Happy second birthday to the PS3

by Justin McElroy { Nov 18th 2008 at 9:29AM }

Yesterday was Nov. 17th, which, as those of you who stood in lines overnight -- dreams of eBay riches dancing in your head-- will remember, is the PS3's second birthday. It's been a crazy 24 months, with an unprecedented number of SKUs and pricing schemes, not to mention a constantly evolving interface and feature set.

We just wanted to take a moment not only to celebrate, but to take stock. What do you think of the PS3's first two years? If you've brought a PS3 into your home, do you feel like you did it at the right time? And, perhaps most importantly, what are you hoping for in year three?

(Also, sorry to the PS3 about the delayed wishes. Because it's your birthday, we'll avoid the obvious Home joke.)

Tags: ps3, sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

dark_inchworm @ Nov 18th 2008 9:32AM

So uh, about the cake... sorry to break it to you, PS3, but I was yanking your chain...

NaeemTHM @ Nov 18th 2008 9:34AM

At the risk of making my comment invisible, I must say that I'm still not impressed by the PS3. I've yet to see more than 2 games that interest me (I need you in my blood stream LBP and MGS4), and as an RPG player the 360 is naturally my system of choice.

Yes yes...you can commence with the laundry list of uninteresting PS3 games.

Hyams @ Nov 18th 2008 9:38AM

And there are plenty of games that interest me. (I don't feel a need to name them all, seeing that you yourself are clearly not interested in them.)

To each his own, I guess.

JoeTheBlow @ Nov 18th 2008 10:03AM

Dude, if you have to ask, you'll never know.

Roto13 @ Nov 18th 2008 10:37AM

So the list of 360 games you're not interested in isn't that long? So you're into, like, just about every game that hits the system?

Gehodra @ Nov 18th 2008 11:11AM

@Roto

I'm pretty sure he bases his purchase on how many games he's interested in, not on how few games he's not interested in.

e.g. Wii.

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Nov 18th 2008 12:12PM

I agree, the PS3 library hasn't done much for me. I bought mine for MGS4 and haven't used it for much since. I will be picking up LBP and R2 though so hopefully that will get my PS3 some more play time. It's nice to have one though.

Roto13 @ Nov 18th 2008 12:18PM

"you can commence with the laundry list of uninteresting PS3 games."

Alex @ Nov 18th 2008 2:01PM

I only have Heavy Rain in my list of 'Games I would get if I had a PS3'. And I can't see any attraction in LBP. Not meaning to be a dick, it just isn't my kind of game at all.

Lars @ Nov 18th 2008 2:48PM

Definitely to each his own. PS3 has plenty to enthrall me, as does (to a lesser extent) the 360. But aside from the exclusives, there are tons of great cross-platform games. So your point is kind of moot.

I just finished Gears 2 last night, it was pretty fun, very polished, gorgeous textures and bump mapping... but it was still just another shooter. Great for a rental to play through with a friend, not something to buy a 360 for.

thund3rstruck @ Nov 18th 2008 5:21PM

Well, my PS3 is the only one of the three that still works in my house. My launch XBOX360 finally died (RRoD) and my Wii hardlocks if played for longer than a few hours at a time so I hope the PS3 thrives (and it continues to work a few more years)

Nguyen @ Nov 19th 2008 7:31AM

There's a MUCH better online community for GTA4 on the PS3 than the 360, from what I've heard. From just GameFAQs there's a crew that does different types of Free Mode games weekly, from demolition derbies to pedestrian riots. That game alone has kept me from playing LBP for any significant amount of time.

konajinx @ Nov 18th 2008 9:34AM

It's my birthday this Friday. Please don't get me a PS3. Thank you.

Booxatron @ Nov 18th 2008 12:34PM

And I was just about to put this PS3 in a box with your address on it and take it to the post office...oh well.

It had a nice bow and everything.

ThePhoenixLament @ Nov 18th 2008 9:37AM

The ps3 is so full of fail it's ridiculous.

Congrats on remaining in 3rd place this generaton.

Fuck sony.

Hyams @ Nov 18th 2008 9:39AM

Wait wait wait, I thought you loved the PS3? Where's all this hatred suddenly coming from?

I am shocked, I tell you! Shocked!

NaeemTHM @ Nov 18th 2008 9:41AM

Sweet Jesus!! Why do these fanboys have to act so violent?

When did Sony rape you? Do you want to talk about it?

el serpiente @ Nov 18th 2008 10:00AM

Ignore him like his parents and those around him probably do, and he will go elsewhere for attention.

Hyams @ Nov 18th 2008 10:02AM

But he amuses me too much. =(

Haggard @ Nov 18th 2008 10:53AM

He reminds me of Count Olaf from those Lemony Snicket books.

No matter how many times he changes his name we know it's him instantly.

Hyams @ Nov 18th 2008 9:41AM

And now for the first positive comment of the day:

w00t, way to go PS3!

Okay, so 2008 was the uber amazing year you were hoping for, but it was still a very good one. Don't let the trolls tell you otherwise, because they're all stupid.

And hey, 2009 is shaping up nicely. Here's to awesome third year, eh?

Hyams @ Nov 18th 2008 9:42AM

Crap, that should've been "2008 *wasn't* the uber amazing year you were hoping for"

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Nov 18th 2008 11:04AM

i've always enjoyed my PS3 and 2008 was a good year (not sales wise obviously but i had loads of fun with it). Playstation seems to be doing all the things i've known and loved over the years still but they are just doing it at a painfully slow rate, and i think alot of people are drifting away from the success Sony had because of it. i mean i had to buy a 360 just to get my JRPG fill, which is super crazy given last gen.

im actually kind of glad PS3 is in 3rd place, Sony's arrogance is sickening at times and i hope that they can see that that alone is the reason they are struggling now.

so Sony still has a place in my heart after these 2 years of PS3 and they are still doing the stuff i've loved over the years. but if Sony wants to make any money off the Playstation brand again, i suggest they start gearing up for next gen.

Happy Birthday PS3!

Hyams @ Nov 18th 2008 11:19AM

Sales have actually been pretty good for the PS3 this year. Sales were *much* better than in 2007, and the PS3 has outsold the 360 by a good 1 million consoles this year.

Whilst that isn't amazing, it's far from poor.

DCBlack @ Nov 18th 2008 12:09PM

The PS3 has served me well. I'm not a "hardcore" gamer like most of you. I'm not into a whole lot of FPS or TPS or RPG and I'm not a big online gamer. I spend most of my time with GH/RB and sports games, but I do have games like Uncharted, GTAIV, Heavenly Sword, and some PSN games as well. I'm eagerly awaiting SFIV. Being a PS2 owner since its launch, I probably bit the bullet on the PS3 a bit early as far as price goes, but it's afforded me solid entertainment value and seems to me like it's just starting to hit its stride.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 18th 2008 3:33PM

I too, have been satisfied with the 08' PS3 lineup. There has always been something on the system to keep my attention.

"im actually kind of glad PS3 is in 3rd place, Sony's arrogance is sickening at times and i hope that they can see that that alone is the reason they are struggling now."

Agreed

Now gimmie' Killzone 2 ya bastards!!!!

sk8monroe81 @ Nov 18th 2008 3:57PM

titanium-
i really dont think sony's arrogance has anything to do with their 3rd place and continued losses from 2006-2008.
that has something to do with it, but that arrogance really is that sony is a Japanese corp. that releases more exclusives in japan and caters their support to the Japanese gaming market more than the market that represents about 50% of their total sales.

the game sales speak for themselves also.
LBP- under 500,000 sold by end of oct.
socom- under 500,000 sold by end of oct.
r2- under 500,000 sold by nov 14
mgs4- 3 million sold worldwide.

THOSE ARE THE 4 BIGGEST PS3 RELEASES IN 2008.

gears of war 2 has already topped those 4 games sales around the world. with something like 3-5 million sold, about 2 million in the US.

trust me the world doesnt like sony games and they are not popular.
you like them and many others do, but i dont like most ps3 games.

sk8monroe81 @ Nov 18th 2008 4:03PM

titanium-
also fable 2 in 1 week sold as many copies as LBP, r2, and socom, did combined in their first week of sales.

ps3 games are not as attractive as 360 games to the world and especially america.

ps2 had gta exclusive, tekken exclusive, final fantasy exclusive.
those 3 game franchises have sold more than 75 million game copies combined on ps1 and ps2 consoles over time.
now those franchises are selling more copies on the 360, that hurts a lot also.

its the games that hurt sony, or should i say lack there of.

Archon @ Nov 18th 2008 9:47AM

*Hugs PS3.*

Screw you all, haters.

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 18th 2008 1:31PM

I'm with you on that sentiment. If people want to be narrow minded and miss out on the best console experience this generation because of bias and preference then so be it. I'm one of thos enthusiast who uses my PS3 to do just about everything possible. I prefer an all in eone media device as opposed to simply a games machine.

I couldn't be happier with my PS3. I will admit when I first purchased it times were a little tough but that quickly changed especially through 2008. This year may have not been the year of the ps3 in terms of sales but for my money it had by far the best software lineup.

The PS3 was probably ahead of it's time in terms of capibility. People just weren't ready to accept it for what it was or pay that premium price tag. I couldn't be happier with my purchase and will continue to support you as long as you support me with new features and compelling software.

Happy birthday PS3! Like Archon said - Screw the Haters.

sk8monroe81 @ Nov 18th 2008 2:37PM

what do you define as best console experience?

i more look at my game console to provide me with the best gaming experience...
and i have yet to find many ps3 games that interest me.

el serpiente @ Nov 18th 2008 3:11PM

Quit trolling Jon, sk8rh8r. We know you don't like the PS3. You can relax and STFU now.

LAZoftheTamarinds @ Nov 18th 2008 9:47AM

I'm going to go say Happy Birthday to my PS3 RIGHT NOW!

JK

ballistic3188 @ Nov 18th 2008 9:47AM

okay here is my retrospective. PS3 to me in its first year was terrible. it had everything going wrong for it from the price, the games, and every pr they pulled.

As the second year has come and gone a light of hope has hit the system. The good exclusives are there now with more on the horizon. fixing the mistakes has taken time and there are some left but as a system it has done well.

as looking to the future i am hoping for more quality games unique to console and price cuts for this tough economic time.

Temidien @ Nov 18th 2008 10:03AM

Agreed! I held off on the PS3 until recently when MGS4 was released because it took over a year for Sony to get its act together. Now the PS3 has much better internet browsing (huzzah Flash!), several games worth playing that are unique to it (one of which is my personal GoTY), plenty of third party support, and the return of DualShock!!

Though its not played has much as my 360, I still love my PS3 and consider it an investment for the good things to come.

Roto13 @ Nov 18th 2008 10:38AM

Yeah, I didn't see anything I wanted for PS3 until Metal Gear Solid 4 came out, but I bought one in June because I knew there would be more games coming for it I'd be interested in.

So as far as I'm concerned, its birthday was in June. :P

Ryan LN @ Nov 18th 2008 12:41PM

The people in this particular thread are all on the right track. I didn't buy my PS3 until September of this year, and I have absolutely no regrets, seeing as the Wii and 360 have kept me very busy- but I will say that the best thing about waiting until two years after launch date is that I was able to pick one up for substantially less than I would have paid at retail in 2006, *and* there is excellent software to be had at bargain prices due to the fact that a lot of it isn't brand new. But with the release of LBP, MGS4, Resistance 2 et al I don't think my timing could have been any better, not to mention the slow but steady adoption of Blu-Ray as the high def format of choice. What I hope year three brings are additional special and fun gaming opportunities that are not available on my other consoles. I could give a shit about a particular company- I just like good games.

larryarms @ Nov 18th 2008 9:50AM

All this hate is ridiculous. I use my PS3 mainly for blue rays. Games are just the icing on the cake. Why hate so much if you don't like something simply don't buy it. Like it or not blue ray is getting more and more popular, as the price goes down more people have the opportunity to see what they are missing out on. If you don't really care so much about picture than you should be celebrating blue rays growing popularity because DVD's are also getting cheaper and cheaper

Temidien @ Nov 18th 2008 10:05AM

Solid post. You nailed the Bluray haters and the buying-PS3-for-bluray-omfg-not-for-games-exclusively haters. I hate haters...

baby sea tuna @ Nov 18th 2008 10:15AM

The unfortunate thing about Blu-Ray is that, while the prices are dropping on the players, they're not dropping on the discs...and you only need to buy 1 player. And as good as they look/sound, the standard arguement of "I don't want to re-buy all the movies I bought for DVD at twice the price" holds.

To put it in perspective, I've owned my PS3 for 1 year. In that year I've bought 1 Blu-Ray disc. In the same period of time, back in 1999-2000, I bought somewhere between 15 and 40 DVDs. While Netflix definitely factors into this (as does my general desire to no longer amass physical media,) the missing "wow-factor" leap from VHS to DVD just isn't there in DVD to BR.

And yes, this is anecdotal evidence, but if you listen to retailers' reports of BR penetration vs. DVD, you see similar trends. Of course, we'll see what happens if they can get those discs down to $13-$15 apiece.

Haggard @ Nov 18th 2008 10:59AM

The leap from DVD to BD is far greater than VHS to DVD, it's just that the movies are so expensive nobody buys them.

hplcman @ Nov 18th 2008 11:06AM

I love my PS3 and I love the quality of BR discs, but seriously. As good as the up-conversion is on the standard DVD's these days I don't see much of a need to go out and drop $5 more for a movie that (outside a side-by-side comparison) displays marginally better. Now if there's some awesome extra contend on the BR disc that's another story, but I haven't found that to be the case with a lot of the movies I'm interested in yet...

Wyvernlink @ Nov 18th 2008 11:28AM

@haggard

I have to disagree with that, VHS to DVD gave us a lot of new features like scene selection and optional subtitles and commentaries that were not possible before. DVDs even cut down on the space that we need to keep the physical media in.

Blu-ray on the other had isn't adding anything but HD visuals and more space on the disk, and there is plenty of space on DVDs for movies and special features.

zero2dash @ Nov 18th 2008 11:34AM

@ babyseatuna
"Of course, we'll see what happens if they can get those discs down to $13-$15 apiece."

I see Blurays on sale for $14.99 quite often at Target and Best Buy.

I love my Ps3 and I love my 360, each for it's own reasons. Between the two I prefer the Ps3 for free PSN, I like the XMB better than the 360 blades, and I like the fact that I was able to go to 160gigs of HD space for the price of the hard drive (as opposed to what Microsoft WANTS me to pay for 120gigs, which is double what I paid for my WD Scorpio 2.5" drive).

Ryan LN @ Nov 18th 2008 1:03PM

@ Baby Sea Tuna/Wyvernlink:

If Blu-Ray is ultimately a success, market forces will drive the prices of the discs down, just as they did for DVD's back in the mid-ninties. Being an early DVD adopter, I remember when the discs were $24, which in 2008 dollars equaled (roughly) seven million dollars.

As far as the added value of BR, I suppose that depends on the size and type of display you're running and on the abilities of your audio system. If you've got a 64 inch Mitsubishi Diamond high-def display and a preamp or amp that can do Dolby True HD, I can safely diagnose insanity if you don't think there are significant, tangible and worthwhile difference between DVD and BR. But, if like most users, you're running on something under 32 inches in standard Dolby Digital (or, heaven forbid, the speakers in the tv) Blu-Ray is a Giant Waste of Money.

To date, I have not replaced any of my DVDs with BR discs, most likely because the majority of movie that I own I bought when I really, really wanted them, and now- not so much, which is exactly what happened when I went from VHS to DVD.

For me, and others with a similar setup or really, really good vision, BR is a HUGE value-added feature to the PS3 and was a prime factor when it came time to either buy or foolishly squander my money on gasoline, food and heat.

Dave @ Nov 18th 2008 9:50AM

Happy Birthday, PS3!

DamienSkies @ Nov 18th 2008 9:51AM

Happy Birthday PS3!
Been wanting one of these for a while, but financial problems have been preventing me time after time. Hopefully this year I'll be more lucky.

ruperdogg24 @ Nov 18th 2008 9:52AM

I've owned a PS3 since last year and love it. I have a family that loves to watch to movies so the blu-ray player is a huge bonus. Not to mention the games (I will spare you the list). It's been worth every penny. I can afford to buy the games I want. I only have 2-3 games on the xbox 360(all named halo or gears) and more than 10 on the PS3.

Happy Bday PS3! When Nintendo and Microsoft are on the their next generation boxes you will just be hitting your stride; Putting out graphics/gameplay that will be just as good if not better than their new boxes.