PC hardware manufacturer Nvidia says the PC is "far superior" to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 as a gaming platform, and that small form-factor PCs should be a viable alternative to next-gen consoles.

“We are proposing small form-factor PCs to be a viable alternative to the next-gen consoles. Enthusiast players want the ultimate games system and that is the PC,” said Nvidia consumer sales manager Matt Wright in an interview with MCV.

“The PC platform is far superior to any console when it comes to gaming, plus you get all the extra functionality that a computer brings,” Wright added. Small PC gaming boxes are a major part of Valve's SteamOS push to get PC hardware in the living room, with the first Steam Machines expected to ship in 2014.

But what about about the complexity of building and maintaining a gaming PC compared to the next-gen consoles? According to Wright, Nvidia's part in the current PC market is “to make PC gaming as simple as possible, and we think that it already becoming much more relevant and appealing to casual gamers,” said Wright.

“Steam now has more users than Xbox Live," he added. "There is a whole new generation who grew up playing on PC with titles like Minecraft or World of Tanks. There’s a huge community who love playing their games on PC.”