Sony has been in the console game more than twenty-five years now and has consistently found unprecedented success, only stumbling in the mid-2000s with the announcement and launch of the PlayStation 3. To their credit, however, the company regained its footing and ended the generation on a high note with a console worthy of commendation.
Even two generations later, many are still nostalgic for the console. After all, with no backwards compatibility on the PS4, many still have their PS3 plugged in to play classics like Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Max Payne 3. To celebrate Sony's third iteration of its mainstay console, the following memes recall the glory days of the PlayStation 3.
10 The Console Was Not Always Agreeable
Games of the generation did not always run optimally, including certain Xbox 360 titles, sometimes crashing and freezing. When this happens, players have no choice but to shut off the PS3 without properly powering it down. The PS3, like a true friend, then warns the player not to shut off the console in this fashion, despite presenting no other choice.
9 How People See PS3 Players
Even being a gamer gives different people varying ideas of what the title actually means. This misunderstanding continues further when diving deeper into the different fandoms among gamers. Parents might think PlayStation is all shooters and adventure games, while in reality, the console has numerous kid friendly titles like Little Big Planet and Ratchet and Clank.
8 Remember Free Online Multiplayer?
Xbox Live always required a monthly subscription to play online multiplayer, while the PlayStation 3 let friends play together without having to pay a monthly fee. This changed with the PlayStation 4, but PlayStation Plus is, thankfully, still not required to enjoy online games on the prior hardware.
This made the PlayStation world a much simpler place than it is now. Now kids have to convince their parents the monthly fee is worth it to get the most out of the console.
7 The Truth Comes Out
One of the odd things about the original PlayStation 3's design was the font's striking similarity to the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films. The console came out around the same time as Spider-Man 3, and certain consoles even came with a Blu-ray copy of the polarizing film. While this design choice was criticized by many, J. Jonah Jameson was surely pleased by the tribute.
6 It Sure Was Expensive
The PlayStation 3 was almost ludicrously expensive upon release. Launched in two models, the cheaper one was five hundred dollars while the other was six big ones. Sony even suggested working a second job to afford it. Fortunately, the price dropped significantly by the time PlayStation Plus was introduced. However, even with the price cut the PlayStation 3 was still out of some consumers' reach, leading to hilariously tragic memes like the one above.
5 Kitty Cat Eyes
Anybody who was a kid during this console generation's transition can heavily relate to the cat in the above meme. Without control over the budget or checkbook, convincing parents or guardians to spend five hundred dollars on the PS3 was a truly difficult endeavor. Children are also not as adorable as the cat, and their pleading for a PS3 probably ends up annoying parents instead of slowly persuading them.
4 Not A Bad Deal
Assuming the kid in the above meme does not already have a PlayStation 3, then ending up with the console in 2013 still is not a bad deal. After all, he now has access to many thousands of games, many of which would be way cheaper by the end of the console's run.
Even just looking at one developer, the console has Grand Theft Auto IV and V, Red Dead Redemption, and Max Payne 3. All but one of those games are not even playable on the PlayStation 4.
3 The Math Holds Up
With the high price of the PlayStation 3 at launch, parents had to think outside the box when purchasing gifts for their kids. By the time of the PS3's release, the original PlayStation was dirt cheap and the PS2 wouldn't break the wallet, so combining the two would have been way cheaper. To put the PS3's exorbitant cost into perspective, both the PS1 and PS2's launch prices combined add up to one original model of the PlayStation 3 upon its first run.
2 It Didn't Need Upgrades
Despite the high cost and numerous problems regarding the release and marketing, the PlayStation 3 was a fine console at launch. It came out of the box with HD capabilities, something the Xbox 360 lacked until 2007. The console saw iteration further down the line, but only a decrease in size and change in font. In terms of hardware, nothing significant changed, as opposed to the Xbox 360 elite model and the Pro versions of consoles this generation saw.
1 It's Still Valuable
While playing Netflix may feel like a useless purpose, many gamers fondly remember how exciting it was to finally have this capability on the PlayStation 3, fulfilling the company's promise of turning the console into a true multimedia center. Even in 2020, the console is ultimately useful for more than just Netflix, as this list already showed by detailing the games still only available on the PS3.