Sony PSP 3000 Purple Console

Let me start off saying that I have not been a gamer since I was about 15. I am now 29, and the PS3 has definatly got me back into the scene!

We have a Nintendo Game Cube and PS2 for my kids, but I have never played them for more than a half hour a month. I was not in the market for a new system due to the price and the fact that my kids were the only ones who played.

My new brother in law works for Xbox and is a huge gamer. After spending a couple months talking to him about the different consoles, he decided the PS3 was the system for me for the following reasons:

1. Blue ray player. Not only does it play the new format, but it will play dvd's as well. I replaced my current DVD player with it. I have an HDTV, and the PS3 upconverts standard DVD's much better than my Pioneer upconverting dvd player did. Blue ray's look absolutley stunning as well.
2. Much more of an all-in-one solution than Xbox 360. Plays blue ray's, dvd's, mp3's, mpeg4 video, displays my pictures, has a decent web browser, and can even have a Linux OS installed to use it as a computer.
3. Free online game play. Xbox charges a monthly or yearly fee. Playstation is free.

After talking to me, my brother in law went and bought me the Metal Gear bundle PS3. I would never have bought the $299 base system for myself, let alone this $399 bundle.

Let me just say, after having the PS3 for 4 months I am ready to go buy a second one for my basement for the kids to use! I love it! Definatly recommend!

Edit:
I have had my PS3 for about 5 months now. It never fails to play DVD's (and does an excellent job upconverting the picture to near HD quality) or Blue Ray's. I even had the chance to play a PS2 game on it and it played great (although the MGS4 80gig bundle was the last to have PS2 backwards compability.) I have had the system freeze up 2 times and I had to use the power switch in the back to turn it off then on again. Since the latest firmware update I have not had any issues.

I have my PS3 connected to the internet via my wireless router. Very easy to set up. It just scanned and found it. The connection does drop sometimes (like when im playing COD4 online) but I think it is because my PS3 is pretty far away from my router. You also have the option to connect direct via ethernet. Firmware updates are easy, and I think you can even set it up to update automatically.

My wife loves to view pictures using the PS3. She can pop a cd or dvd in and either copy to the hard drive or view directly from the disk. The PS3 has a pretty cool way of viewing the pics where it shows them as pictures kind of falling down and the date and time peirodicaly are in the background. When you put the pics on the hard drive the PS3 automaticaly sorts them into different folders by month and year. Pretty cool!

I love the wireless bluetooth controllers. I never played PS2 much, but the PS3 controller seemed identical to the PS2. Very well balanced. Never have any issues with the wireless connection. I love laying in my bed playing without having to worry about wires. The only thing I dont like is you have to remember to turn the controller off if you are leaving the system on (like if you are downloading somthing.) The controllers will turn off if you turn off the system. The battery life is exceptional. I have never had problems with battery life even after playing for over 6 hours straight. Easy charge with a usb cable or aftermarket charging dock.

Some of the games are spectacular. I played Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (PS3 exclusive) and the graphics were stunning. Story was amazing. Never had any problems with game lag or wireless controllers. Same experience with Call of Duty 4, Ratchet and Clank Future (PS3 exclusive), and Resistance (PS3 exclusive). Just played the Bioshock demo, and from the reviews I read comparing it to the 360 version the graphics were sharper in the PS3 version.

I bought and played Flow (PS3 exclusive) from the Playstation Network. Great casual game. Super relaxing and kind of addictive. Also dowloaded Pain (PS3 exclusive). Super fun original game. You can also go into the video store and purchase or rent movies and tv shows. On my internet connection it takes hours to download a movie, so I have never rented.

I also have and PSP and it has some pretty neat features. I can connect it to the PS3 via usb cable and put pictures, movies, or music from my hard drive to the PSP. It goes the other way too, so if I get some media from a buddy I can transfer it from my PSP to PS3. It also has a "remote play" option. I have the PS3 set up so that if I have a wifi connection for the PSP I can turn on the PS3 and have it download stuff, watch movies from the PS3, or supposedly even play some games like LEGO Batman (but ive never tried it.)

Pros:
1. Replaces my dvd player, but also does all the other things mentioned above.
2. Technologicaly superior to any other game system on the market. Much more powerful hardware.
3. Got me (Call of Duty 4, Resistance) and my wife (LEGO Star Wars, Indy, Batman) back into gaming
4. Free online play

Cons:
1. Still the most expensive system out there.
2. Game developers as a whole are still not utilizing the hardware (hard to program for) but this should change in the next year or so.
3. Supposedly Xbox online is better (but costs.)
4. Newest systems on the shelf do not have PS2 backwards compatibility (mine does, but aren't really available anymore)

Conclusion:
If you are in the market for a new system, take a long hard look at the PS3. Yeah its expensive, but look at everything you get!