PlayStation 3 Retrospective: The Living-Room Supercomputer That Had To Win Players Back

Ken Kutaragi pictured the PlayStation 3 as a supercomputer for the living room, and it launched with a price to match. The 60 GB model cost US$599.99, which, together with a complex design and a thin launch lineup, earned it a mixed reception. Meanwhile the hardware was so costly to build that Sony sold the console at a significant loss for several years.

Still, it turned around. Acclaimed games and several price cuts brought players back, while the cheaper-to-make Slim and Super Slim models fixed the money side. In the end it sold about 87.4 million units, narrowly passing the Xbox 360, and along the way it helped Sony make Blu-ray the winning format over HD DVD, so a games console ended up settling a movie format war.

Key facts

Released

November 11, 2006 in Japan, November 17, 2006 in North America, March 23, 2007 in EuropeSource

Launch price

US$499.99 for the 20 GB model, US$599.99 for the 60 GB modelSource

Units sold

About 87.4 millionSource

Games sold

Nearly 1 billion by early 2019Source

Best-selling game

Grand Theft Auto V, 29.52 million copiesSource

Processor

Cell Broadband Engine, co-developed with IBM and ToshibaSource

Media

Blu-ray, DVD and CDSource

Discontinued

March 2016 in Europe, October 2016 in North America, May 29, 2017 in JapanSource

How Sony built a supercomputer and then had to sell it

Work began on March 9, 2001, when Kutaragi announced a partnership with Toshiba and IBM to build the Cell processor. Blu-ray was confirmed as the main format in September 2004, and Nvidia signed on for the graphics chip that December. As a result the PS3 became the first console to use Blu-ray as its main storage format and the first able to output games in 1080p.

However, the unveiling at E3 on May 16, 2005 had no working hardware at all, only demos such as Metal Gear Solid 4 running on development kits and comparable PC hardware. By E3 2006 the cost cutting had started, and the prototype's six USB ports shrank to four while its extra HDMI and Ethernet ports disappeared. Only the 60 GB model kept HDMI output and Wi-Fi.

Later the PS3 found its feet. The Slim of September 2009 was smaller and used less energy, and a Super Slim followed in late 2012. Even after the PlayStation 4 arrived in November 2013, production for Japan carried on until May 29, 2017.

The best PlayStation 3 games

Ranked by how often players recommend them, with picks other players backed counting extra. The Last of Us takes #1, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is second.

Every PlayStation 3 list

Handhelds for PlayStation 3 games

Very few handhelds play PS3 games well, so for most of its library the console itself is still the way to go.