Which games console to buy?

I broke my leg recently and I'm looking into getting a console to ease my boredom, but I'm a bit wary. I have a laptop and while it's good, it's pre-vista and a bit outdated for the modern games. Playstation and xbox seem to be very expensive and I'm worried that a new version is just on the horizon, making my console outdated and won't be money well spent. What are you're thoughts and please, no jokes about getting the wii!