For the past few years, I've felt like I'm sitting on the sidelines of this console generation. The only current-gen console that I own is a Wii, and even so, I still spend twice as much time playing my PS2 as I do Nintendo's waggle-machine. This experience mirrors my time with the last generation of consoles, when I didn't buy a PS2 until 2004, and ended up playing catch-up for a while after. I've been giving serious consideration to purchasing Sony's newest magical box, but a few issues still leave me holding on to my money:
 
1. The recent hick-up that rendered PS3's worldwide unplayable is certainly a matter of concern. I understand that it's probably a one-time occurrence, but it's still troubling.
2. I've still got +20 PS2 games that I haven't finished up yet. Why buy a new console when there's quite a bit left to do on the old one?
3. Perhaps the biggest hindrance to me is the lack of backwards compatibility with PS2/PS1 games. I simply can't justify spending money on something that's just going to further clot my already-cluttered play-space with more wires, while failing to eliminate the older machine from active use. What really irks me about this is that, in the beginning of the PS3's life, backwards compatibility was present, but was removed for reasons I don't quite understand.
 
Still, sooner-or-later I'll end of biting the bullet and getting one, but I worry that it will be towards the mid-point or end of this console cycle.
 
On another note, thanks for the new Quest System, Giantbomb!