Call me whatever you want. Ardently make your case for one of the other platforms. Challenge the definition of "hardcore." I really don't care at this point; I've come to the conclusion that if you're a hardcore gamer, you have no choice but to own a PlayStation 3.
Why? Because I don't associate "hardcore" with time spent, skill or genre. You don't have to play a certain number of hours per week, you don't have to practice endlessly to become the best of the best, and you don't have to play only the deepest RPGs or the most competitive games online. No, in my eyes, the only requirement for the label "hardcore" is you have to love games. You don't stick to any one genre; you simply want to play the best games available, and although we all have our preferences, the quality of our entertainment is all that matters. Brand loyalty is pointless, hostility and massive superiority complexes don't mean anything, and at the end of the day, the hardcore gamer just wants to have fun. He wants the best. Therefore, is it even a question? If we want the best in most every genre, and we want the absolute elite, can we not have a PS3?
Platforming? Not much out there is better than the esteemed Ratchet and Clank franchise. You can be into shooters all you want but they're all sort of blending together these days, and the only games that really stand out seem to be Killzone 2 and - soon - Killzone 3. In terms of open-world action/adventure games, I dare say both inFamous and (next year) inFamous 2 are better than the likes of Crackdown (and GTA and RDR are multiplats, of course). Action...nothing tops God of War III. Nothing. Action/adventure isn't really a question; Uncharted 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 have that category all sealed up (as good as Gears of War really is). Sports and racing is usually all about multiplats but I think we're all expecting Gran Turismo 5 to outstrip Forza 3 in just about every possible way. And lastly, I ardently believe the PSN has by far the best selection of exclusive downloadables, including Flower, echochrome, Wipeout HD, Joe Danger, Shatter and others.
Yes, if you're "hardcore," you should probably own all three systems. But if you could only have one, I can't imagine any scenario where the 360, Wii or PC is the ideal system for all genres. RPGs remain the only undecided, as most are multiplats and I personally prefer Lost Odyssey to the lacking JRPGs exclusive to the PS3. And of course, it can always be argued that Live is somehow still better than the PSN, but the differences at this point are mostly minimal, and PlayStation Plus makes Live look a good deal less attractive, in my opinion. Even beyond genres, do we get anything like Heavy Rain on any other platform? And in terms of continuing to push the envelope; continuing to excel; continuing to provide gamers with new and improved forms of interactive entertainment, we all know the PS3 has the most potential remaining in the box. That's the way things are.
And by the way, I left 3D and Move/Kinect out of this because I don't have all of that directly in front of me, and I preferred to focus on the games alone for this particular piece.
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