By Chris Kavan - 11/21/12 at 02:07 PM CT

I did not line up to buy the PS3 on the day of launch. In fact, for the longest time the only 7th Generation system I owned was the Nintendo Wii. Let's face it, when the PS3 was launched, the price was a bit on the ridiculous side. But thanks to good old Uncle Sam, who decided everyone deserved a nice refund, I did my part for the economy and dropped money on the system. And while the Wii initially got my attention, as the end of this generation approached, the PS3 has by and far been the system I have put the most time and effort into.

I have to say that one of the main reasons I was drawn to the PS3 has nothing to do with games. Sony was a big proponent of the Blu-Ray format, and, as the battle with HD DVD started to heat up, Sony decided to include a Blu-Ray player built in to the PS3. To me, that was a huge draw. Even years later, I still buy plenty of plain old DVDs, but if I do get a Blu-Ray - my PS3 is my player. Right there is a huge advantage that Sony has over both the Xbox 360 and Wii.

Yet while I enjoy watching plenty on my PS3 - this is a, after all, a gaming console and the ability to watch movies in high-def would mean nothing if I couldn't actually play decent games. While the days of exclusivity seem to be shrinking rapidly, the PS3 still had some great games you could only find on their system: LittleBigPlanet was a great new take on the platforming genre and is still the most customizable game experience I can think of this generation. Ratchet & Clank continues to be a fun diversion while the Uncharted series earned universal praise. Racing fans were blessed with Gran Turismo, hardcore games could challenge themselves with Demon's Souls and people who like to just beat the crap out of things still had the God of War series to enjoy. While I have not played every exclusive, I did enjoy Heavy Rain, InFamous and 3D Dot Game Heroes as well.

I won't deny that PSN has had its share share of troubles. And I agree with the Nelson that the "new and improved" interface is a step backward, but the quality of games is the biggest draw. Yes, Xbox has indie games - lots and lots of indie games. I'm sure there are good ones out there, but then you also have to deal with this. My theory is that for every decent Xbox indie title, there are probably like a dozen that should be buried in the desert along with Atari's E.T. game. PSN, meanwhile, has the Pixeljunk series of games (a bit hit-or-miss, but always interesting at least), Flower, Journey, Shatter, Dead Nation, Super StarDustHD, the newly-released Tokyo Jungle (that I am eager to try out) and WipEout HD Fury. The Wii has its share of titles that are fun, but let's face it, most of its store consists of games you've probably already played or could emulate for free.

There are some things about PS3 that never really caught on: the Move controller is pretty much a half-hearted attempt to cash in on motion controls. I never understood why they even needed such a thing and while the Kinect seems pretty suspect to me, at least it's a fully-supported effort on Microsoft's part. And the Wii was born with motion control, so that's a given. The Move is the red-headed step-child and I don't find it appealing in the least. I also never got the whole Home thing. It was supposed to be this great social networking gathering place, but it just never caught on. I'm sure there are enough people out there who like it to keep it going, but it never reached its potential and I consider it a failure.

I am not an online gamer - I prefer single player to multi-player games and have never really gotten into that aspect. I do know it's free, however, and that must make it better? Right? Eh, I have a feeling the online community between Xbox 360 and PS3 is probably very similar - and if Microsoft can make money charging people for something that should be free - more power to them. Nintendo? Better luck with the WiiU - because the Wii's online capability is pretty much non-existent. In fact, the only place I've played consistent online multiplayer is with Steam - but that's not without its issues. As Jon stated - if you have one person who has a bit slower or incompatible connection issues - it can hamper your experience. I've enjoyed playing online with friends... when things work.

What about Xbox 360 vs. PS3 cross-platform games? There is so much debate on this subject, I could easily write an entire blog on just that. But I find an intriguing argument about this issue, and while it's only one guy voicing his opinion, it makes a lot of sense. Developers didn't like the PS3 as much because, despite the fact it has superior hardware, it takes a lot more effort to make games work for it. I really think that's a big reason why the Fallout, Skyrim, Borderlands and other such games have more issues on the PS3 vs. the Xbox 360. It's a combination between making the most money while exerting the least effort - why bother with making a game batter for a second system when it will work OK - not reason to make it perfect. So the moral of the story - make your system good, but not too good or else you'll pay the price. There are so few cross-platform games for the Wii, it's not even worth mentioning. I will be interested to see how the WiiU compares, however.

Might Sony have bitten off more than it could chew this time around? I know things are looking a bit more grim than I would like to see, but I don't have any problem with sticking with this system. In fact, there are so many games I haven't had the chance to play, I wouldn't be surprised if I stick around with this system well into the next generation (or at least until there is a significant price drop). There are plenty of games on my radar I would love to check out - and with a veritable avalanche of great exclusive games next year: Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls, Remember Me, Until Dawn and Dragon's Crown - to name a few - I have a feeling it will continue to keep me entertained. I, for one, am not jumping for joy over generation 8 while generation 7 still has so much to offer.