Nearly two years after its North American launch, I finally bought a PS3. I lived and taught in Japan when both the PS3 and Wii came out in 2006. I surprised myself by picking up a Wii on launch day, totally enthralled by the new Zelda game. I sold my region-locked Wii prior to returning to the U.S. this summer. Unfortunately, this left me owning zero consoles from the current generation, forced to catch up on PS2 and GameCube games.

At first, I didn’t feel the need to own a current-generation console. I was happy to slowly progress through my backlog of cheap games. However, after getting more involved writing about games and seeing all the excitement over big, new releases, I knew I had to have at least one of them. I felt like I had explored the Wii pretty thoroughly, having played most of the big games to that point, so I really wanted to grab one of the more powerful consoles. I’m still a little wary of Microsoft’s hardware problems, and the more I checked out the PS3, the sexier it looked, despite the high price tag. I tried (and failed) to acquire one with Wal-Mart’s $100 gift card promotion. Frustrated, I returned home and searched online until I stumbled across a deal at Dell.com for 15% off all electronics and accessories. Hooray!

My experience buying a PS3 provides an opportunity to talk about what it means to join the PS3 gaming community this late in the race. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to owning any of the three current consoles. The PS3 is the most powerful, has a free online service, but also costs the most money. The 360 satisfies shooter fans, arguably has the most solid online gaming service (albeit at a price), but has hardware problems (Red-Ring-of-Death). The Wii is cheap, has Nintendo’s numerous classic franchises, but is the least powerful. No matter which you choose, there are fantastic gaming experiences on each console.

My decision to buy a PS3 was based on the PS3’s history, as well as that of the 360 and Wii. All the systems have a large library of games available and at least two years of history to take into account. In terms of what each system is capable of, there is little in the way of surprises. Buying one of the ‘Big 3’ gaming consoles carries less risk at this point. I’m no longer diving into the great unknown. This is great for me personally, as I like to have a large number of games to choose from and a proven track record before I buy a console. But at the same time, I’m less likely to be wowed by my initial PS3 experience because I’ve been reading about it for ages.