Today is the last day of my series of posts on what I like and dislike about the last generation of consoles, the Wii, the 360, and the PS3.  While I loved the PlayStation 2, I actually didn’t have any intention of getting the PS3 because Naughty Dog was still refusing to make any more “Jak and Daxter” games, the “Kingdom Hearts 3” release date was nowhere in sight, and because I could just keep up with the “Final Fantasy” games on the 360.  And then, because of a sale on used games at GameStop, I bought myself a few PS2 “Ratchet and Clank” games, causing me to really get into the series.  And that’s when I found myself with an unstoppable need to buy the PS3 and catch up on all the “R&C” games I had missed.  Nevertheless, at first, my PS3 didn’t have much to motivate me to play it aside from a few short “R&C” games, and I wondered if I may have wasted my money.  The console did become much better, however, when I added to my collection “Portal 2”, “Rayman Legends”, and the Final Mix version of “Kingdom Hearts”, and now I’m starting to really love it.  Not as much as my PS2, but it still turned out to be a pretty grand console.  And now, I present you with my pros and cons for the PS3!  (With the focus, again, on gaming, and information found on Wikipedia.)

Pros

• The graphics are awesome.  I hear they are no better than the 360, despite the discs being blu-ray instead of DVD, but that doesn’t make them any less amazing.  “Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time” looked like a Pixar movie.  And everyone likes Pixar movies.  Everyone, you hear me?
• And I just think it’s really cool it plays blu-rays.  I don’t even have a blu-ray player, but now I feel all high-tech because of this console.  Plus, someone said that these discs are less likely to get scratched than DVD’s, and though I have yet to confirm the accuracy of this statement, that’s great if it’s true.
• It’s also very quiet.  Not as quiet as the PS2, but much better than the 360.  Except sometimes it makes weird noises when you start a level, but it’s usually good.
• This is a huge pro for me.  This console has rechargeable controllers, and you have the option of playing it wirelessly or plugged into the console (the latter of which is how you recharge it), so there is no need to change batteries like with the Wii and 360 controllers.  And I sit close to the TV because it’s a small TV and the room is also small, so I leave it plugged in, making my controller’s power supply effectively endless.  It’ll last to Armageddon and beyond.
• And speaking of controllers, I love that the PS3 controller is almost identical to the PS2 one.  I actually really like that the controllers for these consoles always stay about the same.  It feels…familiar.  Safe.  And when I play HD versions of PS2 games, it feels no different than if I was playing it on its original console.  Yay.
• And the controller has some motion capabilities.  Like if you tilt it, it sometimes does stuff.  It’s actually mostly useless, but hey.
• The trophies are okay, too.  Useless, but why not?  I did enjoy collecting the trophies in “Rayman Legends”, at least.  Splinter Ray, you are mine.
• The PlayStation Store also lets you download stuff, like PS1 and PS2 games at pretty good prices.
• Once I had it for a while, the PS3 did end up with a pretty good collection of games, which would have been even better if it didn’t have to share some of those games with the 360.  But, it needs to learn such virtues.
• And all models of the PS3 are supposed to be able to play PS1 games (while earlier ones can also do PS2 games).  Which is great, except for some major cons later.
• Now this one is probably a pro only to me.  I have the Super Slim PS3, and the disc tray just slides open, even when the console’s off.  I like this.  I like handling my discs as little as possible, to keep them pristine, and being able to feel safe leaving the discs in, knowing I can retrieve it later at a moment’s notice, is just nice.  And this disc tray also feels…sci-fi-like to me.  Like those cars with the doors that open in really strange ways.

Cons

• At the same time, this disc tray also feels cheaply made.  I don’t entirely trust it.
• And as I mentioned earlier, the slight motion capabilities of the controller…mostly pointless.  It had a few good uses, but that was all.
• And back to the backwards compatibility issue.  The original PS3’s used to be able to play PS2 and PS1 games, which would make the PS3 pretty darn amazing.  But, newer PS3’s can’t play PS2 games anymore, which I find absurd, and I hear the PS1 games are glitchy on this console (didn’t look into how well the PS2 games work because, you know, mine doesn’t play them).  I bought a bunch of PS1 games, but I found that “Final Fantasy VIII” has a major issue with freezing on disc 4 if you play it on the PS3, so I’m just playing my PS1 games on the PS2, where I hear they work far better.
• And I was disappointed the main screen is set up like the PSP, because I don’t particularly like how the PSP’s main screen works.  I’m used to it now, but I still don’t like it.  And you can never make me.
• It was also the most complicated console to get set up.  I guess it’s not too bad, but there’s this weird process you have to do depending on whether you plug it in using the HD cable or the AV cables.  This caused me quite a bit of grief at first.
• And to be honest, while I now have many great games on this console, many of them are actually just HD versions of PS2 games.  On the most part, the best games on this console are already on my PS2, so if it weren’t for a few other fantastic games, the PS3 would be a bit redundant.  (Not to mention the fact that, if it weren’t for the “R&C” games, I could have actually just bought all the other games I wanted on the 360, and then I really wouldn’t need the PS3 at all.  Sorry, PS3.  I still love you, but it’s true.)
• And like the 360, lots of games only allow one save file.  I don’t understand such a concept.  Why must I delete my old file if I want to start a new one!  Why must all my hard work be thrown in the trash like that!  Why don’t you just give us more darn save files, darn it!  Am I out of line asking for such a thing?
• New games also take a long time to start.  Whenever you put in a game you’ve never played before, it just takes forever downloading trophies and other such nonsense.  The 360 had achievements, a very similar concept (a bit too similar…), but those games start much faster.
• Another most vile problem I have heard about is that PS3’s tend to die a lot (and I hear they get a Yellow Light of Death instead of the slightly-cooler-sounding Red Ring of Death the 360 gets), which is weird because the PS2 was the most reliable console I ever had and still is.  I heard the older models are worse, but I still paid extra for a three-year warranty on this thing, just in case.  That’s right, Sony.  Just make it die.  I dare you.  Though, don’t really, because I’d really like to avoid the hassle.
• Lots of PS3 games have sound issues.  I’ve almost never had sound glitches until this console.  The glitches appear to be “normal”, as many others get them, but what the heck?
• It was also the most expensive of the consoles of this generation (luckily, the price finally went way down).  The games are still $10 more than those for the Wii or previous consoles, though.
• And one last thing.  I mean, who really cares about this one, but this things attracts dust like it’s going out of style (I have never used that phrase before, but I had to force it in, like it’s also going out of style).  For some reason, it’s fine if I have dust on the computer, but not the game consoles or the TV.  But, no matter how much I dust it, the next day, it’s filthy again.  It’s not because it’s black and the dust shows up well.  I mean, while I’m in the middle of dusting it, new dust regenerates on it.  By the time I’m done, it’s like I didn’t do anything.  I bet if I picked up a piece of dust on the opposite side of the house and let go, it would defy gravity and speed through my house, only to latch onto the PS3.  And stop putting those infuriating ridges on all your consoles, Sony!  I can’t dust those!  I can’t!  They’re like Death Star trenches lining the top of my console!  I can’t get the dust out of those!  How tiny do you think my fingers are?

And now that that’s done, a summary of the three consoles I have discussed over these past weeks.  Starting with the Wii, this console was not the most powerful, but it made up for it with a lower price both for the console itself and its games and in a pretty good collection of games from many classic series.  I think the Wii really would have been so much more, however, if it weren’t for that pesky Wiimote, which got old pretty quickly and made me miss more traditional controllers.  The Wiimote did have a few moments where it greatly added to a game, but on the most part, it was more distressing than anything.

The 360 turned out to be much better than the original XBox.  I just thought it had a better selection of games and was just all around a more fun console to play.  Unfortunately, the 360 was expensive and noisy and suffered from a high failure rate.  The graphics were amazing, but I’d rather pay less and get graphics that aren’t quite as good, but a console that works better in the long-run.  Nevertheless, it was still a great console, and was able to really compete with the PS3, which is pretty good considering how big of a PlayStation fan I am.

And last but not least, the PS3, which is also expensive and unreliable like the 360, but still a great console while it lasts.  It was quiet, with fantastic graphics, and it did have a great collection of games, even if much of them could also be bought for the 360 or were mere HD collections of PS2 games.  I did very much enjoy my PS3, even if I don’t think it’s nearly as strong as the PS2 was, and despite the fact that some of the backwards compatibility was removed for some reason I cannot comprehend.  It’s not my favorite console, but I do look forward to that Final Mix version of “Kingdom Hearts 2” when it finally comes out….

And that’s that.  I think the consoles were a lot more balanced this time around.  When it came to the previous generation, the PS2 was by far my favorite, with the XBox as my least favorite, and the GameCube hanging somewhere in between.  This time, however, I honestly have praise and anti-praise for each of these consoles.  I would have to say the Wii is my favorite of the three because of my huge love of Nintendo, but sometimes, playing the other two and getting to use normal buttons is quite a treat.  And now I can only look forward to trying out the next generation and see how they measure up.

Sony’s Lack of Inspiration in Naming Their Consoles is Preventing Me From Conjuring Up a Creative Duck Title