So, I bought me a new PS3.

As you may or may not know, I was recently having troubles with my PS3. After doing some research, and searching the area around where I live, I determined that since my PS3 was well out of warranty (I'd had it for over three years, and no extended warranty), there was only one place where I could possibly get it repaired. Trouble is, that place only replaces the laser, and I wasn't sure it was the laser, and it'd cost $50 just to open it up and get it looked at. Plus it'd be another $70 to get the laser replaced. So, I decided that rather than spending $120 and possibly having something else go wrong, I'd just get a new PS3. 
 
And thus, on Black Friday, I casually strolled into a KMart mid morning (like 9 o'clock), and bought a 160 GB PS3 for 2 hundo bones, and it came with a $25 gift card. It also came bundled with Uncharted 2 (which I already own), Karate Kid on Blu-ray (which I don't care about, even though it has Jackie Chan), and a code to download PixelJunk Shooter (which is really fun).  
 
And so I bought the thing home, transferred my saves and whatnot over to the new one (which was pretty easy, though it took a while). I then proceeded to beat Blops' campaign (which I loved, my favorite CoD campaign yet), and then spent the rest of the weekend playing online.  
 
Overall my impressions of the PS3 Slim are pretty positive. It's now much smaller, lighter, and I believe it uses less energy (or at the very least it has a two pronged plug rather than a three prong-er, which to me means less energy being used (or at the very least it doesn't need to be grounded)).  
 
But there are some things I don't like. First off, the cords it came with are criminally short. While I was expecting this for the USB cable to charge the controller (more on that in a minute), I wasn't for the power cable. It's literally several feet shorter than the one for my old PS3. Thankfully I kept my PS3 close enough to a power source that this wasn't an issue, but I could definitely see it being one.  
 
Second, I don't like that a bunch of things were removed. For example, I know have several PS2 games that are useless, because so far as I know, the new ones are not backwards compatible (and I don't have a PS2). Also, I now only have two USB holes, and yes, I regularly had more than two things hooked into my PS3 (I had two cables for controller charging, and a wireless dealy fro my Guitar Hero controller). And they removed the various memory card slots on the front that I only used once or twice, but still.  
 
I also don't like the look of the new one. It isn't shiny. And while my old one had a couple lights on the front that lit up/changed colors depending on whether the thing was on/ a disc was in there, with the new one, the position of the light(s) has been moved, and now it's in a spot where I can't see it (also, it isn't as bright). I can still see the wifi/hard drive lights, but it's only a minor problem. Also, I liked the heat sensor pseudo-buttons on the old one, and am sad that they were replaced with regular-ass buttons.  
 
And the disc drive seems a lot noisier than my old one. Not in a, "This thing is broken way" though. Maybe it has more to do with the fan(s) being much quieter than my old one (probably because the thing doesn't heat up as much). But again, not a huge issue.
 
And now my thoughts on the DualShock 3 controller (because yes, I had been using Sixaxis controllers all this time). Feeling rumble coming out of a PlayStation controller seemed weird at first (remember, I had no PS2), but now I'm rather used to it, and it's nice. The controller has a lot of weight to it (in a good way), and feels solid. The buttons/sticks also feel nicer/more responsive, but that may have more to do with the fact that it hasn't been used for three years like my other ones.  
 
So overall, I am pleased. I now have a working PS3 again, and it can hold much more data than my last one. And now I have a new controller, and can make use of rumble in games again. 
 
Which means I need to replay MGS4, and see how that seen plays out with rumble. People who have played the game know what I'm talking about. I have a feeling it won't be as funny.  
 
It also means that I will now be able to finish the several PS3 games I have backlogged (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Vanquish, and AC: Brotherhood), but sadly not until winter break.  
 
In other news, I also played a good amount of Fallout: New Vegas before I got my new PS3 (I got it on 360). Loving the game overall, and (knock on wood), have not experienced too many bugs (and it's "only" crashed on me thrice). And I managed to play the game for over 30 hours without actually stepping foot into The Strip (though I have spent a good amount of time in Freeside, so I can't really say that I haven't gone into New Vegas at all, but I was able to say that for my first 20 hours).  
 
Not sure what I think of it in comparison to Fallout 3 though. It's better in a lot of ways, but not as good in other (I'm specifically talking about perks every other level, and no bobble heads; and I don't like the setting as much). But I'm still a long ways away from completing it, so I can't give fully judgement yet.