(I don't have a diminishing interest in TR, I've just been busy with life).
Doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of love for the PS3 here. It's not in my top 3 favorite consoles, and probably not even my top 5, but I do remember it fondly and would consider it a favorite console of mine. Maybe it wasn't the console itself, or the games, but 7th gen is one of my favorite generations of consoles for sure.
I had a friend that got a 60GB model at launch. At the time he had only a CRT, so he brought it over to me because I had an HDTV. I was the first person I knew (of my friends and family) to get an HDTV. He had a few games, but I mainly remember playing Ridge Racer 7. I love arcade style racers.
The first 7th gen console that I got was actually the Wii. I was having a blast with the Wii, and it was sort of a Nintendo renaissance for me. But while I love Nintendo games, I was missing out on the bro/hardcore games. At the time, I had a lot of friends with a 360, and just a few with a PS3, and I was trying to make up my mind which to get (because I couldn't afford both). By the time I decided to get a non-Nintendo 7th gen console the PS3 had already lost its PS2 compatibility, so that was no longer a factor. I was kind of edging toward getting the 360, but the massive failure rate at the time pushed me over the edge to get a PS3. The only problem was the ridiculous price tag that it had!
I first got a PS3 when it had a price drop for the 40GB model. LOL, 40 GB? Whatever. IIRC it was $400 and came with the Sixaxis controller (no rumble). I purchased it along with a DualShock3 (which had just come out) and GTAIV. When I first got a PS2, GTA3 was one of two PS2 games that I owned for a long while, and I sunk countless hours in GTA3. So it seemed fitting to make GTAIV my first PS3 game. But by this time, GTA was just sort of "meh" for me. It's not that I didn't have fun playing IV, it's just that it was more of the same. I played through the story and that was about it. A far cry from the many hours I spent with GTA3.
I sort of remember the "PS3 has no games" memes, but to me it was just the internet making a mountain out of a mole hill like it does for most things. I kind of remember a drought-ish period for new PS3 games, but there were already so many games out that I haven't had a chance to play. When people complain about game droughts, I always wonder if they do nothing but sit and play games.
One of the first games that I sunk a lot of time into on the PS3 was Mortal Kombat II. This was before the Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection came out. PSN had a near perfect arcade port of MKII with local and online multiplayer. MKII is one of my all-time favorite games, and this was the first time I could play a near perfect port on a console (not counting MAME). Xbox Live had Ultimate MK3 as an exclusive, and I remember being happy that I choose the PS3 over the 360 LOL.
Star Wars The Force Unleashed was one of the early PS3 games I had. I remember enjoying this one a lot. I've been meaning to give it another play, and I have yet to play the sequel.
I can remember downloading the demo for Bioshock and being blown away by how awesome it was. I promptly purchased a copy, and I had a shit ton of fun playing through it. The sequel was also a lot of fun, but at the time I remember thinking it just felt like more of the same after playing the first one through a few times. However, I just recently replayed the first two Bioshocks for the first time in a long while, and they definitely hold up. In fact, I think I like the second one better now. I have yet to play Infinite, despite owning a copy for the PS3 as well as Steam for a while now. I'm sure it's fun, it's just that the drastic change in atmosphere didn't do anything for me. Rapture was a dark and scary place, a perfect horror setting. The city in the sky looks like Disney. Not that there's anything wrong with that, per se. I love Nintendo games, which are usually very bright and colorful. It's just that the chemistry that made up the first two games was drastically changed.
Another game I spent a lot of time with was the first LittleBigPlanet. I played this game co-op with my brother a lot, and we were trying to 100% the game and "ace" (no damage) every level, which is much harder to do with two people. We were very close to the end of the game when we had a set back due to lost progress. More on this in a bit. I got LBP2, but have yet to play it. Anyone remember LBP Karting? I liked this one, and had a lot of fun building a couple of tracks.
I always tend to forget about digital-only games that I have purchased, but I do have quite a few of them on the PS3. Scot Pilgrim I had a lot of fun with. I got Turtles Reshelled too, before it was delisted. Street Fight II HD Remix was definitely awesome. And I was glad to see the HD remaster of Medal of Honor Frontline (it was previously included with another MOH game, then released alone on PSN). I probably have a few more digital PSN games that I'm forgetting about.
After having the PS3 for a while, the 40GB HDD was becoming an issue. Upgrading to a larger drive wasn't a hard thing to do. But at the time, I wen with another option. First, I remember reading that the thermal paste in the PS3 phats dries up and should be replaced. And then GameStop had a really good deal. They had a promo that was offering X % more for console trades, and simultaneously had a PS3 Slim deal that would get you a free game. IIRC, there were three games to choose from, with Mortal Kombat (9) being one of them. Since I was planning on getting MK9 anyway, and factoring the cost of a new HDD, it actually worked out better to just trade my 40 GB phat and get a slim. So that's what I ended up doing. I think it's the 120 GB model. Or was it 160 GB? I don't remember, but it's more than I'll ever need in it. Oh, and I traded that Sixaxis controller with the phat, naturally, and the Slim game with DS3. So that was another perk of the deal.
South Park Stick of Truth was another game I spent some time with. I thought it was a lot of fun. I hadn't watched South Park in many years, not since around the time the movie came out. But this came was really well done, and it made me want to watch the show again. I still have to play The Fractured But Whole.
There were many more games that I picked up for the PS3, just not very many that I got around to playing. This started a long period of me collecting a lot of games but playing very little of them. So I have a pretty decent PS3 collection, for one day when I feel like playing it again.