(2019) PlayStation 3 (2006): Review and Retrospective
NOTE: This review was originally posted to Tumblr on May 10, 2019, and has been reposted here for archival purposes. It may not reflect recent events or my current opinions.
So I recently reviewed the PlayStation 2. Admittedly I started that review a few months ago, and some of the events I spoke of were pretty out of date, but either way it’s definitely a console I have new respect for that I didn’t have. But the day before that, I got the next generation of PlayStation that came out, that being the PlayStation 3.
Like the PS2, I never really had a PlayStation 3 or experienced it much growing up. The 7th gen was probably the generation I remember most as a kid, but during that time my brother had an Xbox 360, and later in the generation I got a Wii. And the Xbox 360… wasn’t really my cup of tea. I don’t remember playing it much when my brother had it even when I was starting to get into gaming and pretty much only using it for a couple Sonic games and The Simpsons games he had. It just never really had the kinds of games I liked on it, and while I respect anyone who did get enjoyment out of it (including my brother), I can’t say it was ever the console I was rushing to play or buy.
That said, I always had some interest in the PlayStation 3. One of my friends was a fan of the system, and eventually got one of his own before selling it in favor of his PC build, and for what it is I definitely felt it appealed to my niche tastes moreso than the Xbox 360. I also had the Wii, which definitely had the most appealing exclusives to my tastes yet also lacked great third party games such as Skyrim and Sonic Generations and whatnot, and the PS3 felt more like a jack of all trades, having a library with a good amount of variety that appealed to my tastes while having more third party support, and I did at one point have interest in getting one but never got around to it.
…until now.
I recently picked up a 120GB PlayStation 3 Slim for $90, and got some games for pretty cheap, and after playing for a bit… I definitely wanted to discuss the system after talking about the PlayStation 2.
The PlayStation 3 was of course Sony’s seventh gen system, being announced at E3 2005, released in 2006 and competed against the Xbox 360. The PS3 had a rough first few years, launching at a price of
On top of having a poor launch lineup and having a processor that developers didn’t understand, it struggled taking off and the Xbox 360 was the primary choice for most gamers with the Wii being a non-traditional console that appealed to family audiences rather than the core gaming audience.
But Sony did make a good comeback. After their crappy launch, it didn’t take them too long to try and reduce the price, admittedly cutting out certain features like PS2 backwards compatibility and whatnot, but coming out with models that were more affordable so more people were able to purchase the system. This was particularly the case with the PS3 Slim, when the PS3’s price was cut to $300, about the same price of the Xbox 360, making the gaming scene actually competitive. As time went on more developers also figured out how to develop for the system, meaning more great games were released for the system and more support was there. And by this time?
*ahem*
THE PLAYSTATION 3 BECAME BETTER THAN THE XBOX 360!
With that aside, this is about the time the PlayStation 3 really started taking off and when the console wars were underway. It was a time when the playground argument was over Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 while I was the one kid who chose the Wii as my console of choice because I liked Mario, Sonic and Zelda more than anything else. Both consoles had their strengths and audiences, but from my outside view having more experience with the Xbox 360 than the PS3, I actually found the PlayStation 3 to be a more interesting system that appealed to me moreso than the Xbox 360.
So, with that aside, it’s time to talk about the hardware. There were three models of the PlayStation 3 released. And I just have to say that I’ve always found the original fat model to be a beautiful looking system, having that late 2000’s “glossy” aesthetic with the silver front and the name of the console in big white lettering… it’s just a really nice looking console in general, and that’s on top of being the only version of the system (for certain SKUs anyway) with PS2 backwards compatibility and other features. Of course, this was the most expensive model at the time and is also known to be fairly prone to failure. Not so much as the Xbox 360 with it’s Red Ring of Death, but still a console with it’s own share of issues. If it weren’t for that, the PS3 fat model would be probably my favorite version of the system. But then there’s the PlayStation 3 Slim, the model I have, and this is probably one of my favorite looking consoles of all time. Of course one major issue the glossy-ness of the fat PS3 was that the system would easily be exposed to dust and fingerprints and other shit that got on the console, but the PS3 Slim goes for a matte look that doesn’t have these issues. It does, unfortunately, get rid of a lot of the original features, but in doing so they managed to cut the price so people were finally able to afford the system in addition to improving the system’s quality of life. It still has those core elements of the PS3 fat, particularly having the nice curved shape and black look, making it one of my favorite looking consoles of all time, and probably my favorite model of the system. Later in it’s life, about a year before the PS4 released, Sony released the PS3 Super Slim which I don’t like quite as much as the Slim, but is still a good looking model with a nice top-loading tray that definitely gives it some points. It’s pretty amazing how they got the PS3 to fit in such a slim body, but I guess if they could do it for the PS2, they could do it for the PS3.
The PS3’s internal hardware is also pretty interesting for what it is. The system used the “Cell” processor, a combination PowerPC-based “Power Processing Elements” along with eight Synergistic Processing Elements. I have no idea what any of this means and I’m literally repeating information I looked up on Wikipedia, but while it’s architecture was hard to work with early on could provide great results when developers took advantage of it. Graphics processing was handled by an Nvidia RSX ‘Reality Synthesiser” and the system was powered by 256 MB of RAM and 256MB of VRAM.
And… to be honest, I’ve always been amazed with what the PlayStation 3 could do for it’s specifications. Obviously these were pretty standard for when it released in 2006, but it took seven years for Sony to release the PlayStation 4 and even then the PS3 was supported for three more years after the PS4 came out, and with all the new PC technology that came out in the PS3’s overall lifespan of 10 years… the PS3 could actually do a lot with it’s hardware. With 2006 console technology and having 256MB of both RAM and VRAM, the PS3 still managed to get games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Dark Souls 2, The Last of Us, LittleBigPlanet 3, all games created in the 8th gen of consoles, and even fucking Grand Theft Auto V. These days, it’s definitely not the most ideal way of playing the game, but… they got it running on a system with 2006 hardware and 256MB of RAM, which is actually pretty damn impressive if I say so myself.
The PlayStation 3 controller is… basically the same as the last two Dualshock controllers for the PS1 and PS2. Well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and considering the “boomerang” design they originally were going with for this console… I’m definitely glad to see the classic Dualshock design back again. There are a few changes to the controller compared to the last couple versions. For one thing, the “analog” button is taken out and replaced with a “PS” button that is used to bring up the home menu while in a game or app, basically same as the Xbox logo on the Xbox 360 controller. They also changed the L2 and R2 buttons by making them triggers, and at first I wasn’t very fond of the design since it felt kind of odd to me, but after using them for a bit they have grown on me and I generally like this controller a lot more. Oh yeah, and the PS3 controllers don’t require batteries and are charged by plugging them into the system. They also use bluetooth connectivity, which makes them kind of neat for their time. Considering the Xbox 360 wireless controllers constantly required me to change the battery… this was always a point I gave to the PS3 controllers all things considered. There are two versions of the PS3 controller though, one being without the rumble function, being released towards the PS3’s launch and another being the “Dualshock 3” bringing back the rumble function. Not quite sure what was the point of that, but alright.
And then there’s, well, the games. Even thought PlayStation 3 HAS NO GAMES HAHAHAHA HILARIOUS AND ORIGINAL JOKE UPGERALDOS TO THE LEFT
*ahem* Sorry. With that aside, the PS3’s lineup, while a bit lacking at first, is one thing that for me puts the PS3 over the Xbox 360, having just more exclusives and more games that appeals to my personal tastes. I was always interested in certain PS3 exclusives, and now having a PS3 for myself allows me to finally try those. Uncharted was probably the PS3’s first real killer app, being a third person shooter created by the same creators of Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter. It’s basically Sony’s answer to Halo, and for what it is… it’s definitely a great PS3 title. I mean, it’s a series that has lasted as a PlayStation IP for a while, with Uncharted 4 on the PS4 being regarded as one of the best games of 2016. I haven’t gotten around to playing it, but I did buy the first two games when first picking up the system, and from what I can tell they definitely seem like great titles with interesting stories and gameplay, and I can tell why this game did manage to become one of the system’s killer apps. Uncharted 2 and 3 were also released on the system, and received great reviews as well.
Platformers are easily more of my territory however, and the PS3 definitely has a great selection of those. I mentioned in my PS2 review that the Sly Cooper series was probably my favorite PlayStation IP after playing through the first game, and with the PS3 came the Sly Collection, basically remasters of the first three games. There are a few minor issues (The Mz. Ruby boss apparently has a sync issue), but overall in terms of remastering the games and making them look great in HD, this collection definitely did it’s job and is a good way of getting introduced to the Sly Cooper series if you don’t have the PS2 versions. There was also Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, the fourth game in the series, and while it’s often considered the weakest of the games for one reason or another, it’s still overall a solid game on it’s own.
LittleBigPlanet was also a new PlayStation IP that got it’s start on the PS3, and… it was basically Super Mario Maker before Super Mario Maker existed. Aside for having it’s own campaign with premade levels, LittleBigPlanet allowed individuals to create levels and share them over PSN, making this an interesting and innovative title, and another killer app for the system. LittleBigPlanet 2 expanded what made LittleBigPlanet great by giving more options for gameplay other than platforming, such as racing and puzzle gameplay. LittleBigPlanet 3 was also released on both the PS3 and PS4, coming with some new characters and other stuff.
The Ratchet and Clank series also continued on the PlayStation 3. Like Sly Cooper, it was also given the HD remaster treatment with a collection on PS3, but the series in general also continued as the “Ratchet and Clank Future” saga with Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty, A Crack in Time, and Into the Nexus. To be honest I’m not entirely sure why Into the Nexus was released as a PS3 exclusive considering it came out literally a few days before the PS4 launched, but either way these games seem to be considered good successors to the original PS2 trilogy. I recently picked up A Crack In Time a few days ago, and have wanted to get around to trying it.
There are still a lot of PS3 exclusives that I don’t really have any experience with, but are worth mentioning, including Valkyria Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistant: Fall of Man (often considered the best PS3 launch title), InFamous, Killzone 2, God of War Collection, God of War 3, and Jak and Daxter Collection. The PS3 may not have quite the same vast exclusive library as the PS1 or PS2, but it does have a good share of great exclusives that includes ports of some of the best PS2 games. And, of course, all models can play PS1 games so that’s there if you enjoy those.
But I also wanted to touch on a couple multiplatform games on the system. The 7th gen had two of my favorite Sonic games, those being Sonic Unleashed and Generations. Generations I already have on PC, but the PS3 version of Unleashed is my first time playing the HD version and, well, it’s definitely a really good game, probably my favorite 3D Sonic game that I’ve played. I’m definitely going to do an actual review of this game later on, but it’s well-designed, fast-paced, has an interesting story and is definitely one of the best and most underrated games the series has to offer.
I also tried…
Uh
Skyrim for the first time.
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