You can also use a lot of USB controllers, or use something like a MayFlash adapter to use just about any controller you want.
You can do this in software too if you wanted to use something like a generic Logitech PC controller or an Xbox 360 controller. Very plug and play.
If they ever add a PS3 emulator to the PS5, or if the PS5 library grows in general, it could still overtake the PS3 in the future.
That’s something I was kind of disappointed with when it came to the PS4. I thought it might have PS3 backwards compatibility and be pretty much the perfect system for me. A lot of the games I have been playing the past couple years (on PC) were released for the PS4 like Control, Death Stranding, Dying Light, and Far Cry 4 to name few.
All that said I did phrase the question in a way that omits backwards compatibility, game costs (with the price of retro games these days it would be enough to keep me from picking anything sixth generation or below), emulation, and online play because I was more curious what generation of games people think they could play in a kind of stuck on a dessert island scenario. Ignoring all of that I feel like going with the most recent generation of Playstation would be the way I’d go. It’s moddable, online is still available, backwards compatible with a lot of PS2 games, and you don’t really need to worry about a lot of the typical wear if everything is digital.