In a recent post I mentioned that I haven’t been using my Nintendo Wii very much. Well, to make matters worse for the Wii it did not help that I have been wanting a Blu-Ray player for a while. After work, about a week ago, I gathered up the Wii along with a handful of games and accessories and traded everything in for store credit at the local GameStop.

The cost difference between the store credit and a new Playstation 3 (80 GB) was about the same as the cost of a new game, though ultimately my cost was slightly higher because I added an extended warranty. I’ve been pleased with the trade and haven’t missed the Wii.

All-in-all I think it was a good decision. Nintendo has some great games for the Wii but the only game that held my interest was Mario Kart Wii and though it was fun for a month or two the poor implementation of Battle Mode killed any major interest in Nintendo products (for now).

These days I’m gaming with an Xbox 360 and the new PS3. I’ve been tempted to trade in my 360 Elite to get some accessories and games for the PS3, but there are still several games and features I that I enjoy so I will most likely keep the 360. I’ve already got a reserve paid for Gears of War 2, which I do want to play and I’m looking forward to the November Dashboard update, primarily because it will add the ability to view Netflix Instant Watch movies and TV shows. In addition, the Live service is superior to Playstation’s online services.

I traded in some games after the console trade, including Burnout Paradise for 360, which I used to purchase the PS3 version of Burnout Paradise. I suppose the graphics are slightly better on the PS3 but it’s not much of a factor in Burnout, where details are typically lost in the motion-blur of high speeds.

The current PS3 in-game voice-chat capabilities are poor compared to that of the 360’s Live chat. I think it’s good that Sony provides the ability to use any Bluetooth headset, but the current quality doesn’t compare well to a 360 headset. I was also disappointed to learn that voice chats on the PS3 cannot be started from the main dashboard and carried through different games.

However, despite a few relatively minor dislikes the PS3 is a great system that is an excellent addition to a home theatre. If you’re thinking of getting only one console and movies are more important than online gaming I highly recommend the PS3.

Updated 11/13/2009: After some system updates and the purchase of the official Sony PS3 headset the voice chat has improved.

Updated 08/29/2011: I have all three of the major consoles and the PS3 is my least used of the three. In general, I play the Xbox 360 the most, followed by the Wii. Overall, I’m just not interested in most of the PS3 games. Sony hasn’t gone out of it’s way to make the PS3 more attractive by removing features and charging for premium online access/content. Sure, I pay for Xbox Live, but I’m not going to pay more for Sony’s equivalent, especially when Live is much better. Now that Blu-Ray players are easily less than $100 the system just doesn’t have much to offer me. The only reason I’m hanging on to it is so I can play the updated edition of Shadow of the Colossus.