I'm having a hard time coming up with something to write about, so it's time to pull from the old bag of cliches. Ok, let's see here...ah! "If you could take one game console or handheld to a deserted island, what would it be and why?" I love this one, don't you? The question forces you to narrow down your gaming collection to just one console, with the assumption being that it is the only one you can play for the rest of your life. There are many things to consider in making this decision. Are the controllers comfortable? Is the library deep enough to keep you busy forever? Let's assume for the sake of the question that the hardware will never break down, so the durability of the hardware doesn't need to be considered. So, let's say the choice is for one console with all original controllers and the existing library.

There is one more thing to consider here. Can I choose a modded console or does it have to be factory conditions? I have many modded consoles that can play most of the games of most of the consoles that came before them. Although I'd obviously prefer this, it dilutes the exercise, so let's go with a factory console, and to make it even tougher we'll say no backwards compatibility. That's right, choosing PS2 does not mean you can play PS1 games, no Gamecube on the Wii, and so on.



So we're stripped to bare bones, featureless consoles that don't actually exist, but let's go with it. My initial instinct would be to go with a Playstation 3, even without any backwards compatibility, but before I build a case for it, let's look at some runners up. A Super NES would be the first choice, no questions asked, for many people I know. I certainly would not kick the SNES out of bed. I have a deep nostalgia for it, it has a lot of long JRPs in its library to keep me busy, and the controller is plenty comfortable for how old it is now. Having said all this, I don't think the SNES could entertain me for life, and it is missing too many modern trappings that I am used to in gaming today, like voice acting, digital sound, and 3D environments and controls. Though I could really catch up on all the games I missed on Nintendo's second best ever console, it is not my choice.


What about a handheld? I can carry it around my desert island while I'm picking coconuts and play it on the beach. Everyone knows how much I love the VITA, and that VITA means life. Of course, the VITA has a deeper library than its detractors are willing to acknowledge, and even barring backwards compatibility and hacked units, there are many official reissues of older games in the library. While it's true the VITA would be a great choice in this scenario, I think I'd rather go with a console. While I haven't specified what kind of display is available, let's just say it's large. I have a projector and a huge screen on my desert island and can play console games in the moonlight.
 
So let's cut to the chase. I'm choosing the Playstation 3, which in real life is, to this day, my most played console. From what I can gather, the Playstation 3 North American library consists of over 1,000 titles, so even I spent about a week on each game, I have about twenty years of content. Of course there are tons of games I wouldn't want to play at all, but who knows? Perhaps if I was on a desert island I could really get into FIFA or the NASCAR games. On the other end of the time spent per game concept are RPGs like Persona 5 and the Fallout and Mass Effect series. I would have to deal with the lesser technical performance of some of these games versus their counterparts on the XBOX 360, but I've done it many times before. The PS3 library is extremely diverse and contains pretty much every genre you could think of. On a desert island the backlog is only behind food as a priority, but paradoxically you have the rest of your life to experience it. Perhaps I'd spend most of time wreaking havoc randomly in Metal Gear Solid V as I do now. Perhaps I'd play, and replay, and 100% the Earth Defense Force games available on the console.

So there are two ways this could go, and I have a feeling that the situation would map pretty close to my current reality. I would probably go through streaks of playing a single game that I'm already familiar with for a very long time, and at other times I could try new things and come out of my comfort zone. I have plenty of PS3 games on my shelf right now that serve both purposes and if I was stuck on a desert island with only a PS3, I know I would be entertained sufficiently for the duration of my stay there.     

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