The PlayStation 3 Is The Console To Have During The Last Years Of This Generation

A Story About Console Switching

I want to share a quick story with you all.

Over the course of this gen I have owned many consoles. I’ve bought some, traded some in, sold some, re-bought some, and even gave some away. It’s been a busy generation for my wallet and my living room space.

I have owned three different PS3’s (60gb in 2007, 120gb Slim in 2009, and the 500gb Super Slim in 2013). I have also owned three different Xbox 360’s (20gb in 2005, 250gb Resident Evil 5 edition in 2009, and the 250gb Slim model in 2011). Even the Wii has seen some light in my humble abode (original model in 2006 and the special edition blue console in 2011).

After my original consoles for each system I basically only bought a console if the games coming out for them were right for me. I only had all three at one time once and since them it has been a mix and match.

My point is, I flock to where the games and features that are right for me are. Whether you agree or disagree with how I handle my console ownership, the one thing we can all agree on is that you want to play all the good games.

Last gen, Microsoft ditched the original Xbox like a bag of bricks as soon as the 360 was announced. If you think about it, they’ve done the same thing with the 360 except they didn’t even wait for the next gen announcement.

While the 360 is still selling very well and games are coming out, you won’t be able to experience this gen’s last remaining gems without having a PS3. In fact, the 360 only has a whopping 2 exclusives currently announced for 2013: Gears of War: Judgment and Bungie’s timed-exclusive of Destiny (which may not even hit in 2013). No, I’m not counting Dark, Adventurer, or State of Decay because you can get all of those on the PC, as well.

While Gears is a big market game, I’ve fallen out of it since the second one. The third game didn’t hit me the right way and therefore I won’t be buying Judgment. So what reason was there to continue holding onto my Xbox 360? Live? My current game library?

So what I did was switch. I got rid of my last 360 and went back to the PS3. This will be my last switch until the next gen arrives when I’ll be keeping my original consoles until they die on me.

Why did I go back to the PS3 you ask? Let’s list the reasons:

PlayStation Plus is getting better every week

When first announced I thought PS+ was stupid. It wasn’t worth its weight in gold, so to say. However, the service has really, really come into its own and every PS3/Vita owner should have it. Sony has padded the odds against Xbox Live with cheaper subscription rates, a bunch of free games, discounts, and access to betas and new features first. What’s not to like?

Not having PS+ as a PS3 or Vita owner is kind of like saying you don’t want a Buy 2, Get 1 Free deal at a store for only $5 extra on your bill. Who doesn’t want a list of free PS3 and PSN games that updates every month with new titles? Who doesn’t want discounts on the store on select titles and even more discounts during sales? Who doesn’t want to play God of War: Ascension multiplayer beta before anyone else?

It’s things like this that have made PS+ such an attractive service to people and the Instant Game Collection marketing campaign does its job very well.

The Best Exclusives in 2013

I named the 360’s only two exclusives for the year (so far, admittedly) so let’s be fair and list the ones for the PS3:

Beyond: Two Souls

Dust 514

God of War: Ascension

Hyperdimension Neptunia V

The Last of Us

MLB 13: The Show

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Puppeteer

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

Tales of Xillia

Until Dawn

The Witch And The Hundred Knights

Even if that isn’t the full list, it’s extremely impressive and we haven’t seen what E3 holds for us yet.

You see, 2013 is most likely the last big year of this gen. 2014 will be focused on the next consoles while a few good hits come out for the current ones. However, all eyes and big titles will be on the Xbox 720 (or Next or Whatever) and the PS4 (or PS Whatever).

To see that Sony isn’t letting up with the exclusives this year is a good thing. The new consoles aren’t out yet and most likely won’t be until this holiday or sometime in 2014. Why let your current buyers sit and dwell when you could have them get excited about their current system throughout the year? There is no reason why the 360 should only have Gears of War: Judgment to sit back on. Unless E3 proves to be exclusive heaven for Microsoft, then Sony and the PS3 are going to end this gen with top honors.

It seems as if Microsoft is bowing down from this gen and awaiting the next, as if they are satisfied with everything. Sony, on the other hand, has been a busy little bee on have come back from 3rd place to now have sold more PS3’s than 360’s and are still pushing the best exclusives and online service you can get in gaming.

Microsoft better re-think their last year strategy for the next Xbox. They need to show some continued support and stop giving 110% to their unknown new console while current owners sit and twiddle. This is the second gen where they’ve just brushed off the last year or so of their current console’s relevancy in favor of R&D. You can’t do that else you run the risk of losing people, exactly like what happened with me. I don’t hate the 360, in fact it’s an amazing console. However, when you have one exclusive while your competitor has several or more, I can get a bunch of games and discounts for less than the price of Live, and I can just buy the multi-platform games on another console, then I’m out.



0 Shares