Sony Interactive Entertainment promised a 10 year life cycle for PS3… and they’ve reached their goal! PS3 is the last 7th generation console in production and it’s been one hell of a ride the entire time. From the cocky Sony and the infamous $599 price tag to the awesome The Last of Us and gorgeous PS3 Super Slim. We’ve made it to the end and now, lets take a look back on this beloved console. PS3 was also used to create a supercomputer, that’s crazy!
PS3 was announced on May 16th, 2005. Man, it featured 2 HDMI ports, 6 USB ports, and 3 Ethernet ports along with no GPU. Obviously, all but 1 Ethernet, 1 HDMI, and 4 USB ports were kept to cut down the cost. The inclusion of a GPU basically saved PS3 as well, or it could’ve been a disaster! PS3 featured the infamous CELL processor, which to this day prevents issues making backwards compatibility a near impossible thing for PS4. But it had backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2 games which was a massive perk. In 2009, we were given the PS3 Slim. Sadly, that removed PS2 backwards compatibility but it was much smaller and lighter as well as got rid of the Spider-Man like logo and gave us the still used today PlayStation font. In 2012, we got the super tiny PS3 Super Slim that had a new take for the way we insert media into the console.
We all saw that crazy ass prototype for the PS3 controller aka the Boomerang. Thankfully, that was swapped for the SixAxis. The SixAxis was wireless and was completely chargeable, also featured motion sensors, and was PS3’s official controller until 2008 when the DualShock 3 was finally released. The DualShock 3 featured higher quality materials, haptic feedback, and a few smaller improvements.
PlayStation 3 featured one MASSIVE feature that killed Xbox 360 users deeply. That was a Blu-Ray player. Now, why was this such a big deal? Storage. PS3 got Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots exclusively not because of a partnership, it was because it was too large to fit on an Xbox 360 disk. Games like GTA V also had to use two disks, one for installing and one for playing instead of just one disk. Furthermore, Blu-Ray disks are scratch resistant, unlike the HD DVD Xbox 360 ended up using.
PS3 had some absolutely EPIC games! To name a few, there’s:
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
- The Last of Us
- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- inFamous
- Assassin’s Creed
- Ni No Kuni
- Bioshock
First party shoved out great games constantly, that what basically saved the console was everything that you couldn’t get on other platforms! A ton of new IPs like Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance, Warhawk, inFamous, Demon Souls, and The Last of Us along with countless others spawn from PS3.
PlayStation 3 also home to a crazy amount of remasters. To name a few, there was Jak & Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Sly Cooper, Splinter Cell, God of War, Devil May Cry, and plenty others. They were the PS2 games just put in 1080p, added trophy support, usually featured 3D.
While there have been some great things about PS3, we can’t forget about the bad. The Great PSN Outage of 2011 stuck down the network for nearly a month. We also saw many games cancelled like Agent, Ape Escape 4, The Dark Knight, The Avengers, and more. Sony also closed studios in 2012, BigBig Studios, Studio Liverpool, and Zipper Interactive.
At E3 2009, Sony revealed the PlayStation Move. Move had 2 controllers, a main motion controller and a “Navigation” controller. Games like Ape Escape, Wonderbook, and loads of others were built on motion controls. Killzone also got a neat accessory that was a plastic gun for Move controllers. Thankfully, we still use them today with PS4 and PS VR.
Sony also had a massive, yet failed attempt, to make 3D gaming happen. At E3 2011, they gave everyone 3D glasses to watch the games in a new dimension! They even went as far as creating a PlayStation 3D Display to try and drive 3D! In the end, 78 PS3 titles supported 3D, but hopefully when glasses-free 3D catches on, we’ll see Sony push 3D again.
PSN just recently passed its 10th anniversary, which allowed PS3 gamers to play online for free, access a huge library of games on the PlayStation Store, and much more! The inclusion of trophies fueled a massive need to complete games as we try to get as many platinums as possible. Platinums have become an addictive achievement that not many can get since they’re usually so hard to get. We’ve also gotten some awesome things like PlayStation Home, a virtual 3D social networking service, thanks to the PlayStation Network. Services like PlayStation Plus gave us online cloud storage and MANY free games.
Gamers also LOVED PS3. Here’s what a few of them had to say when I asked on Twitter.
- “PS3 was a testament to the strength of the brand through self improvement and changing strategy” – @Huvi123
- “The King of Exclusives. So many. So good” – @Joel_Creek
- “Exclusives saved that console” – @TheKillerBee_
- “PS3 was awesome and gave us some fantastic new franchises such as Uncharted, The Last of Us, inFamous, Warhawk, and Resistance” – @GamerUK80Pro
- “Greatest games towards its end, despite early stumbles” – @SwitftNinjaFox
- “Gave us some new friends, first party IPs for sure” – @PlayStationBrah
- “The 1st and 2nd party support was excellent. The quality of the library outweighed the deficiencies of the system.” – @Bowie7070
- “Some of the best exclusives ever. For 600USD, it was a steal back in 06 with everything you got in it. A beast!” – @Godof008
The 7th generation has been rough. However, we’ve got through it together (Kevin Butler helped 😉 ) and in the end, it turned out to be extremely good. Hopefully, the 8th generation could get even better somehow!
Thank you PlayStation 3 for all the memories and hopefully you keep surviving past 10 years! #NeverStopPlaying and have fun!
What’s good PlayStation Nation? 😀
Add me on PSN – xXSly_Fox_RyanXx
Follow me on Twitter – @AlphaFoxWarfare