I think the 60hz mode may be PAL specific, but I'm probably wrong. I haven't heard of this before.
I never mentioned that console games will look better than PC games, that would be idiotic. PC games always had the potential to look better than any console game ever could. What I'm saying is that the 'lowest common denominator' is continually rising for a PC, while a console version generally stays the same across the board.
It's changing slightly now that the 'HD era' is here, where the game's visual quality will be different depending on your monitor, but it's still mostly the same. Traditionally, by getting a console you were guaranteed to have your game look exactly like someone else who bought the same game for the same console. There are past examples of console expansions to improve the graphics of games (N64's Expansion pak), but traditionally they stay the same.
To look at it from a 'Communist' view where everything is the same, consoles win out.
PCs can similarly be compared to capitalism: the rich get richer. If you have the funds to buy the required hardware as it is needed, your games will continue to look amazing. But if you can't keep up, you'll be stuck playing games with degenerate graphics.

As far as control is concerned, it's an optional purchase that doesn't affect the core game (except Steel Battalion). I'm an arcade stick junkie, and while I feel it does improve the control of the game it doesn't change how the game is presented.
PC upgrades are similarly optional, but they do affect the game. Sometimes it makes the difference between a pretty awesome game, or a pretty awesome slideshow.