Last week it was revealed that Battlefield 3 at its lowest settings on PC was "similar to consoles". This caused a minor stir outside of the PC community and much high-fiving and chest bumps within it. Today, in conversation with PC Gamer, Patrick Bach says that the effort placed into the PC version definitely helped the console version become what it is.
“Our biggest benefit for the console has been that we’re leading on PC,” said Bach. “It has forced us to push the limited technology of consoles compared to the PC to a new level, because we set the bar with what we wanted to create on PC and said, ‘How the heck are we going to do this on consoles?’”
So there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth. The console version was pushed as much as it possibly could be and the game as it is is getting fantastic reviews.