So most console manufacturers take a loss on the console in exchange for controlling the economy of the console and creating a network effect for non cross play games.

Nintendo is actually one of the few companies that make a profit (of a few cents) on their consoles.

Every computer is also NOT the same nowadays. Modern operating systems abstract a lot of the differences away, but they’re there.

Consoles give game devs a predictable platform to develop against and make guarantees for.