I am glad to hear you are going for it. the ps3 community welcomes you and hopes you enjoy your stay.
I would also like to add that:
the ps3 UI is far superior to anything else in the console world, so much so that it has only undergone one change in its lifetime and that was to add
too what was already present, very easy to use and very customizable with purchasable themes from the ps store or dl them from your favorite website
strait off the ps3s web browser.
ps3 has some sort of flash support and full on divx support.
you can connect your pc to your ps3 via your router to access all your pc media on ps3
3D support for both games and movies (no gimmick here, uncharted # is absolutely beautiful in 3D)
no proprietary HDD
there are of course features the console is capable of that are under utilized by developers such as:
video capture for direct youtube upload, screen grab, remote play, custom soundtracks, multiple psn id login, mouse and keyboard support, cross
platform multiplayer, ps eye camera
,
playstation home (kinda like second life) has come along way in its 4 years. even though it is notorious for nickel and diming you on virtual content
there is quite a bit of free items and even more items you can win as a reward. the games of ps home remind me a lot of flash games on a pc, simple
but fun. there are quests through out the year which earns you free items. you can group 8 people together to communicate via headset or use the chat
room feature. you can launch into any game from within home (great place to get your clan all pumped up before battle). load times are far and away
better from what they were 4 years ago. it is imo the better way of social interaction on a console.
Netflix has the best layout on ps3 (other than pc of course).
playstation plus is a very worthy alternative to a gold membership of xbl. $50 instead of $60, im pretty sure services are the same now that xbl has
cloud saving for game saves (well other than online play of course). not sure about xbox but playstation offers free games, discounts, and content to
subscribers every month (example: i just got the back to the future video game for free, all 5 episodes.
HD remakes of ps2 classics. now i know this is a sore subject because of the removal of bc, but to those who never played the franchise before it is
nice. to those who have played them or own the ps2 versions its not all bad. they do add in trophies and the hd does make those classics shine pretty
good. also most of them are coming out with 3d support too.
the playstation 3 is definitely a great HUB for all your entertainment needs.
i have been playing games my entire life, 20+ years, ive had and played all kinds of systems. through it all i can assuredly say that i am a console
gamer and the ps3 was without a doubt the console for me. personal preference is a big part of it too mind you. have always loved the duelshock
controller design. love having movies and games in one device. love the 10 year life cycle (ps2 is still going and its almost 12 years old!), every
year the games just look better and better.
as a gamer i suspect someday i will leave playstation for something better, but it definitely wont be anything from microsoft as they tend to copy
more than innovate. maybe apple or google will make a home console, or maybe some unknown company will come outta no where. until then i will continue
enjoying my playstations and my ever growing library of games