaming.com and a whole slew of other 3rd party retailers.
Sorry, but there's 2 advantages the consoles have:

• comfort, which it is being lost as they turn more and more into regular PCs
• exclusives