> All consoles really have is:
> noob friendly (is that really a plus)
> local multiplayer

And orders of magnitude less piracy.

Interface aside (and I'm not convinced), vastly more people use google maps than google earth. So using that as your criteria for success, the answer to the story is a resounding yes.

Having to download and install an app, especially under windows, adds enough friction that any web equivalent that is even half as good will get much more use.

(As an aside, if someone comes up with a decently fast and well-featured web-based chat client, it'll be interesting to see what happens to all those funky skinnable .exe-based chat clients out there.)