I myself have been rather harsh with my criticisms of the PS3 console and its games.  I try to be as honest and as fair as I can when talking about platforms and titles outside of my own general gaming area. Like all humans, a certain amount of preconceived judgment does occur. Not that I would EVER bash a game without just cause. It’s just hard to see past all the numbers and hype at times.

This past weekend, I tore myself away from Crysis to attend a spur of the moment 2 day gaming party with some old tournament pals. SonOfMom (of RoN & AoW fame) and NightStrider (of Starcraft & Mortal Kombat fame) have been two of my teammates/competitors in the online tournament scene under different nicknames for over 10 years now. So when I traveled to their joint studio here in Ottawa I was expecting some PC gaming, or maybe a little Xbox 360 play. Low and behold, three PS3’s were laid out in the office!

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“What the hell man? Why are we not playing on a 360 at least?” was my instant reaction to the discovery. I complained to them that few people actually play on the PS3 within our circle and that the PS3 has only a few good games to play.

SonOfMom was quick to put me in my place. “Just because it has not sold a bazzilion copies and the selection is a bit limited does NOT mean the PS3 is useless, or that gaming on it is not fun as hell.” he told me. NightStrider piped in with a “if I have fun gaming on it, it’s more than worth it dude.”

I have gamed on the PS3 before on a few of occasions, but never a full weekend. We played a number of titles, ranging from Assassins Creed, Rock Band, COD4, NBA 2k8 to some of the older PS3 titles like Heavenly Sword, DIRT, WarHawk, Advanced Warfighter 2, Ninja Gaiden Sigma and Def Jam Icon. And I have to admit I had an absolute blast! By far one of the best gaming weekends in recent memory. Sure most of the games were not PS3 exclusives, and the online setup was not as nice as XBL, but still more than acceptable and super fun.

I stand by my previously stated grievances with the PS3. The high end game selection is still rather limited. Your still much more likely to run into a 360 owner than a PS3 gamer. But in all the number quoting of PS3 sales month to month, number of exclusive titles etc… I lost site of the core goal of every gaming platform. That goal is simple: TO HAVE FUN.

Now that the PS3 has dropped in price (the reason my two friends purchased their PS3’s) the decision to purchase one has really become much more arbitrary. When it comes down to it, whether you play the Wii, the PS3, or the uber-loved 360, the MOST important aspect is the “fun factor.” You know what? I can’t deny I had a ton of fun, and deep down I still like the PS3 controllers more than their 360 counterpart. In the future, I will be much more conscious in my PS3 critiques, and judge the PS3/titles on their individual merits rather than allow things like sales, exclusives and ad campaigns to sway my critiques into the negative.

I stand by what I have said in the past, but if you do your gaming on the PS3, good for you! If you have fun with whatever console you purchased, what more can anyone ask for?

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