On a sunny summer afternoon, I got home from work ready to sit down in front of the couch to try to finish one of the many games I have failed to complete. When I come home, not even five minutes in the door, my roommate informs me that the PS3 won’t turn on.

I inquire further about the situation, fearing the worst has happened. Apparently, it shut off in the middle of playing a Netflix stream and refused to turn on after that. I go over to the machine to test this for myself and just like she said it doesn’t turn on.

My heart sank to my stomach and I sighed. It died on me. However, I figure all is not lost. It can still be repaired. I start to research around the Internet for solutions to my problem and yes, given the symptoms, it’s a semi-common problem with my model PS3. It’s fixable, that’s what matters.

I search for home remedies instead of having to send it off somewhere. The thought of bringing it back to Sony seemed like a good option. But, reading about the repair process just made me backtrack to the DIY repairs, which I don’t have the tools for. So, I then researched repair shops I could send it to, these sounded like a better idea after some of the things I read about sending it back to the manufacturer. Who can I really trust with my prized system?

Knowing that there is a disc stuck in the drive and my save data hasn’t been back up in a while, I just let my PS3 sit on the shelf. I was fed up with research and contemplating the options … My PS3 has gone weeks without being turned on. I had my Deus Ex: Human Revolution preordered for the system but, had to cancel it since I was still undecided about what to do with only home console.

Now, I was not completely without a source of video entertainment, I still have a pretty decent gaming PC. Even with a PS3, there are still some games I prefer to play with a mouse and keyboard. I opted for buying Deus Ex for my rig. Time went on and I became more and more attached to my PC. It has become a pretty reliable piece of machinery. I have since bought Battlefield 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Windows platform.

In between all this though, I missed sitting in front of my TV, just relaxing with a controller in my hands. There is a certain experience you get in front of a television that you don’t from a sitting a computer chair. The couch is more comfortable but, it doesn’t lean back. Nevertheless, it can feel like a more social experience and more relaxing.

I missed this. Modern technology had burned me. You’ve probably heard the numerous stories of this generation of consoles breaking due to some sort internal malfunction. Did that ever happen in 1986? Probably. Do you have to worry about your Xbox’s hard drive dying? The simple answer is yes.

Putting a different way … A Nintendo from 20 years ago can still play a game pretty much flawlessly but, a state of the art entertainment device can’t even last four years without completely breaking? That’s why I went back. Things were just easier.

Games didn’t used to load, the controls were simple and you probably didn’t have a melodramatic saga of four games with hour long cut scenes. To me, the industry seemed sane then. Now, you have logins, Gamertags and random strangers from the Internet that condemn for a well-placed headshot.

I just want to press start and have the game work.