The PlayStation 3 sold approximately 87.4 million units, narrowly passing the Xbox 360, and Sony stopped making it in North America in October 2016. Its best-selling game, Grand Theft Auto V, sold 29.52 million copies, which tells you most of what you need to know about PS3 prices.
The common games are almost free. The interesting part is the hardware, which matters more here than on any other PlayStation, and a group of games that became expensive for a reason that has nothing to do with how good they are.
Only the early models play PS2 discs
Every PS3 plays original PlayStation games through software emulation, but PS2 support shrank with each revision. The European 60 GB model and the North American 80 GB CECHE model dropped the PS2's main processor and emulated it instead, so their PS2 compatibility is lower. The last model with any built-in PS2 compatibility was the NTSC 80 GB Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle, and later models dropped it entirely.
So if PS2 discs are part of your plan, you need one of those early fat consoles, and they are the PS3s that cost the most. Check the model number on the back before you pay a premium for one.
The early fats are prone to the yellow light
Some original PS3 systems show a yellow light that indicates a failure, and in 2009 a BBC consumer programme called it the "yellow light of death". It reported that affected consoles typically failed 18 to 24 months after purchase, just outside Sony's one-year warranty.
Reheating the board and changing the thermal paste is only a temporary fix. The permanent repair is replacing a set of capacitors on the board, which takes surface-mount soldering. So an early fat PS3 that works today is a good buy only if you are prepared for that, or if the seller has already had it done.
The slim runs cooler and quieter
The slim model moved the main processor to a smaller manufacturing process, which lets it run cooler and quieter than previous models, and the cooling system was redesigned. A later Super Slim followed in 2012, without the slim's motorised slot-loading disc cover.
If you only want to play PS3 games, the slim is the sensible machine. Leave the fat models for anyone who needs the PS2 discs to work.
The PS3 store closes in July 2027
Sony announced in July 2026 that the PlayStation Store on PS3 will close in stages: Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua from August 2026, more Latin American and Middle Eastern countries from late 2026, and all other countries in July 2027.
After that, download-only games can't be bought. So if there are digital-only PS3 games you want, buy them before your region closes, and treat the disc library as the part of the PS3 that will last.
Games play in any region
Sony's consoles have been region free since the PlayStation 3, with a couple of notable exceptions, so a Japanese or European disc plays on an American PS3. That makes imports easy.
The one thing to check is the language on the disc. Many imports include English, but not all of them do, so look the release up first.
The famous games cost less than lunch
The best-selling PS3 games are almost free. Loose Grand Theft Auto V sold for a typical $7 in summer 2025, and Red Dead Redemption for a typical $9 and Metal Gear Solid 4 for a typical $10 in summer 2026. Demon's Souls went for a typical $19 loose in 2025.
Boxed copies cost only a few dollars more. A boxed Metal Gear Solid 4 sold for a typical $12 and a boxed Red Dead Redemption for a typical $10 in 2026, so there is no reason to buy these loose.
Delisted superhero games became the expensive shelf
The strangest PS3 prices belong to Marvel games. Following the expiry of Activision's licensing deal with Marvel, its Marvel games were de-listed and removed from all digital storefronts on January 1, 2014. The discs became the only way to buy them.
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows sold for a typical $85 loose and $118 boxed in 2025, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine for a typical $64 loose. Deadpool, removed from digital stores a second time in 2017 over licensing, went for a typical $25 loose. None of them were collector games when they came out.
The strangest of all never came out. EA officially announced the cancellation of NBA Elite 11 on November 2, 2010, yet copies have turned up, and one tracker counted roughly 30 sold on eBay, mostly in the $300 to $500 range.
Exclusives that never left the PS3 cost more
Games that were only ever on the PS3 keep their price because there is no other way to play them. Folklore sold for a typical $42 loose and $91 boxed in July 2026, and 3D Dot Game Heroes for a typical $85 loose and $106 boxed in late summer 2026.
Collectors noticed these games most when the PS3 store was first threatened with closure in 2021. Folklore and 3D Dot Game Heroes were among the games people talked about as their prices swung, and the 2027 closure is likely to put the spotlight on them again.
Fake DualShock 3s are common
Counterfeit PS3 controllers have been around for years. A "new" controller priced twenty to thirty dollars below retail is probably counterfeit, and an official one never needs to hide its PlayStation Licensed Product sticker.
On a fake, the player number lights are not flush with the shell, the seams under the analog sticks are sharp, and the Home button is slightly darker than on an official pad. Trouble syncing wirelessly is another giveaway. Buy used Sony controllers from sellers who show the actual pad.
The first models do things the later ones can't
The original PS3 models and the CECHE were the only video game consoles ever made with a Super Audio CD player. The 60 GB model also had built-in Wi-Fi and multiple flash card readers behind a small door, for SD cards, CompactFlash and Memory Sticks.
So the early fats are more than a PS2 player. For a collector they are the most complete PS3, and the trade-off is the age and the yellow light that come with them.
