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History of Playstation 3 (retrospective)

With the PS4 most likely revealing on Wednesday 20th February 2013, I thought it prudent to make a thread where we can look back and discuss the highs and lows of, in my opinion, the best overall system this gen.

Please keep all discussion civil and friendly :)

YEAR 0 - THE BEGINNING: May 16th 2005 (E3)

Sony came off the huge success of their second home console the Playstation 2, with the announcement at E3 2005 of its successor, the Playstation 3.

You can watch the SONY E3 2005 CONFERENCE here.

The original console looked very similar to the first iteration released the following year, however it was silver instead of black in colour, and the controller was vastly different. Although it featured the standard button layout of its predecessor, the shape of the pad itself was radically different, mimicking that of a boomerang.

Original concept design shown at E3 2005:
PS3-early-concept.jpg


The console promised ridiculously high specs when first unveiled. These included:
- 2 HDMI ports (later cut to 1)
- 3 Ethernet ports (later cut to 1)
- 6 USB ports (later cut to 4)

It was also announced that the system would feature hyper-realistic CG quality graphics and Blu Ray playback. Blu Ray at the time was very early in its infancy and it seemed very risky and needlessly expensive to add in such a drive when DVD was still predominant.

Sony revealed games in production for the system at the conference too. Their first party showings looked incredible and overshadowed Microsoft with its fairly poor, comparably, Xbox 360 showing. However, it was soon proven that these 'gameplay trailers' were nothing more than CG videos produced by an advertising studio for Sony's conference.

The original 'gameplay' videos:
- KILLZONE
- MOTORSTORM

Sony came blazing out of the gate hot off the success of the worlds most popular and influential games console with a system that promised to be insanely powerful, stuffed full of the latest tech (WiFi, HDMI, Blu Ray, Cell Processor) and showcasing too good to be true visuals. E3 05 went down like a storm and although Sony wouldn't launch alongside Microsoft in November 2005 they had the public's vote... until...

YEAR 1 - RIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER: (E3 2006)

SONYS E3 2006 PRESS CONFERENCE the low points of possibly the worst E3 Console showing of all time. Not Konami levels of bad, but it's worse when you factor in that this was the final E3 BEFORE the PS3 launched.

It now became clear that while the PS3 was still a bit of a graphics powerhouse, it was no where near the level originally promised and sat fairly equally alongside Microsoft's Xbox 360. The controller had now reverted back to the original design, although it contained a motion control 'waggle' gimmick dubbed 'sixaxis'. This was a feature that was shoehorned haphazardly into a number of early titles but has since, thankfully, been dropped from most games.

The biggest shock came from the announcement of the console's price point. $599 US dollars. The only person happy with this price was this guy:

mqdefault.jpg


Still there were some exciting announcements -
FINAL FANTASY XIII
FINAL FANTASY VERSUS XIII
METAL GEAR SOLID 4

While there was definitely a backlash and this event had hurt the PS3 and Sony's reputation, people were still very much excited to get their hands on the final product come November 2006.

THE LAUNCH (11th November 2006 JP / 17th November 2006 US / 23rd March 2007 EU)

first_ps3_fan_uk425.jpg


2 SKUs 20GB and 60GB. Both BC with PS1 and PS2.

The Launch Commercial
THIS was a launch commercial. Prepare to be scared...

Big First Party launch titles

Resistance: Fall of man
302969900_4e91930f8a_z.jpg

Motorstorm
motorstorm-20061201080029215_640w.jpg


Big Third Party launch titles

Madden NFL 07
madden-nfl-07-first-look-20060505024925236-1489409_640w.jpg

Call of Duty 3
928655_20070118_640screen002.jpg

Riiiiiiiidge Racer 7
606297_20100916_640screen001.jpg


Other launch window games:

Full Auto 2
Fight Night Round 3
F1 Championship Edition
Genji: Days of the BladeMarvel Ultimate Alliance
NBA 2K7
Need for Speed: Carbon
Untold Legends
Sonic the Hedgehog
Tony Hawks Project 8

YEAR 2 - Bad Ports and Nothing Worth Playing (2007)

Technically year one because the system had been out all of 2 months by early January. This is where the drought that almost every system ever released begins to go through. The problem was that the 360 had been out for over a year and so that system was now getting it's first wave of AAA games that really showed off the systems power. The PS3 didn't yet have its Gears of War or even Lost Planet and so was relegated to down ports of older 360 titles that developers dumped on the system without attempting to fully understand its architecture. That and the fact Sony just hadn't made the system easy to work with meant a string of shoddy ports for the first few years, with few games measuring up, let alone surpassing their Xbox counterparts.

bscap0014nr4gl8.jpg


Alongside bad ports of older 360 games such as Splinter Cell, FEAR and The Godfather. There were some decent games released in 2007 for the Playstation 3.

My PS3 picks from 2007

Warhawk (August 2007)
warhawk-20070516084214658_640w.jpg

Heavenly Sword (September 2007)
661442925_7d5726b5ce_z.jpg

Folklore (October 2007)
folks-soul-the-lost-folklore-20070516065953803_640w.jpg

Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (October 2007)
932369_20070713_640screen003.jpg

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (November 2007)
Uncharted-640x360.jpg


TRAILER

Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank and Heavenly Sword were the first games to really show the PS3's inner potential, something that many 3rd party teams were having trouble tapping into.

YEAR 3 - KOJIMA STAYS, WADA BETRAYS (2008)

original
0.jpg

Console wars happen every generation, none seemed quite so heated however as during 2008. 360 had won many devote Sony fans, brand loyalty was at an all time low and it seemed as though everyone (aside from the more level headed 'normal' gamers) wanted their pound of flesh. 2 titles that were exclusive to PS3 at this time were Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII.
There was a whole back and forth - will they stay exclusive or not?

MGS4 ended up coming out to universal critical acclaim in June 2008, it is to this day a PS3 exclusive and won NEOGAF game of the year. To coincide with this came the release of a pretty sexy gunmetal grey PS3.

mgs4-ps3-le-490w.jpg


FFXIII however did not meet a similar fate, instead going multi platform - announced to great surprise and shock at MS E3 2008.

Link to the announcement HERE.

At Sony's E3 conference Killzone showed back up, as KZ2, and made gif history when it looked almost too good to be true. Example.

original


2008 was a good year for PS3, many would argue it's most defining year, and saw the release of a number of excellent titles from different genres.

My PS3 picks for 2008:

Devil May Cry 4 (February 2008)
devil-may-cry-4-20080709000202048-2462756_640w.jpg

GTA IV (May 2008)
grand-theft-auto-iv-20080427024615106_640w.jpg

MGS4: Guns of the Patriots (June 2008)
metal-gear-solid-4-guns-of-the-patriots--20080521015742545_640w.jpg

Siren: Blood Curse (July 2008)
siren-blood-curse-20080516031048110_640w.jpg

Dead Space (October 2008)
dead-space.jpg

LittleBigPlanet (October 2008)
little_big_planet1.jpg

Valkryia Chronicles (November 2008)
valkyria-chronicles-20080411040153763_640w.jpg

Mirrors Edge (November 2008)
mirrors-edge-20080506024310165_640w.jpg


By the way, this is the year Sony phased out the 20 & 60GB SKUs and replaced them with a BC-less 80GB SKU. So no more PS2 games on your PS3 :(

Playstation Home
ps-home-704x396.0_cinema_640.0.jpg
playstation-home-20080715053421886_640w.jpg


In December 2008 Sony launched the BETA phase of it's new social network facility on PS3; Playstation Home. In home you can customise an avatar to look like a digital 'you', spend money on virtual furniture and living accommodation and meet up with other Home users to play Virtual Chess. You can also go to a room in the cinema building to watch trailers. It's every bit as fun as it sounds so try it out!

YEAR 4 - SLIM NEW LOOK: 2009

On September 1st 2009 Sony launced the PS3 slim, which, as the name implies, was a far trimmer, sleeker looking model. It packed a 120gb, 160gb, 250gb, 320gb HD and retailed for $299.99.

1239.jpg


Kevin Butler

kevinbutler.jpg


2009 was a good year for Playstation as Sony finally realised how to market the console to the masses without freaking them out, or leaving them scratching their heads, going ''WTF was that''. They constructed a series of short comedy sketches featuring actor Jerry Lambert as hapless Sony executive Kevin Butler. These ran for the next few years and while overused, were mostly key in the rebranding of the platform.

HERE is an early Kevin Butler ad.

Sales really began picking up after this model launched, the new ad campaign launched and the games coming out were really showing off the PS3s raw power when developers learned clever ways of multitasking via CELL.

Oh and this
Demon's_Souls_Cover.jpg
came out.

My PS3 picks for 2009:

Killzone 2 (February 2009)
killzone-2-20071203082045999_640w.jpg

Resident Evil 5 (March 2009)
resident-evil-5-20080602092938674_640w.jpg

Infamous (May 2009)
infamous_-_riding_wires-640x.jpg

Batman: Arkham Asylum (August 2009)
batman-arkham-asylum-20090602030542866_640w.jpg

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time (October 2009)
Ratchet%20and%20Clank%20Future%20A%20Crack%20in%20Time%20video%20game%20image%20(1).jpg

Uncharted 2 (October 2009)
955125_20090818_640screen007.jpg


2009 also saw the emergence of the HD Classics range from Sony.

ps3classicshd.jpg


These as the title suggests - were HD versions of many of Sony's much loved PS2 classics. The trend began with the successful re-release of games such as God Of War and Sly Cooper. Since then we have seen thrid party developers also releasing ports of their PS2 titles (Notably Metal Gear Solid and ZOE from Kojima Productions).
And at GDC 2009 the Move controller was shown...

YEAR 5 - MOVIN' ON UP: 2010

ps3-move.jpg


The Move controller, which was Sony's answer to combating the popularity of Nintendo's Wii Nunchuk, finally launched in the US September 19th 2010.

Playstation Plus
playstation-plus-free-games-europe.jpg

Playstation Plus is, in my opinion, one of the greatest network features to ever grace a console. To break it down for those not in the know:
- you pay a subscription (In the UK it is £11.99 every 3 months)
- for your money you get access to early demos / PSN games
- Free avatars and dynamic themes
- Free retail games (5 a month, 1 changes every month * I think)
- Access to BETAs months before anyone else (Recently GOW Ascension)

The system launched on PSN on 29th June 2010 and has grown from strength to strength. It is likely PS4 will use PS Plus as a major selling point.

My PS3 picks for 2010

Darksiders (January 2010)
large-1-640x350.jpg

Bayonetta (January 2010)
bayonetta.0_cinema_640.0.jpg

Heavy Rain (February 2010)
large-5-640x350.jpg

Final Fantasy XIII (March 2010)
final-fantasy-xiii-20100217095851178_640w.jpg

God of War III (March 2010)
God_of_War_III_Gameplay_2.png

Nier (April 2010)
nier-nier-kaine-emil-weiss-visit-facade.jpg

Red Dead Redemption (May 2010)
red-dead-redemption-20090528104436835_640w.jpg

White Knight Chronicles (August 2010)
5509283182_d4dac7aa77_z.jpg

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (October 2010)
castlevania-los2_1ab2x.T640.jpg

Vanquish (October 2010)
vanquish-640x359.jpg

Gran Turismo 5 (October 2010)
Gran-Turismo-5-640x340.jpg


Finally 2 of the PS3's biggest games of the generation had released. GT5 and FFXIII. While neither lived up to the crazy hype levels that had built over the years leading to release, I enjoyed both just the same.


YEAR 6 - THE BIG THREE AND FREE GAMES: 2011

For me 2011 was all about 3 big first party games. Guerrilla Games launched the anticipated Killzone 3. Sucker punch launched the much hyped Infamous 2, and Naughty Dog dared to face the near impossible task of topping Uncharted 2, with the release of the series third entry - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.

The Playstation Network Hack Fiasco
zdnet-anonymous-tweet-august-2012.jpg

April 20th 2011, Sony shut down the PSN due to an ''external intrusion on the system''. This meant that, until the problem was resolved around six weeks later, gamers were without online play, access to demos and other media services online. Sony shortly after announced that potential payment details may have been stolen as the outage was the result of a group of hackers, as passwords had been worked around, potentially millions of users may have had their credit card info leaked. Sony advised people to change all payment and password detail.
Obviously people were outraged by this (myself included). As way of apology, Sony announced a "Welcome Back" program, 30 days free membership of PlayStation Plus for all PSN members, two free downloadable PS3 games, and a free one-year enrolment in an identity theft protection program.

They even apologised at E3 live on stage.

My PS3 picks of 2011

Killzone 3 (February 2011)
killzone-3-20101215104318439_640w.jpg

Motorstorm Apocalypse (May 2011)
mapocalypse_171519421729_640x360.jpg

Portal 2 (May 2011)
640px-Portal_2_coop_jan_22_2.jpg

Infamous 2 (June 2011)
20110412infamous2_2_jpg_640x360_upscale_watermark-small_q85.jpg

Shadows of the Damned (June 2011)
1796591-shadows_of_the_damned_6.jpg

Catherine (July 2011)
Catherine-Stray-Sheep.jpg

Child of Eden (September 2011)
Child+of+Eden.jpg

Resistance 3 (September 2011)
resistance3-640x360.jpg

Batman: Arkham City (October 2011)
batman-arkham-city-screenshot_1024.0_cinema_640.0.jpg

Sonic Generations (November 2011)
627223_20110914_640screen005-620x.jpg

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (November 2011)
615426_20101213_640screen002.jpg



YEAR 7 - SUPER SLIM, NOT SO SEXY: 2012

PS Store Redesign
In 2012 the store was redesigned to keep up to date with the look of the interface found in SONY's new smart TVs and other products like the XBOX 360. I personally dislike the new design as it makes things much harder to find and search for.

The store began out in 2006 like this and was terrible.
old-playstation-store.jpg


It then changed to this and was great with some issues.
playstation-store-home--600x337.jpg


It now looks like this and is functional but annoying to use.
ps-store-2012.jpg


In October 2012 Sony launched a PS3 Super Slim model for a RRP of $279.99. However, many, myself included, regard the design as far less visually pleasing than past iterations. Still, it's a decent price and it wasn't exactly hideous.

d77579b7a5e573fe30442797b9f8679a.jpg


My PS3 picks of 2012

Final Fantasy XIII-2 (February 2012)
664104_20120515_640screen001.jpg

The Darkness II (February 2012)
165417036_640.jpg

SSX (February 2012)
ssx-640x360.jpg

Resident Evil 6 (October 2012)
640-RESIDENT_EVIL_6_picture_121024_camera_00_L_a_bmp_jpgcopy.jpg


PSN and the rise of the indie developer...
As I come to the end of the thread it's worth noting that PSN (and XBLA for that matter) has become a fantastic place for older PS1 classics to release, as well as excellent original content. Throughout this generation we have seen some amazing indie games release for anywhere between $5-20. Personally the top 5 original downloadable games on PSN this generation have been...

3rprh_480x270_1m4lxm.jpg
super-stardust-hd-20070701093154900-000.jpg

screengrab_480.jpg
screengrab_480.jpg

bench_close_thumbnail.png


- Journey
- Super Stardust HD
- Wipeout HD
- Limbo
- The Unfinished Swan

Video of select PLAYSTATION 3 EXCLUSIVES over the years.
Second video containing more PLAYSTATION 3 EXCLUSIVES.

YEAR 8 - THE FUTURE... (2013 - ?)

original.gif


This year the PS3 is winding down as we prepare for the imminent announcement of Sony's powerful next generation console. It's the end of an era. DLC is becoming more and more important to developers, Free to play is featuring more and more, advertising, motion control, Digital Downloads...

It's not clear yet whether the PS4 will be what gamers such as myself want or perhaps a machine tailored toward being a more casual all-in-one media centre. I think the games will still be there, and most importantly, will remain fun to play.

Let's also not forget that Sony has the following, amazing looking games, releasing this year on PS3.

God of War: Ascension (March 2013)
God-of-War-Ascension-Gets-New-Single-Player-Screenshots.jpg

The Last of Us (May / June 2013)
m_lastofus_entertheapocalypse.jpg

Puppeteer (Fall 2013)
gaming_puppeteer_1_1.jpg

Beyond: Two Souls (2013)
E3-Impressions-Beyond-Two-Souls-7.jpg


A fitting send off for a fantastic machine that's no doubt humbled Sony and gotten them to take a hard look at how to proceed for the future.
 

Radec

Member
Fucking love this.

Great work.

You should also add the PSN fiasco.

Still, with many fuckups and hard competition, they still managed to sell 70+m units and the first party software keeps getting better and better.

Also, Uncharted 2 surprised everyone and raised the bar too high.
 
I can still recall how few people gave a shit when Uncharted first came out. I remember listening to the biggest podcasts and barely hearing a peep about it for a month or more. Then around the Christmas break, people started talking about it and sharing their surprise at how good it was.

It wasn't imagined back then, much of the gaming press straight up did not care about the PS3 early on.
 

nib95

Banned
What a great thread, and what a journey for the console. Rough start, beautiful finish. Lets hope Sony learnt from these mistakes, and that the PS4 starts with a bang.
 

Derrick01

Banned
I can still recall how few people gave a shit when Uncharted first came out. I remember listening to the biggest podcasts and barely hearing a peep about it for a month or more. Then around the Christmas break, people started talking about it and sharing their surprise at how good it was.

It wasn't imagined back then, much of the gaming press straight up did not care about the PS3 early on.

I remember 1up yours literally begging people every week to play the game. At the time I also remember thinking how little I cared and how meh it looked. I never thought it would become as huge as it did.
 

VanWinkle

Member
Still rocking my 40GB w/Spider-Man 3 Blu-Ray pack-in from Fall of '07. But I did put a 320GB in it soon after.

Haha, that was my first PS3 and it got me back into the PS brand. It broke a couple of years ago but I still think fondly back on that time.
 

Mononoke

Banned
Epic thread.

I actually waited in line 4 days for a PS3. Sad I know. I have no idea why I did it. And while I get every console at launch, this was the first time I ever did anything that drastic. I remember going home and playing Resistance for 3 hours then passing out and waking up 12 hours later.

Also lol at The Adventures of Ricky Bobby being my first BluRay. I remember watching it in HD and thinking it was the best thing ever (the HD quality not the movie lol)
 
Wow, was just quoting ChadWarden this weekend and was really sad that my brother and sister didn't get it... not even a little bit
 

sn00zer

Member
Im pretty surprised that we got games that were close to those previs videos that came out forever ago...I mean it took 5 years...but we got damn close

I remember in high school arguing with friends whether or not those videos were real ( I swore up and down they were :( )...turns out they werent, but we got close...we got close
 

nib95

Banned
Anyone have a link to the original KZ2 (real game) reveal thread, ideally the page it all starts from. I seem to remember it kicking off with this leaked image lol.

Killzone2_screenshot_11.jpg
 
It's probably worth noting that Sony ripped BC out of the PS3 in 2008.

I think that's in there. Alot of stuff still hasn't been added - PSN, key games like GT5, PS+. It's 6am here and I'm going to bed, started this thread at 1am and just had no idea how long it would take, so i'll update in a massive edit tomorrow and it'll be finished.

This is my first big thread like this, so I have no idea what i'm doing to be fair. Thanks for the kind words regardless.
 

golem

Member
Needs more Agent, Getaway and Eight Days lol

Heavenly Sword was nice graphically but the frame rate was a joke. Also no mention at all of Lair?
 
Uncharted as definitely not a highly anticipated game. It was anticipated to a degree, yes, but it took a while for the game to hit 2 million. I swore by the game when it came out. I actually like it more due to the arena style spawn and if you used the pistols the enemies weren't sponges like the other incarnations.
 

Raonak

Banned
this thread has excellent potential...


I jumped in when the 80gb version came out.



needs PS+, the apocalyps3 leap day, psn going down for 3 months, firmware 2.4
 

meta4

Junior Member
What a wonderful journey it has been. My favorite console of this gen.. Lets see what the next gen PS can offer.
 

Bgamer90

Banned
So many memories.

I was a big PS1/PS2 fan but I knew that based on the reaction to the price that the PS3 was going to have problems.

Got in a good number of debates on the official playstation forum from people who said that it would do well just because it was playstation. I got banned from the forums after disagreeing that the PS3 would have the same impact on the entertainment industry as the television. People actually agreed with a silly article that stated it. I disagreed, gave points as to why, and then got banned.

It was the strangest thing. The mods hated me I guess (lol).
 
I got my PS3 when the slim version launched. I already had a Wii and 360, but it didn't take long for the PS3 to become my favourite system all the three. ... Mostly thanks to it being region free! In fact, the main reason for getting one was because of Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection. 360 version was region locked, and the existing Wii version was never going to get the new tables. Sold.

mya1O1o.jpg


Was nice being able to pick up cheap American games, or take gambles with obscure Japanese titles (I discovered a weird love for pachinko I never knew I had). Also, Yakuza 3.
 

rvy

Banned
Almost forgot about Chad Warden, good shit. C Wizzy. Chad Daddy. Goes by many different names. Big Papi.
 
I remember when I bought my PS3. I was absolutely pumped for GTA4, the most hyped I've ever been for a game, and on launch day April 28th, after puting in my disk into my x360 I got the RROD. I was so pissed that I went out and bought a ps3 and gta4 straight away while I sent in my x360 for repairs a few days later.
 
Man.... 08/09 was clearly the peak of this generation.

Don't forget 2007! Tools of Destruction and Heavenly Sword are two of my favorite games on the PS3, let alone the jaw-dropping amount of good games that came out for the 360 that year. Also, you skipped 2010, pretty much. God of War III?
 

~ZIO~

Neo Member
First party from launch to today looks like a generation jump...damn

It comes from the extended life of the generation. At least, I think so. Some other generations I feel should have lasted as long as this have because some consoles were seeing some good stuff towards the end of their life cycle. One to note would be that never before released StarFox 2 for the SNES.
 

jabuseika

Member
In the history of consoles, it had it's faults but the PS3 was a great console.

Ctrl F JRPGs, Where are the JRPGs man? Demons's Souls easily top 10 game of the generation.


Edit: Noticed the screenshots between the launch titles and the upcoming titles, they did pour out every single drop of graphical power out of it didn't they.
 

The Lamp

Member
I got mine in 2007, and I never really felt a "drought" for all the reasons you described (although last year sort of felt like it, even though some good exclusives came out). I've been hooked to my PS3 ever since I picked up Warhawk, then Uncharted, then Ratchet and Clank...etc.
 
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