PlayStation 3 10th Anniversary: Imperfect Cell

It’s become beyond cliché to merely say “time flies,” but sometimes it’s necessary to quickly get a point around. The PlayStation 3’s anniversary is one of them, in celebration of a system that launched first in Japan on this very day ten years ago.

Sony’s third console was promised to be a worthwhile successor to their previous two overwhelmingly successful systems. Though it launched around a year after the competing Xbox 360, Sony assured their fanbase and those who hadn’t jumped into the then-next-generation console war that their system would be worth it thanks to the promise of better software and improved power. That’s a fine message to have in itself.

However, it’s all in how you deliver that message to potential purchasers, something most of them didn’t find impressive when it came with side heap of hubris. The company came off two overwhelmingly successful consoles at the time, and believed they were infallible, that consumers would flock to their console regardless of what decisions they made. Creating a console in 2006 that used the latest technology (including a “Cell” processor) looked great for promotional purposes, but the price was enough for them to lose far too many customers outside tech junkies early on. The announcement of the $599 price at Sony’s E3 2006 press conference became memetic, the source of much mockery from the gaming audience — which is referenced even to this day. It was apparent from there that the system would struggle out the gate.

That’s kind of a shame, too, because it’s worth respecting former hardware engineer Ken Kutaragi’s vision for how he wanted to continue the PlayStation ecosystem. In fact, his intense desire to maintain that was part of what led to the price being so high. Backwards compatibility with the PSOne and PS2 software library didn’t help, especially in the latter’s difficult-to-emulate Emotion Engine. But it was appreciated by everyone who still wanted to keep their software libraries, and didn’t want to count on their old systems to stick around.

Of course, the system’s use of Blu-ray for its physical media didn’t help, which at the time cost so much that Sony had to eat a significant loss per sold console to sell it at the already-high price they did. The system had huge struggles out the gate, and its early software lineup wasn’t enough to overcome that — especially when promised third-party exclusives ended up being faithfully ported (in most cases) to the cheaper Xbox 360.

Like many other systems with potential, they managed to turn it around after making some gigantic sacrifices. They first had to lower the price, which also entailed providing a software-based solution to PS2 backwards compatibility, and the subsequent removal of the feature altogether to drop it even lower. But it wasn’t until the slimmer PS3 model released that the price became friendly for most of the mass market, though it could never overcome the strong foothold the 360 firmly established. Nintendo’s Wii was also strong competition, though that was mostly aimed towards a different market. With two formidable opponents, it was apparent that the system would never rise to the same heights the PS2 achieved, despite Sony’s intentions.

Sure, the PS3 had issues, but it received a steady amount of quality software from multiple developers and publishers. Many came from Sony themselves, who had a number of great first-party titles from their arsenal of developers. The Uncharted franchise was established by Naughty Dog during the system’s life, which became more popular as the series went on. That same developer finished their contribution to the PS3 with The Last of Us, and each title took advantage of the system’s internal power. Others included the Ratchet & Clank games, the Infamous titles, and the God of War games.

While there were some third-party exclusives, mainly in the form of niche and B-tier titles from Japan, this was the console generation where most of them became multiplatform. While this happened early on and midway through with titles like Devil May Cry 4, Virtua Fighter 5, and Final Fantasy XIII thanks to underwhelming initial sales of the console, it became the norm thanks to the need for developers and publishers to make a better investment on their titles. The shift to HD meant titles became more expensive to make, and anyone who follows the state of the industry knows that this has become the necessary norm.

The PS3 may have been the worst-selling main console of last gen worldwide at 80 million shipped, but that’s still a good number. It’s a testament to how Sony managed to crawl out of the ditch they were forced into, though it required a thorough cleaning of the top execs. But in the end, it still managed to feel like an in-name-only successor to previous PlayStation platforms through its software lineup and support. Admittedly, though, part of that was due to consoles in Japan losing popularity over time, and developers shifting their focus to handhelds.

These days, Sony’s back in the lead with the PlayStation 4, whose newest Pro iteration launched just yesterday. But it doesn’t compare to the lead they once held in the PSOne and PS2 eras, due in part to the modern software situation. In fact, it’s Microsoft who had issues similar to what Sony dealt with early in the PS3 era with the Xbox One, though they also eventually recovered. This leads to yet another cliché console makers shouldn’t forget: Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.