I bought EVERY PS3

**The Story of Every PlayStation 3 Ever Made**

The PlayStation 3 is the most ambitious console of all time, but that came at a cost. Not only was this an incredibly competitive generation for PlayStation, but the PS3 put Sony under real financial strain.

Sony had experienced a string of wins with the PS1, PS2, and PSP, making it safe to say that they were feeling on top of the world. After just two generations, PlayStation had absolutely destroyed Sega, embarrassed Nintendo, and handily outperformed the upstart Xbox. Gamers were incredibly excited for the next generation, and there was a real appetite inside Sony to go bigger and bolder with what would turn into the PlayStation 3.

The dawn of the HD era was quickly approaching, and while it wasn't as drastic a leap as the transition from PS1 to PS2, it still presented a significant challenge. High-definition TVs were just starting to become popular, and Sony had a couple of key pieces of tech in their back pocket. The first was Blu-Ray, a Sony-developed successor to the DVD, offering a massive 50 gigabytes of storage capacity – over five times that of a DVD.

This was crucial for the larger, more detailed HD games that would come to define the PS3 era. Sony wasn't just interested in the bigger disc; they were also locked in a format war with HD-DVD, a cheaper but lower-capacity option. Now, this was crucial for Sony as Microsoft was backing HD-DVD with the Xbox 360, although the console itself only used DVD. An HD-DVD player for 360 was eventually released, but only as an add-on – that was a bit of a tough sell.

Beyond being able to play high-def video, it didn't really do a lot, because no games actually shipped on HD-DVD. Regardless, Sony didn't know any of this at the time. For them, the mission was clear: Blu-Ray had to win. They were banking hard on the PS3 to replicate the PS2's success in establishing DVD as the standard.

With the benefit of hindsight, the choice to commit to Blu-Ray was a no-brainer, especially when you consider that two generations and 18 years later, it's still the standard – not only on PlayStation but even Xbox today. But back in the mid-2000s, while Microsoft's support for HD-DVD posed a threat, Sony was equally focused on the Xbox 360 itself.

Even though the original Xbox only saw modest success and Microsoft lost a lot of money with it, it did have features that Sony couldn't ignore. More powerful hardware, a built-in hard drive, and the excellent online experience of Xbox Live clearly served as benchmarks for Sony during the PS3's development.

However, the real changes came from – shall we say – Sony being a little too ambitious when it came to the technical side. Let me introduce you to my friends, the Cell processor. This was an incredibly bold project by Sony, as well as Toshiba and IBM, especially when you compare it to the dual-core CPUs that were common in PCs of the time.

The Cell was an eight-core processor – okay, so that's actually a slight exaggeration, as it actually had one classic CPU core paired with seven SPUs that you could consider to be baby cores. I mean, I'm simplifying a lot here, but through today's lens, when you really think about it, this is not weird, right? Both the following PS4 and PS5 also utilize eight-core CPUs, as do tons of PCs today.

But in 2006, this was completely wild. The Cell processor had the potential for incredible performance and tasks that could be split across multiple cores, such as physics and AI. But the downsides were real. Developers were just starting to design game engines to utilize a couple CPU cores – not a complex network of SPUs, which required serious knowledge to get the most out of.

Making matters worse, the heavily multi-core approach meant single-threaded tasks were slower. Think the difference between you and six of your friends drinking out of seven little straws at the same time versus chugging straight from the bottle – but having to do it one at a time. I mean, sure, the multi-strawing is better in theory, but then you need to develop group suction control.

All of this resulted in many games running worse in the beginning on the PS3 than the Xbox 360 with its more conventional, if outright less powerful processor. I probably should explain that one better, but you get the idea, right? Multi-cores, multiple things – but there's only so much...

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- The PlayStation 3is the most ambitious console of all time,but that came at a cost.Not only was thisan incredibly competitivegeneration for PlayStation,but the PS3 put Sony underreal financial strain.This my friends, is the storyof every PlayStation 3 ever made.After a string of winswith the PS1, PS2 and PSP,it's safe to say that Sony werefeeling on top of the world.I mean, why not?After a mere two generations,PlayStation had absolutely destroyed Sega,embarrassed Nintendoand handily outperformedthe upstart, Xbox.Most importantly, gamerswere incredibly excitedfor the next generation.There was a real appetiteinside Sony to go biggerand bolder for what wouldturn into the PlayStation 3.The dawn of the HD erawas quickly approaching,and while it wasn't as drastic a leapas the transition from PS1 to PS2,it still presented a significant challengethat's a lot more impressivethan the generational upgradesthat we see these days.High definition TVs were juststarting to become popular,and Sony had a coupleof key pieces of techin their back pocket.The first was Blu-Ray,a Sony developed successor to the DVD,offering a massive 50gigabytes of storage capacity,over five times that of a DVD.This was crucial for thelarger, more detailed HD gamesthat would come to define the PS3 era.Sony wasn't just interestedin the bigger disc,they were also locked ina format war with HD-DVD,A cheaper but lower capacity option.Now, this was crucial for Sonyas Microsoft was backingHD-DVD with the Xbox 360,although the console itself only used DVD.An HD-DVD player for 360was eventually released,but only as an add-on, thatwas a bit of a tough sell.Beyond being able to play high-def video,it didn't really do a lot,because no games actuallyshipped on HD-DVD.Regardless, Sony didn't knowany of this at the time.For them, the mission wasclear, Blu-Ray had to win.They were banking hard on the PS3to replicate the PS2's successin establishing DVD as the standard.With the benefit of hindsight,the choice to commit toBlu-Ray was a no-brainer,especially when you considerthat two generationsand 18 years later,it's still the standard,not only on PlayStation,but even Xbox today.But back in the mid 2000s,while Microsoft's supportfor HD-DVD posed a threat,Sony was equally focusedon the Xbox 360 itself.Even though the originalXbox only saw modest successand Microsoft lost a lot of money with it,it did have features thatSony couldn't ignore.More powerful hardware,a built-in hard drive,and the excellent onlineexperience of Xbox Liveclearly served as benchmarks for Sonyduring the PS3's development.However, the real changescame from, shall we say,Sony being a little too ambitiouswhen it came to the technical side.Let me introduce to you myfriends, the Cell processor.This was an incrediblybold project by Sony,as well as Toshiba and IBM,especially when you compareit to the dual core CPUsthat were common in PCs of the time.The Cell was an eight core processor.Okay, so that's actuallya slight exaggerationas it actually had one classic CPU coresthat was paired with seven SPUsthat you could consider to be baby cores.I mean, I'm simplifying a lot here,but through today's lens, whenyou really think about it,this is not weird, right?Both the following PS4,as well as the PS5,also utilize eight core CPUs,as do tons of PCs today,but in 2006, this was completely wild.The Cell processor had the potentialfor incredible performanceand tasks that could besplit across multiple cores,such as physics and AI.But the downsides were real.Developers were just startingto design game enginesto utilize a couple CPU cores,not a complex network of SPUs,which required serious knowledgeto get the most out of.Making matters worse,the heavily multi-core approachmeant single-threaded tasks were slower.Think the difference between youand six of your friends drinkingout of seven little strawsat the same time, versus chuggingstraight from the bottle,but having to do it one at a time.I mean, sure, the multistrawing is better in theory,but then you need to developgroup suction control.All of this resulted in many gamesrunning worse in the beginningon the PS3 than the Xbox 360with its more conventional,if outright less powerful processor.I probably should explain that one better,but you get the idea, right?Multi-cores, multiple things,but there's only so much "suctitude."I don't think it's an exaggerationto say it took quite literallythe entire seven year lifespan of the PS3for developers like Naughty Dogto really squeeze everythingout of the PlayStationwith incredible games like The Last Of Us.The PS3 was an enormously capable console,you just took a while toget your head around it.Now, the Cell processor's complexitywasn't the only challengeSony faced though,the sheer cost ofdeveloping it was immense,and the development processitself was filled with delays.This allowed Microsoft togain a full one year headstartwith the Xbox 360's release in 2005.By the time the PS3 was ready,it was significantly more expensiveand complex than its competitor.Now, I think most people know this,but it really is worth reiteratingthat the PlayStation 3 waseye wateringly expensivewith the base 20 gigabytemodel starting at $500and the 60 gig model at $600,double the PS2's launch price.Now, that base 20 gigmodel lacked a lot of stuffto save $100,and I'll break down thewhole lineup in a minute,but suffice it to saythat the 60 gigabyte waspretty clearly the "real" PS3,but $600 was just an astronomical price,that's equivalent to $900 in 2024.Now, the high price and missing featuresweren't the onlychallenges that Sony faced.Well, let's look at thepricing of the Xbox 360.It was much more reasonableat $300 for the Core modeland $400 for the Elite.Making matters worse, Sonywas estimated to be losingbetween two to $300 onevery console they sold.They had undoubtedly built one ofthe most technically advancedconsoles of all time,but at what cost?Oh yeah, the cost of$200 more than its rival.Even for Sony,who are coming off theenormous success of the PS2,this was nothing shortof a financial disaster.It's part of the reasonI think we've never seensuch an ambitious console since,ignoring the piles of moneythat Sony burned throughin the PS3 generation,something that this chartthey recently showed offreally makes clear in context,they were onto something here.Funny enough, the first showing of the PS3was somehow even more ambitious.Not only did it feature HDMI,which was a first for a console,but originally Sony wanted to ship the PS3with two HDMI ports formulti monitor support.You know, sometimes I honestly wonderwhat would've happened ifthe engineers for the PS3were really allowed to go wild.Oh, wait, no, we don'thave to think about that,they would've bankrupted Sony immediately.Now, I'm not sure I canfind footage of this,but I remember attending a talk,I think it was GDC or maybePlayStation Experience,and Naughty Dog were up on stage,and at the very beginningof the PS4 generation,they were talkingabout how they had beenporting Last Of Us,and there was a slide that showedthe performance of the CPU on the PS3was actually higher than on the PS4,at least the theoretical maxof what you can get out of the Cell.And to me, I think that's a real eyeopenerto how far ahead of its time the PS3 was.And I think it's also a bigreason why we still don't haveofficial PS3 backwards compatibilitytoday, unlike the Xbox,and also why the community behind RPCS3have performed minor miraclesto get the PS3 emulation up and running,even on today's beefiest gaming PC.I mean, we just don't see huge leapsand risks like this with consoles today,although maybe for good reason.The PlayStation 3 launchwas, to put it mildly,absolute insanity.After dominating thelandscape with the PS2,anticipation for Sony's nextgen console was off the charts.Originally slated fora spring 2006 release,Sony pushed the launch back to November,leaving gamers to dreamabout what surely would bethe most impressive console of all time.Now, console launcheshave always been hectic,with diehard fans camping outand limited supplies inevitablyleading to shortages.Now, most people think aboutthe Wii in this regard,which of course,straight up caused fightsaround Black Friday,but the PS3 launch... (chuckling)Yeah.So let's start with Japan,where the first PS3s hit shelvesjust a few days beforeAmerica in November of '06.In the moment of pure showmanship,good old Ken Kutaragi himself was thereto hand over the very first retail units.All 82,000 available consoles sold outin less than 24 hours,but this is where thingsstarted to get interesting.The very first buyer of a retail PS3was arguably a scalper.Now, that's not too unusual by itself,but reports soon emergedthat a large portion of the launch lineconsisted of people who traveledto Japan just to buy a PS3.Was this just a testamentto PlayStation's international appeal?Not quite.It turns out many of thesebuyers were actually proxieshired by wealthy businessmen.Their mission, snag those precious PS3sand immediately flipp them on eBayfor double the price or more.Scalping had evolved,just not in a good way.Now, while that's clearly not great,the US release was somehoweven more of a disaster.It was a perfect storm of shortages,scalpers and unruly crowds,with multiple shootingsreported at PS3 launch events.Yes, you heard that right.People were literally risking their livesfor a chance to get their hands onof Sony's latest gaming machine.Imagine saving $600 to buy aPS3, spending all day in line,just to be terrified that someonewas going to swipe it fromyou walking out of the store.Mr. Bolido, do youhave a story about this?- So it all startswith my mom being in church.- Okay?- And we had been at that point,trying to find a PS3 for a month.- This is 2006?- This is 2006,literally in December, like a month after.I went to the mall with my cousin.And our mall had three GameStops,- That's the most 2006thing I've ever heard,"Our mall had three GameStops."- Yes.And as we were walking to thetheater to watch Happy Feet,I was like, why not tryto see if they had a PS3,and the third one did.And so I had to call my mom and be like,"Hey, church can wait."(Austin laughing)She's like, "Let me getthe communion first."And she showed up not 20 minutes later,'cause the church was down the road,and she was like, "Okay, we'll do it."And they triple bagged it,because this was in the middle of Brooklynand they were scared wewere gonna get robbed.- That's fair, that's fair.- But nonetheless,60 gig PS3 in handwith a copy of RickyBobby included for free.- Hell yeah.- Got my launch PS3.- You have a good mom.- Yeah.- My mom would've beenlike, "Where's your $600?"Despite the chaos, orperhaps because of it,Sony managed to move about 200,000 unitsin the first two weeksafter the US launch,not too bad considering the circumstances.Now, thankfully, theglobal launch that followedwas slightly less eventful,but emphasis on the slightly.In Europe a few monthslater, in March of 2007,Sony sold a staggering 600,000in just the first two days.This made the PS3 the fastestselling home game consolein UK historyand the second fastestselling gaming device overall,just behind its portable sibling, the PSP.Interestingly,retailers reported a suspiciouslylow take rate of gameswith some reports taking only threeout of every four PS3s beingsold with a game at all.Why the discrepancy?Well, at the time,standalone Blu-Ray playerswere insanely expensive,oftentimes costing around $1,000,PS3 with its built-in Blu-Ray capabilitiessuddenly looked like abargain for movie enthusiasts.Between home theater nerds and scalpers,it's almost likethe only people not buyinga PS3 at launch were gamers.Well, and people didn'thave a large amountof disposable income on hand,which is still, most people.Display the early days looking a lotlike the very successful PS2,the PS3 actually soldfewer units at launchthan its predecessor,so what happened here?Well, there are a few factors at play.First, let's talk aboutthat six month delay.Sony reportedly pushed back the launchdue to issues with theBlu-ray copy protection.They probably alsoappreciated some more timeto optimize the Cell processor,but the real kicker, asevere lack of supply.Now, Sony did publicly admitthat they were havingtrouble sourcing partsfor the Blu-ray disc drive,leading to major hiccups in manufacturing.Initially, Sony planned tohad 6 million units readyfor the global launch.In reality, they only managedto produce around 2 million.Whoops.This supply issue wasparticularly problematic,because for the first time,PlayStation was facingsome serious competition.Microsoft's Xbox 360 hadlaunched a full year earlier,taking advantage of Sony's delays,don't forget it was $100s less expensive,which meant that by thetime the PS3 hit shelves,the 360 already had 1.4 million unitsin the hands of gamers, andtens of millions of peoplewere just sitting on the fenceto see if the PlayStation 3was actually going to be worth it.(dramatic music)Let me just take this off real quick.So this, my friends,is an original 60 gigabyte launch PS3.And as we'll discuss later,it is clearly the best one.Now I'm going to be playingsome Gran Turismo 6,which admittedly,is a game that came outsignificantly after the launch,but I think it does a good job of showingjust what kind of potentialthe PS3 really had.You know, actually, if recall correctly,Gran Turismo 6 was one of the gamesthat pretty heavilyleaned on the hard drive,as well as the Blu-Ray drive.And that's actually one of the thingsthat most especially later model PS3 gamesreally leaned on everythingthat they could get,because one of the mainissues with the PS3is that even though the Blu-Ray drivehad tons of capacity,you could go up to 50gigabytes for a game,but it was really slow,which meant that if you'reloading 50 gigabytesof data off your Blu-ray,your load time's are gonna be real slow.I'll say the while this gamecertainly looks quite a bit more low-rescompared to something like Gran Turismo 7,but considering there's twogenerations between the two,I'd argue this isactually is pretty solid.Now, if I can actually sayanything negative about the PS3,it's actually the controller.So there's a bit of a backstory there,it's kind of long and convoluted,but basically therewere two major versionsof the PlayStation 3 controller.There was the SIXAXIS,which is what was launched with the PS3,and then there was the DualShock 3.The only real differencebetween them was just the factthat the SIXAXIS, theoriginal launch controller,did not have any vibration.And this is a SIXAXIS unfortunately,which means that I got no vibration.It's fine, I think alot of people liked it,but this was definitely the generationwhere the Xbox had a far,far better controller.I still think the Xbox 360 controllerruns rings around this one.Okay, I was only 13 seconds behind.It's funny, if you go back and play a PS3after playing more modernconsoles, like a PS5 or something,the things that jump out tome really are the controllersand the load times,because the graphicshonestly are not that bad.The ambitious technologypacked into the PS3came at a steep cost, bothfor Sony and for gamers.The company almostimmediately began lookingfor ways to cut costsand bring the PS3sincredibly high price tagdown to a more reasonable level.The launch model, retrospectivelydubbed the 60 gig version,was a technological powerhouse,and it's not even arguable,it was the best PS3 ever made.It featured full hardwarebackwards compatibilitywith PS2 games, thanks to the inclusionof the Emotion Engine from the PS2.It also boasted Wifi, a cardreader and four USB ports.This was the premium experiencethat Sony had promised,but it came at a premium price.Sony also offered the 20 gigabyte model.This version ditched the card reader,cut the USB ports down to two,and most significantly, removed Wifi.The goal was clear, offera slightly cheaper optionto boost adoption.But Sony wasn't done cost cutting.Throughout 2007, they releaseda few more cut down versions,including an 80 gigabyte model,which while it had a biggerdrive, entirely removedthe hardware backwardscompatibility for PS2 gamesand cost the same $600as the launch model.Then in late 2007, theymade a major revision,including a new basemodel 40 gigabyte version.This trimmed all the remaining fat,including backwardscompatibility altogether,the card readersand they moved the Cellprocessor to a newer,more efficient 65 nanometer processthat was cheaper to make.These changes did allow Sonyto lower the price further to $399,somewhat more competitivewith the Xbox 360,but at the cost of a consolethat a mere year into its lifewas losing features thatmany considered essentialto the PS3 experience.The PS2 back compat wasdefinitely the big one.These cut down PS3swere the first PlayStationhome consoles everto lose backwards compatibility.I think it's safe to saythat this was not normal,and especially with thebenefit of hindsight,it makes it clear justhow overly ambitiousthe plans for the PS3 were,causing massive headaches for Sonyas they tried to wrestle the PlayStation 3into a position of, I don't know,not losing them truckloadsof money every month.Throughout 2008 and 2009,Sony continued to tweak the formula,releasing 80 gigabyte andlater 160 gigabyte versions.Now, these were prettystraightforward changes,mostly maintaining the reduced feature setof the 40 gigabyte versionwith a bit more storage.While gamers were slowly getting on boardwith these changing PS3 models,some unexpected groupsfound some interesting usesfor Sony's most powerful console.The raw performance of the Cell processorcaught the attention of some universitiesand research institutions,who began buying PS3s in mass,networking them togetherto create makeshift supercomputers.The most notable example,the US Air Force.In 2010, they put together 1,760 PS3sto create a system usedfor radar enhancementand AI research.Now, why go through all of this trouble?Well, it came down to cost.Game consoles aretypically sold at a loss,as we've especiallyestablished in the case of PS3,with manufacturers making their money backon game sales later on.For the Air Force's purposes,$400 per compute unitwas an absolute steal.Comparables specialized hardwarecost around $10,000 per unit.The fact that the Cellprocessor could run Linuxmade it a breeze to usefor custom programs.This brings us to a controversial chapterin the PS3's history.Originally, Sony proudlytouted the PS3's abilityto run Linux as a key feature,as they did with the PS2 before.It allowed tech savvy usersto turn their consoles intofully functional computers.However, in 2010,Sony abruptly removed thiscapability via a firmware update.Now, this was differentfrom the updated models of the PS3that slowly removedfeatures to save money.One day you woke upand your PS3 wanted to download an updatethat straight up removed a major feature.The backlash, I probably don'tneed to tell you, was swift.Users felt betrayed,especially those who had purchasedthe PS3 specifically for Linux support.A class action lawsuit was filed,claiming that Sony had engagedin deceptive marketing.After years of legal battles,Sony eventually settled,agreeing to pay a meager $3.75 millionto the affected users.That's probably like what, 25cents per person or whatever.But even the removal of Linux supportwas far from the biggestissue plaguing PS3 owners.A couple of years intothe console's lifecycle,reports began to surface of a mysteriousand dreaded malfunction,the Yellow Light of Death.Picture this, you sitdown for a gaming session,hit the power button on your PS3,and instead of the comforting blue light,you're greeted with anominous yellow flash.Your heart sinks as yourealize your consoleis now a little more thanan expensive paperweight.The Yellow Light of Death, or the YLOD,became notorious among PS3 owners.It typically struckaround the two year mark,conveniently after Sony's oneyear warranty had expired.Now, the exact causewas debated for years,but it's now generally understoodto be related to overheating.The high temperatures inside the consolecould cause solder pointson the motherboard to crack,leading to failures in criticalcomponents, like the GPU.Now, it is important to putthis issue into perspective.While it seemed like the yellowlight was running rampant,in reality,only a small percentageof all PS3s were affected.Now, that's still thousandsof consoles to be sureand absolutely devastatingif you were one of the unlucky ones,but it pales in comparison tothe infamous Red Ring of Deaththat plagued the Xbox 360.Some sources estimatethat up to 50% of launchmodel 360s were affected.- I actually hadtwo PS3 Fats fail on me.The first time, Sony justcompletely replaced it.- Was that under warranty or outside?- No, it was outside of warranty-- But they did it anyway.- But they did it anyway.- Wow, okay.- And then the second time,they gave me the optionof a free replacement Fat,or I could pay $100 andget a Slim, 120 gig.- Nice.- And I chose the 120 gig,'cause why not at that point?I didn't need the backup Fat.I'm still in fact using that PS3 today.- Look at Ken over herewith all the PS3 storiesI could ever hope for.I unfortunately didn't owna PS3, 'cause I was poor.- And nowyou own like 50 of them.- Jokes on you, life.Still, the Yellow Light ofDeath became a black markon the PS3's reputation.It fueled the narrativethat Sony had rushedout an overly complex,unreliable console to market.Combined with the high price tagand initial lack of must have games,it all contributedto the PlayStation 3'sproperly rocky startin the console war againstMicrosoft's Xbox 360.The launch of thePlayStation 3 Slim in 2009marked a crucial turning pointfor Sony's struggling console.After years of grapplingwith high production costs,hardware issues and lackluster salescompared to its predecessor,the Slim model addressed nearly allof the original PS3 shortcomings.First, it sported a sleek new design.Gone was the bulky,scratch prone original PS3.The Slim lived up to its namewith a more compact, streamlined look.Now, Sony also took thisopportunity to rebrand,ditching these Spider-Manfont for a cleaner,more modern logo.In my opinion, it's the bestlooking PS3 ever by far.It also had significantlybetter reliability,Sony had thankfully learnedfrom the Yellow Light of Death fiasco.It also ran significantly quieterthan the notoriously loudoriginal PlayStation 3,largely thanks to the Slim'simproved power efficiency.Perhaps the most significantchange though was the price.The PS3 Slim launched at amuch more affordable $299,a far cry from theoriginal $600 price tag.Now, the only real downside to the Slimwas the complete lack ofbackwards compatibilitywhen it came to PS2 games.However, since later models of the Fat PS3had already ditched this feature,to be honest, most peoplewere kind of over it.The response to the PS3 Slim was immediateand overwhelmingly positive.Within 24 hours of its release,it became the bestsellinggaming console on the market.This success came at a crucial timein the console war with the 360.While Sony had beenstruggling to gain traction,Microsoft had been steadilybuilding its user basesince its earlier launch in 2005.This was firstly driven byits strong launch lineupand exclusive titles.Games like Halo 3 and Gearsof War were system sellers.Xbox Live was also miles aheadof Sony's PlayStation Network at the time,offering a more seamlessmultiplayer experience.Now, part of that is to be expected,Microsoft were on theirsecond generation of Xbox Liveand you had to pay a prettysignificant $60 per yearfor Xbox Live Gold,where Sony always keptPSN free on the PS3.You know, referring back to the whole,"The PlayStation 3 generationkeeps losing money forSony, I don't know why,"you know that thing.But it wasn't just the factthat Xbox Live was paid,Microsoft really emphasizedthe social aspects of gaming,positioning the Xbox 360as a platform for connecting with friends.There were advantages for PSN though,namely the fact that it was free to play,really lowered the barrier to entryto playing with your friends,although it was clearly less reliablewith multi-platformtitles like Call of Dutyoffering better latencyand a more stable experience on Xbox Live.However, in April of 2011,Sony faced a catastrophic security breachthat would threaten to derailthe PS3's momentum entirely.- Sony has confirmedthat hackers broke intoits PlayStation Network,exposing the personal informationof up to 77 million users worldwide.- Hackers infiltrated the PSN,compromising the personaland financial informationof approximately 77 million user accounts.This massive data breach forced Sonyto shut down the entire PSNfor an unprecedented 23 days,leaving millions of PS3 and PSP usersunable to access onlinegaming, or digital purchases.Just talk to anyone who workedat Sony during this timeand watched their face,dark times, man, gee.The incident not only highlightedthe vulnerabilities in Sony'snetwork infrastructure,but also dealt a severeblow to gamers trust.In the aftermath,Sony did offer usersidentity theft protectionand a welcome back package of free games,but the damage to thereputation was significant.However, the 360 was, of course,not without its own problems.Lots of gamers were steering clearafter the Red Ring of Death fiasco,and Microsoft was forced toset aside billions of dollarsto extend the warrantyand deliver replacements,all in the hope thegamers could be won back.And you know, they largelywere, just at a hefty cost.Now, it's also worth notingthat while Sony andMicrosoft were duking it outin the traditional console space,Nintendo was very muchoff doing its own thingwith the incredibly successful Wii.The motion control based consolereally appealed to a broader,more casual audience,and it became a surprise hit.However, it's lack of HD graphicsand less powerful hardwaremeant that it really wasn'tcompeting with the PS3and the Xbox 360 forthe core gamer market.In 2012, the landscapewas almost unrecognizablecompared to 2006 when the PS3 launched.The original PS3's complex architecture,centered around the Cell processor,had been notoriouslydifficult to develop for.Many multi-platform gamesinitially performed betteron the Xbox 360,simply because developers found it easierto optimize for Microsoft's hardware.However, as the generation progressedand developers became more familiarwith the PS3's quirks, thisgap did begin to close.By the latter half of the generation,many multi-platform titleswere reaching parityacross both systems,and some PS3 exclusives,such as Uncharted and The Last Of Us,pushed the boundaries of what was possibleon console hardware.And so when Sony revealedthe final hardware revision,later known as the SuperSlim in September of 2012,it was the final form of thePS3 in more ways than one.The cost cutting at thispoint had claimed everything.Of course, there was no PS2back compat or Linux support,but also had a new even slimmer designthat dropped the slot loading disc trayin favor of the cheapest slidingdoor, probably of all time.Find me a cheaper door.They even dropped the harddrive from the base model,instead shipping it with 12gigabytes of flash storage,so the operating system functioned,but if you actually wantedto do anything with it,you pretty much had to go outand buy a hard drive yourself,or I guess you could limit yourselfto games that didn't need any extra space,which by the time 2012 rolled around,were incredibly few and far between.Now look, I'm biased here,but I've always disliked the Super Slimfor being so absolutely cut down and cheapthat it's hardly recognizablefrom the beastly original PS3.But this was a key reasonwhy Sony were able toreally crank up the salesin the last few yearsof the PlayStation 3.And this paired with huge gamesreleased right at theend of the lifecycle,such as GTA 5 and The Last OfUs, meant that, miraculously,Sony barely outsold the Xbox 360when it was all said and done.Boy, this has been the episodeI've been most excited forever since we firststarted making this series.There has never and will likely never beanother generationthat's just this insane.Sony came in with all theconfidence in the worldafter dominating generationafter generation.They developed an absurdly complexand ahead of its time console,which single-handedly forced Blu-Rayto two decades of successand birthed some of the mostimportant games of all time.And yet, it kind of failed.From a sales perspective,Sony lost billions on the PS3.And while it's debatable,I think history has shownthat both the Wii and the Xbox 360were the real winners of the generation.The Wii cemented Nintendo's pivotfrom competing with Sony and Microsoftto really just doing their own thingto pretty great success.Well, as long as you don'tcount the Wii U, I guess.And there is no doubt that the Xbox 360was the greatest generation of Xbox ever,a high watermark, that if I'm honest,they're probably never going to top.So how does history lookback on the PlayStation 3?It was an enormously bold betthat kind of blew up in Sony's faceand forced them to play ondefense the entire generation.And as we'll talk aboutwhen we get to the PS4,it caused a huge shiftin the way that futuregenerations would be handled.But that is a story for later.If you've enjoyed this video,make sure to subscribe to the channel.If you missed any of theearlier episodes on the PS1,the PS2 or the PSP,definitely go check those out.Next time, we take a littledetour to the consolethat single handedly forced Sonyto abandon the portable space,ah, the Vita.