I was never into console games growing up. I had an old atari, moved up to the SNES (when n64 came out lol), and then moved up to the PS2 (when the PS2 slim came out), and then was given a Wii when it first came out as a present. The ONLY system which I got much use out of (and still use from time to time) is the PS2 (even if just for the DVD player feature). It had great/cheap games (which I still play from time to time), the price was right ($120 bundle with a few games, memory card, and extra controller), and it was entertaining, while looking good on the TVs available at the time.
Today we have crap like the Wii (which I thought innovative, but never found a fun/involving game for), and then we have overpriced crap like the x360 and PS3 which look much better (though not great), but also lack in the 'fun games' department.
Seriously, when are game companies going to realize that we don't want games to look 'real'; we want them to be fun and different! I just got into the new Tribes beta, and they are on to something. The game looks terrible (well, maybe that is a little harsh, but it's way back on dx9c tech), and it is incomplete (thus the beta status), but I have not had this much 'fun' playing a game (much less an FPS, which is not my genre of choice) since the old UT2K3/4 days! No need to over-complicate the game mechanics, just have a bunch of people moving at 100mph out on a field with interesting weapons blowing the b-jesus out of each-other! It's fun! Just like Mario Kart (the only fun game I found on the wii). It does not need to be complicated, or look amazing, it just needs to be fun and interesting. Playing a game where you are walking around a map and your greatest strategy is to hide behind indestructible chest-high walls is not what I call fun.
Lastly, I now have a kid, and while I have a few years before he will be playing video games, I am already looking at what is available and what will be available for him to grow up on. I know for me games were a ton of fun (video games, board games, sports, etc., All types of games!). They teach you creativity within boundaries, how to analyse systems, how to see how other people think/problem solve, etc. I really hope that with the new motion tech, and other input methods coming down the pipe that games become much more interesting than the button mashing/arm flailing that they have turned into today. I firmly believe that good games are the key to taping into intelligence, especially in boys who do not tend to do well in the school system (lol, I know I didn't, and it wasn't for lack of intelligence).