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Today marks the 20th anniversary of the PlayStation 3, one of the most controversial consoles Sony has released. It hit store shelves in Japan on November 11th, 2006, with the North American launch coming on the 17th. Europe had to wait until March 23rd, 2007.
Built around the powerful Cell Broadband Engine processor, a custom chip co-developed alongside IBM and Toshiba, PS3 struggled at launch due to its high cost; the entry-level 20GB model cost $499 in North America, while the 60GB variant was an eye-watering $599. Remember, those are 2006 prices, and they give you some idea of why the console landed with such a surprising thud 20 years ago.
PS3 was also seen as harder to develop for than its direct rival, Microsoft's Xbox 360, thanks to the bespoke nature of the Cell processor; as a result, many third-party developers and publishers treated the 360 as the target hardware. The 360, which launched before the PS3 and Wii, stole an early lead, giving Sony its first upset since the arrival of the PS1 over a decade beforehand.
However, over time Sony was able to bring the price down and bless the PS3 with some significant exclusives, and in the end it would sell a not-too-shabby 87.4 million units globally – overtaking the Xbox 360's 84 million but falling short of the 101.63 million achieved by the (significantly cheaper) Nintendo Wii.
PS3 will also be remembered as the first game console to give players a Blu-ray drive (meaning more storage and better-looking movies), HDMI as standard (the first Xbox 360 models needed an adapter), and 1080p HD output.
What are your memories of PS3? Let us know with a comment.