The PS3

Well it happened. After months and months of telling myself we couldn't get to that point, it happened. I am a PS3 widow.

I didn't plan for this. In fact, I planned for quite the opposite. We have enough video game systems to last the rest of the century. A Super Nintendo. A Nintendo 64. A PS2. A Wii. Why, might I ask would we ever need a PS3?

My husband will tell you its because of its amazing graphics, online capabilities, and BluRay disc player. I will tell you it is so that he can justify that even though he's turning 31, he's still a young gamer at heart.

I really thought I'd get out of this one. I thought for sure he'd hem and haw at the fact that yet another video game system had passed him by. This one would be a no-brainer. We just couldn't afford it. When they first came out we had just bought the Wii, and once the price dropped we had bought the house and were thinking of getting the dog. Oh shucks. But then came that fateful evening when my father-in-law, who I really love to death, called me up to ask how I would feel if they baited Jim with a PS3 to finish his degree. What do I say? No problem! He'd love it! Inside my head I'm thinking: he'd never take them up on that..that's just too much bribing.

I'm too damn nice. And too damn naiive.

So it's here. In my living room. There are games and controllers on my coffee table. As I type I'm listening to the oh so soothing sounds of machine guns and men screaming. As I'm drinking my coffee in the morning, getting dressed, and doing my makeup, I am accompanied by the sounds of rally cars and my husband shouting "That's so &$#@& awesome!!"

I am a PS3 widow.

And now the disclaimer, or I may be sleeping on the couch.

As much as I dreaded it all, it hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected. The night he picked it up, Jim brought me home American Idol Karaoke, and even played it with me for two nights in a row. He makes sure to do something nice like clean the kitchen before he plays, and when I ask if we can hang out without the PS3 for a bit, he doesn't hesitate to put the controller down. It's as if he can...wait for it...balance a video game system AND a wifey.

There may be hope for the world after all.