Sony PlayStation 3 Turns 5 Years Old, Resists Retirement
Sony PlayStation 3 Turns 5 Years Old, Resists Retirement
Posted 11/18/2011 at 6:53am
| by Paul Lilly
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A barely belated 'Happy birthday' goes out to Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, which turned 5 years old yesterday (or a week ago today if you prefer to celebrate its Japan launch rather than its release in the U.S.). The PS3 has been through a few changes since it debuted half a decade ago and shed much of its baby fat, but is mostly the same console overall.
"Just think — our beloved black box was born into a primordial world where online multiplayer modes were the exception, not the rule; HDDs were a side option for game consoles, not a standard feature; standard-def DVDs were the only choice for home video; and Nathan Drake wasn’t a household name. It’s unthinkable!," Sony stated in a blog post.
Nearly seven years passed in between the launch of Sony's PS2 (March 2000) and PS3, and just over five years from the PS1 (December 1994) to the PS2. It's anyone's guess when the next PlayStation (PS4?) will launch; many rumors have it pegged for a 2012 release, and while that's very likely, Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News isn't buying it.
"Don't expect a PlayStation 4 next year, because at the moment, the PS brand is making a monster 3D push," Samuel says. "The highlight of the push? Next week's PlayStation-branded 3D monitor, a 24-inch LED powerhouse of a screen that delivers some pretty impressive 1080p picture and signals the company's overarching commitment to 3D."
Samuel might be onto something. Sony's is the only console with a Blu-ray player, despite a million and one rumors since the Xbox 360's launch that it too would be getting one. And with 3D capability already injected into the PS3, it's easy to see Sony being in no rush to push out another console.
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limitbreaker
November 19, 2011 at 11:15pm
PS3 was so advance for its time that technology still has not really surpassed it yet. its CELL cpu is still overpowered and everything else fits right in specially because sony managed to emulate HDMI 1.4 with 1.3 hardware. The only thing that's barely behind is its video card based on nvidia 7000 series but its fine for another few years of console life. The only thing my fat ps3 is missing is an "app store", they should sell software within the PSN network that makes that beast more usefull,those apps would go well with the psp2 also if sony is planning to really compete against smartphones.
kixofmyg0t
November 18, 2011 at 3:28pm
Wow....has it been THAT long since I picked up my launch day 60GB PS3? Damn the years have just flown by.
Speaking of....Ive got less than 90 gigs left on the 500GB HDD...once hard drive prices come back down Ill throw a 1TB in it.
QuadraQ
November 18, 2011 at 12:00pm
I still love my PS3 and see no need for another console release from sony until the 2014-15. I also enjoy gaming on my PC, but the PS3 is a great system for a variety of uses, not just gaming. I plan on buying a second one for the living room soon.
ChaosChild
November 18, 2011 at 10:12am
"HDDs were a side option for game consoles"
Sony, I'd like to introduce you to my original xbox. It's the size of a small moon (just like the first iteration of your console!) and has an HDD. Which microsoft made non standard on the followup for some reason.
I still don't think Nathan Drake is a household name, maybe Kratos.
tony2tonez
November 18, 2011 at 9:49am
thanks. I am enjoying Batman and Uncharted 3. I wanted BF3 for PC but i dont feel like spending $800-$1000 to update my PC to play a $60 game. So yes while the PS3 might be old technology now, I dont have to worry about upgrading a whole system to play games.
I can play online, watch blue-ray videos, stream stuff to it, and web surf. Pretty much the same stuff I can do on a PC if i chose to. Maybe not to the effect of a PC but it works.
so thanks for the 'Happy Birthday'
firefox91
November 18, 2011 at 9:01am
Happy birthday to console users that are playing games on 5 year old technology.
kixofmyg0t
November 18, 2011 at 3:22pm
Ur point?
BF3, Skyrim, Crysis....they all look almost exactly like their PC counterparts.
zaphodbeeblebrox 42
November 19, 2011 at 12:38am
if they were designed aound a pc and not a console it would be a different story.
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