How many games make a console 'worth it'

[Bolivar]

If you can't find any original titles on the DS, I feel the only explanation is either you don't like them (which is all fine and dandy) or you aren't looking. Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Elite Beat Agents, the Etrian Oddysey series, the Professor Layton series, Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure... that's just off the top of my head, and without being able to look at my library right now. If you want games that are original you should give those a look if you haven't already, or try looking harder.

It's probably a little bit of both. You've recommended Etrian Odyssey before and that's something I honestly need to check out, so I'm definitely not looking as hard as I could. But stuff like Professor Layton, Henry Hatsworth, Phoenix Wright, those games have no appeal to me at all. I had fun with some of the Mario RPG's on the system but I put it down quickly because there's so many better RPG's to play.

Serious question: what is original about MGS: Peacewalker? I haven't played a lick of it, so I'm clueless, but it looked like Snake Eater with co-op and little missions.

It's the most radically different MGS Kojima has made. It's also one of the most content-packed game packages I've ever bought. You recruit soldiers, manage your base, watch it grow and develop, stock up intel, mess hall, and R&D teams to further develop items, accumulate vehicles, send soldiers and vehicles to conflict zones to collect more money, build your own mech, and can listen to bonus conversations between Snake and characters and makes your PSP look like an old-school cassette player.

As far as gameplay goes, it's essentially a full MGS with a game of bonus missions to boot. And some of the scenarios are things I've never seen in MGS before - for example, in one mission you take someone out on a date and try to do things within the MGS system that they might like. There's also the Monster Hunter crossover inside. PW brought the MGS4 controls to a portable, Snake Eater aesthetic.

^ and all of this is without even mentioning Co-Ops or Versus Mode. The game is constantly throwing new things in the series at you, and even when the credits roll, you probably still haven't even scratched the surface.

It's arguably the best MGS in the series...

I'm fine being called out. My issue is that I have been trying new titles and while some have been good (BioShock, Ghostbusters, and Fallout 3) none of them have jumped out to me and say "bitch why the smurf aren't you playing me?" nor have any of them surprised me enough to completely consume my life (well Fallout 3 did for awhile but it burnt me out so now I can't even look at the game for awhile). Its true I haven't gotten around to playing everything I could but its because they don't appeal to me as much as other titles. My PS3 is competing with my DS and its kicking the consoles ass for me, cause it does have games I want to try out. The PS3 just hasn't been making games that appeal to me, or sadly don't live up to my expectations.

Did you really expect Ghostbusters, Bioshock and Fallout 3 to jump out and be must-play games??? The latter two have only gained that reputation from a gaming demographic and journalists with little experience with their predecessors. Most older fans say Bioshock has nothing on System Shock, and that the older Fallouts were better.

My point is that you're claiming to have tried all these different games but you've had nothing to do at all with the JRPG's on the console. Three of which (I already listed) are pretty damn good and absolutely revered for what they've done for the subgenre.

It's just weird that you're judging the PS3 based on your experiences with every genre under the sun except for the one you actually like

As far as the PSP and DS thing, I guess that's just our tastes. Games like Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest VI are infinitely more appealing than anything else I've seen on the platform (well, except for maybe Dragon Quest IX ).

And I'm not trying to get you excited for VC2. It's just a prime example of a game that aims to surpass its home console predecessor in everything except graphics. Peace Walker seemed to do the same thing. I know someone whose favorite God of War is Chains of Olympus. Gran Turismo and Motorstorm brought the actual driving experience perfectly to handheld form. And Fireteam Bravo 3 could go feature-for-feature with any recent online shooter.

I understand you probably dislike most of those games, but I'm just expressing how the PSP has impressed me more in the last six months of owning it than the DS has in the last 4 years. They don't settle for being "just a handheld game."