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[IbizaPocholo]

Sony may have flown too close to the sun with the PS3, but its fall from grace is what led to the PS4’s success.

The PlayStation 3 stumbled out of the gate back in 2006, nearly costing Sony the console war. But through hard lessons learned, paved the way for the PS4’s overwhelming success. So where did Sony go wrong with the PS3, and how exactly did it right its course?

Join Kurt Indovina for this episode of Remember When as he looks back on the PS3’s rocky launch, its infamous cell technology, and how Sony managed to climb its way back up the food chain. Kurt also invites CNET editor Jeff Bakalar to give some extra insight, and fill some gaps on the PS3’s troublesome launch.

 

[Area61]

In the end it's not the hardware but the software fight for you. Otherwise Nintendo won't even exist competing with such teraflops.

 

[stranno]

No catalog? Its fine, I want my 215 PS3 for an SPU computing farm.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

It lost to the WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII though.

 

[SlimySnake]

Even when arrogant Sony was out there pricing their console at $599, they were still investing in exclusives. Resistance, Motorstorm, Uncharted, Ratchet, Heavenly Sword, Warhawk and several other games all launched in the first year. The year after that they had MGS4,LBP, Socom, Resistance 2, and Motorstorm Pacific rift. Then came KZ2, Uncharted 2, Infamous and the rest as they say is history.

MS did the complete opposite after messing up the price.

 

[Romulus]

I still feel like they lost. They may have sold a few million more but coming off the ps2's unprecedented success and barely managing to overtake the 360 was embarrassing.
The 360 sold nearly as many ps3's and was one of the least reliable consoles of all time
Everyone knew it, yet many still bought it over ps3. Not to mention xbox fanbase from the OG xbox was extremely tiny.

 

[Birdo]

Where I live the 360 was king. All my friends mocked me for buying a PS3 a few months after launch.

It's crazy that by the end of the gen, it was back on top. The desperation really kicked Sony up the butt.

 

[JimiNutz]

I still feel like they lost. They may have sold a few million more but coming off the ps2's unprecedented success and barely managing to overtake the 360 was embarrassing.
The 360 sold nearly as many ps3's and was one of the least reliable consoles of all time
Everyone knew it, yet many still bought it over ps3. Not to mention xbox fanbase from the OG xbox was extremely tiny.

It's true, it was a loss for Sony considering the success of the PS2.

That being said, it's also kind of shitty for MS that their greatest success still only resulted in them coming third place at the end of that generation.

 

[Romulus]

It's true, it was a loss for Sony considering the success of the PS2.

That being said, it's also kind of shitty for MS that their greatest success still only resulted in them coming third place at the end of that generation.

Absolutely, the best shot they had was literally in their foot.

 

[Nikana]

What do you mean almost? Wii Beat them.

 

[Kokoloko85]

What do you mean almost? Wii Beat them.

I think by almost it means from going from last place losing 2nd place...

Plus Wii doesn’t count because Nintendo for the first time went a complete different direction to the standard console war and they havent joined back in since. They are clearly doing there own thing.

Everyone knows the main console war was between PlayStation and Xbox

 

[Rudius]

PS3 is the biggest comeback of all time in gaming. It finished the generation with the best games, many released in its last big year, and outlived the Wii by a large margin.

 

[Kokoloko85]

I still feel like they lost. They may have sold a few million more but coming off the ps2's unprecedented success and barely managing to overtake the 360 was embarrassing.
The 360 sold nearly as many ps3's and was one of the least reliable consoles of all time
Everyone knew it, yet many still bought it over ps3. Not to mention xbox fanbase from the OG xbox was extremely tiny.

Playstation still is the comeback king. Released a year later, more expensive, more 3rd party issues, losing exclusives to xbox and not many launch games.
The world and media had them dead and out. All about the exclusives

 

[Mr Hyde]

Sony tried to make the ultimate multimedia console but fell short of the mark. "It only does everything" became a meme due to stripped down functions, such as removing PS2 and Linux-support.

However, nobody can deny the premium value Sony tried to offer, even with such arrogant statements about getting two jobs.

They pushed out great exclusives that became hallmarks of the brand, and they found their niche with their top of the line singleplayer adventures.

In a way, I'm glad that Sony fucked up initially because I've never seen them so motivated to push their brand back to the top. It was during this time Sony realized the value of Playstation, and what it meant to not fuck over their customers. They burned their fingers so bad that I don't think they'll ever make the same mistake again.

The future looks great looking down the road and it's all thanks to the failure of the Playstation 3.

 

[Nikana]

I think by almost it means from going from last place losing 2nd place...

Plus Wii doesn’t count because Nintendo for the first time went a complete different direction to the standard console war and they havent joined back in since. They are clearly doing there own thing.

Everyone knows the main console war was between PlayStation and Xbox.

Sounds like a narrative to move goal posts to me.

They still make video games and compete with Xbox and Playstation. I can play Witcher 3 and Overwatch on Switch the same way I can on Xbox One and PS4.

 

[gow3isben]

Even when arrogant Sony was out there pricing their console at $599, they were still investing in exclusives. Resistance, Motorstorm, Uncharted, Ratchet, Heavenly Sword, Warhawk and several other games all launched in the first year. The year after that they had MGS4,LBP, Socom, Resistance 2, and Motorstorm Pacific rift. Then came KZ2, Uncharted 2, Infamous and the rest as they say is history.

MS did the complete opposite after messing up the price.

Huh, so why did the “PS3 haz no gaemz” meme happen?

 

[Kokoloko85]

Sounds like a narrative to move goal posts to me.

They still make video games and compete with Xbox and Playstation. I can play Witcher 3 and Overwatch on Switch the same way I can on Xbox One and PS4.

Doesn't bother me where the goal posts are.

The title isnt who won last gen. It was Remember when PS3 they almost lost.
Which they didn't lose.

Undoubtedly losing is left to who was in 3rd place that gen..... The xbox 360

 

[lastmessiah]

Sounds like a narrative to move goal posts to me.

They still make video games and compete with Xbox and Playstation. I can play Witcher 3 and Overwatch on Switch the same way I can on Xbox One and PS4.

I wonder if Sony execs think Nintendo "doesn't count" .

 

[Nikana]

Doesn't bother me where the goal posts are.

The title isnt who won last gen. It was Remember when PS3 they almost lost.
Which they didn't lose.

Undoubtedly losing is left to who was in 3rd place that gen..... The xbox 360

So third place is losing and second isn't? So if I was in a race and I came in second I didn't lose? Definitely didn't win though....

 

[Azelover]

The Wii won the war.

 

[The Fartist]

So third place is losing and second isn't? So if I was in a race and I came in second I didn't lose? Definitely didn't win though....

You know exactly what he means, don't play dumb.

 

[diffusionx]

It did lose the console war. Just because it squeaked in at the end and sold 5 more units than the Xbox 360 after MS stopped caring doesn't mean it won anything. The PS3 was a disaster that lost Sony a ton of money and lots of mindshare and sold a fraction of what the PS2 did. If MS didn't make the worst mistake ever of putting Don Mattrick in charge they might still be paying for those mistakes.

 

[Kokoloko85]

So third place is losing and second isn't? So if I was in a race and I came in second I didn't lose? Definitely didn't win though....

Your right but compared to where they were in the first few years it was a victory compared to an utter defeat.

Wii was way ahead and just in A different landscape.

Being 2nd was a big difference to where they were. Were you around the ps3/360 era? the PS3 and the future looked bleak and dead.
Going from a failure to where they ended was a miracle

 

[Nikana]

Your right but compared to where they were in the first few years it was a victory compared to an utter defeat.

Wii was way ahead and just in A different landscape.

Being 2nd was a big difference to where they were. Were you around the ps3/360 era? the PS3 and the future looked bleak and dead.
Going from a failure to where they ended was a miracle

I'm not denying that at all. I was 60GB launch owner and the thing sat there with no use for months with it's Fisher Price controller.

But it doesn't change the fact that the Wii bitch slapped them both.

 

[Happosai]

Sony may have flown too close to the sun with the PS3, but its fall from grace is what led to the PS4’s success.

The PlayStation 3 stumbled out of the gate back in 2006, nearly costing Sony the console war. But through hard lessons learned, paved the way for the PS4’s overwhelming success. So where did Sony go wrong with the PS3, and how exactly did it right its course?

Join Kurt Indovina for this episode of Remember When as he looks back on the PS3’s rocky launch, its infamous cell technology, and how Sony managed to climb its way back up the food chain. Kurt also invites CNET editor Jeff Bakalar to give some extra insight, and fill some gaps on the PS3’s troublesome launch.

Well, they kinda did lose. The console's price was a problem from the get-go and the catalogue of games initially didn't seem that great. The gen1 PS3 that was backwards emulating and had all the extra ports would have been great (except it had no HDMI and a very small hard drive memory). Ultimately, it got better, though.

 

[dave_d]

If anybody wants to see the sales stats here you go.

 

[Romulus]

Playstation still is the comeback king. Released a year later, more expensive, more 3rd party issues, losing exclusives to xbox and not many launch games.
The world and media had them dead and out. All about the exclusives

I mean the xbox 360 wasn't that hard to come back against. Sony had the largest install base by a massive margin. Ps3 sold very well at launch with all those issues so that tells you right away.
Now if the 360 was a reliable console, then I would agree 100%, but it was literally the worst of all time. And the exclusives and games were mediocre at best. Sonys were never great during the ps3 gen either but it was just too easy to beat 360, handed on a silver platter.

 

[Grinchy]

It's still insane that they were able to catch up with not only launching 12 months later in the US (15 months later in EU) but costing $200 more than the 360. That is an absolute death sentence for anyone else. That's "SEGA has to go 3rd party now" kind of bad maneuvering. And they still ended up selling almost 90M...

 

[Fake]

Slow news...

 

[PlayerPurple]

With PS5 on the horizon (and its price still unknown), the timing of GameSpot releasing a video focusing on "Arrogant Sony" rhetoric is a little suspect. Almost feels like they're trying to "warn" Sony not to release another expensive console on principle...as if that will always end badly.

Well, I hope Sony/consumers don't take the bait.

Key point: PS3's price was so high because of its Blu-Ray drive, and Sony didn't offer an SKU without it. PS5, on the other hand, has a Digital-Only Edition, which will most likely cut costs enough for those who really want a lower-priced machine.

So the pricing problem seems to be accounted for this time.

As someone who still thinks the launch PS3 is one of the best value purchases I've made, and was rather underwhelmed with PS4/PS4 Pro hardware, I'd welcome the return of a premium, feature rich Sony console.

 

[Elektro Demon]

What do you mean almost? Wii Beat them.

They've beaten them in hardware sales. In terms of games sold, I think ps3 won on that front. And a lot of those sales came from casuals and not the core gamer crowd. Which translates poorly into next gen. Casuals only bought the wii and you can clearly see that those wii sales didn't translate into wii u. The "core" gamer sales are what matters, imo.

 

[Aion002]

Best gen ever in terms of console wars.

The 360 launched first and got the crown, then the ps3 and the wii arrived going after the 360 kingdom, at first MS stood their ground and unleashed amazing games, but eventually they got corrupted by the Wii success, that brought to the war an innovative tool that made everybody amazed, the problem was, that the mere copy made by MS proved to be a dumb thing and they insisted on it, while the ps3 got arrogant and sent their soldiers with an amazing tool, but... Too hard to use, so they failed hard at first.. However, they didn't quit and made everything they could to recover.

At the end: The Wii got it deserving first place, the Ps3 fought bravely and recuperated their honor and the 360, that had everything conquered, perished in disgrace.

 

[ScaryBrandon]

I think by almost it means from going from last place losing 2nd place...

Plus Wii doesn’t count because Nintendo for the first time went a complete different direction to the standard console war and they havent joined back in since. They are clearly doing there own thing.

Everyone knows the main console war was between PlayStation and Xbox

Nope. Wii won that generation fair and square no matter how many mental gymnastics you perform.

 

[Ten_Fold]

The wii won FREE, the ps3 didn’t get hot till 09 imo. The 360 was good from 05-2010, when they went the Kinect route, no more big exclusives besides gears, they pretty much messed up.

 

[gow3isben]

The Wii won the war.

In my opinion to win the war you have to not only lead sales but set yourself up for success in the next generation...which...yeah

 

[Nikana]

They've beaten them in hardware sales. In terms of games sold, I think ps3 won on that front. And a lot of those sales came from casuals and not the core gamer crowd. Which translates poorly into next gen. Casuals only bought the wii and you can clearly see that those wii sales didn't translate into wii u. The "core" gamer sales are what matters, imo.

I just don't follow the mentality that because they adapted a new market along with the core they weren't "competing." It was the same market plus new customers.

If the Wii wasn't bought by core gamers and strictly casual fans then sure, but everyone had a Wii from every end of the market.

Same business model.

 

[Insane Metal]

"How is that light on tho" lol

 

[Vawn]

Remember the time where the Patriots "almost" didn't win the Super Bowl?

 

[Breakage]

I still remember when Phil Harrison attempted to justify the loss of rumble technology in the Sixaxis.

 

[NullZ3r0]

Games saved their bacon. Notably, first party games.

 

[The_Mike]

Where I live the 360 was king. All my friends mocked me for buying a PS3 a few months after launch.

It's crazy that by the end of the gen, it was back on top. The desperation really kicked Sony up the butt.

But in the end Sony won because of brand loyalty.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Nope. Wii won that generation fair and square no matter how many mental gymnastics you perform.

Lol Im not playing mental gymnastics, its facts. I couldnt care less if you think wii won a generation. And I couldnt care if they won.

Nintendo was way beyond the competition. It was selling a gamecube with motion controllers for £180 vs £300+ consoles that were many times stronger. It was last gen tech with a motion controller. Not next gen.

No1 was comparing PS3 and 360 to the wii. did they share games like most generations consoles do? No.

Wii couldnt handle current gen games at the time,, thats why they made the Wii U....

So what is the PS4 and Xbox 1’s competiton. The Wii U? or the Switch?

My point is Nintendo is doing there own thing

 

[Kokoloko85]

I'm not denying that at all. I was 60GB launch owner and the thing sat there with no use for months with it's Fisher Price controller.

But it doesn't change the fact that the Wii bitch slapped them both.

I had no use for my PS3 early months either, but in the long run my gamecube I mean Wii with fisher price motion controls never got used either.

I guess. But to me its not really much of a bitch slap cause the thing sold for half the price and half the power of the “competition” . It couldnt play current gen games. So whoever owned a wii, instead of PS3 or 360 missed out of that generation of games. It was last gen tech.

To me its like If apple comes out next year and releases the Iphone 7 again with a new case and at a fraction of the competition’s price. Against Samsungs and Googles latest tech phones and then claim to beat the latest Samsungs and Google phones....

It makes no difference to me if Wii won a generation or not, or if that makes people happy. It was a pile of commercial wank either way and the worst console of the 3 gaming wise.

 

[Zekra Dezivad]

I still feel like they lost. They may have sold a few million more but coming off the ps2's unprecedented success and barely managing to overtake the 360 was embarrassing.
The 360 sold nearly as many ps3's and was one of the least reliable consoles of all time
Everyone knew it, yet many still bought it over ps3. Not to mention xbox fanbase from the OG xbox was extremely tiny.

Actually is relative of where do you live. In a lot of countries in Europe there wasn't really a perception of what microsoft accomplished in the US. I think it's safe to say that ps3 "lost" in US, but elsewhere it did very very good. It sold at an extraordinary pace since it recovered 1+ year of sales and all the millions of disadvantage in the US.
I believe that in the PAL territories they had a real success story.

 

[Nikana]

I had no use for my PS3 early months either, but in the long run my gamecube I mean Wii with fisher price motion controls never got used either.

I guess. But to me its not really much of a bitch slap cause the thing sold for half the price and half the power of the “competition” . It couldnt play current gen games. So whoever owned a wii, instead of PS3 or 360 missed out of that generation of games. It was last gen tech.

To me its like If apple comes out next year and releases the Iphone 7 again with a new case and at a fraction of the competition’s price. Against Samsungs and Googles latest tech phones and then claim to beat the latest Samsungs and Google phones....

It makes no difference to me if Wii won a generation or not, or if that makes people happy. It was a pile of commercial wank either way and the worst console of the 3 gaming wise.

Again, I dont understand why because it had "different" games and was sold cheaper means it didn't compete? Its the same business model.

Saying you missed out on games if you didnt have a 360 or PS3 seems like a reach to me. I actually preferred the Wii Library of exclusives in the end compared to Sony's. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are some of my favorite games ever. I could say you missed out on some amazing games if you didn't have a Wii. MP3, SMG 1 &2, Xenoblade, No More Heroes, Mario Strikers, Punch Out, Smash Brawl, Mario Kart Wii were all games that were only on Wii and I would not classify them as "not current gen" simply because they were rendered in 480p.

 

[Kokoloko85]

I just don't follow the mentality that because they adapted a new market along with the core they weren't "competing." It was the same market plus new customers.

If the Wii wasn't bought by core gamers and strictly casual fans then sure, but everyone had a Wii from every end of the market.

Same business model.

Its because to me they went a different direction.
Every other generation they had similar games to each other.
Nes vs Master System. Snes vs Genesis. N64 vs PS1 vs Saturn. Dreamcast vs PS2 vs Gamecube vs Xbox.
Then Wii stays stagnant and did there own thing. Same with Wii U, it was a previous generation strength wise compared to PS4 and Xbox 1.

Wii was the first time they said nah, we’ll still use the same console tech with motion controls not follow the competition. Instead of going next gen, upgrade]ing tech and do something to rival them.

Tbh its not that important. I actually didnt think people belived Wii was in competition with PS3 and 360 until I saw this thread. So its not for me to argue about.
We all made fun of friend for actually falling for the Wii hype and believing it as his next gen console. He was a die hard Nintendo fan.
He went on to buy a real next gen console soon after And never went back to Nintendo.
It was trash, Ill never forget the commercial where the guy was jumping behind his couch to shoot in Metroid..... what gimmicky crap

 

[Psykodad]

Huh, so why did the “PS3 haz no gaemz” meme happen?

Xbox fans.
The first few years, Sony had to deal with the backfire from the infamous Killzone and Motorstorm CGI trailers.
Those two still being used to mock Sony's 1st party reveal trailers to this day.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Again, I dont understand why because it had "different" games and was sold cheaper means it didn't compete? Its the same business model.

Saying you missed out on games if you didnt have a 360 or PS3 seems like a reach to me. I actually preferred the Wii Library of exclusives in the end compared to Sony's. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are some of my favorite games ever. I could say you missed out on some amazing games if you didn't have a Wii. MP3, SMG 1 &2, Xenoblade, No More Heroes, Mario Strikers, Punch Out, Smash Brawl, Mario Kart Wii were all games that were only on Wii and I would not classify them as "not current gen" simply because they were rendered in 480p.

Its not a reach to me. Thats how I fee lol. The Wii was a gimmic fisher price toy to me with a library of games that could run on a gamecube. It was the first time in console history the next gen actually didnt progress in power. In my eyes the Wii U had better games.

Nes -> SNes -> n64 -> gamecube all had significant changes in power.

Its not that hard to understand where im coming from. And Its my opinion, I wouldnt class them as compeition, not saying thats how it is.
Phones are also the same business model but not all in competition with each other other. E.g Iphones latest phones ( PS3, 360 ) arent in competition with samsung low end models that sells for half the price ( the wii ) but they are in competition with the high end models.

To me Nintendo took themselves out of the competition, and have done since. The Wii, Wii U and Switch have been all made regardless of what Playstation and Xbox do. There not competing with them. Clearly they are doing there own thing and releasing consoles/hybrids on there own time.

Whereas the Xbox and Playstation make machines with similar specs and release consoles at the same time as each other and have the same games as each other most the time..... why because they COMPETE with each other......

Nintendo doesnt sell high powered consoles that compete with the competition, they relase consoles like the Wii, the Wii U and a hybrid like the Switch. They do there own thing.
Yes they in the same business but they don't have competition. Whos Nintendo’s competition now? The PS4, PS5, 3DS, Xbox? tablet and mobile? Or they just doing there own thing

This is how I feel. If you think the Switch is competion to the PS4 and Xbox thats cool and yours or everyones opinion.

The whole point of this thread was that PS3 didnt lose, didnt come in last and didnt become a thing of the past like the early Days of PS3 looked like.

 

[oldergamer]

Sony was lucky that MS changed focus after Peter Moore left. Kinect ushered in some serious shitty years until spencer took over.

 

[Gamerguy84]

What a bad time for Sony. They release the most expensive console ever and the economy crashed. On top they were losing over $200 for every one sold.

Samsung and Vizio came along and destroyed their TV business. Smartphones killing their camera business. They were taking a beating from all sides.

In gaming forums xbox fans had their pitchforks out ready to throw the parade of Sony bowing out.

Then Sony WWS started putting out quality games and MS threw it all away on kinect.

Crazy times.