PS3 20th Anniversary: Cell Chip, Blu-ray, and a $599 Price Tag

The PS3 turns 20 this month. It launched in Japan on November 11, 2006, and North America followed on November 17. Europe and Australia had to wait until March 23, 2007. Here’s what Sony promised, what came in the box, and which games lined up at the start.

Two prices, two hard drives

Sony said the PS3 would cost $499 with a 20GB hard drive or $599 with a 60GB drive. Only the 60GB model had built-in Wi-Fi. In Japan, the 20GB model cost 59,800 yen, and the 60GB price was left “open,” so stores picked it.

A new chip and a new disc

The PS3 ran on the Cell Broadband Engine, a 64-bit chip built by Sony, Toshiba, and IBM. Its main core ran at 3.2 GHz, and it came with seven extra processing cores.

The PS3 was also the first console to use Blu-ray discs as its main storage. Blu-ray is a disc type that holds more data than a DVD, and the built-in player could also play Blu-ray movies.

Every PS3 came standard with the following:

Sixaxis: motion without rumble

The standard controller at launch was the Sixaxis, a wireless pad with motion sensing. It had no vibration, and an extra one cost $49.99. The DualShock 3 came in late 2007.

The launch games

Sony’s launch window list opened with three of its own games: Resistance: Fall of Man, NBA 07, and Genji: Days of the Blade. Other publishers brought Call of Duty 3, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Madden NFL 07, Need for Speed Carbon, Ridge Racer 7, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas. Sony said more than 20 games would arrive through the holidays.

Slimmer, cheaper, and changed

Sony unveiled a slimmer PS3 on August 18, 2009, and cut the price to $299 at the same time. A smaller Super Slim followed in 2012.

Older PS3 models changed too. Firmware 3.21, released on April 1, 2010, removed the OtherOS feature, and Sony cited security concerns.

How the PS3 story ended

Shipments stopped in most regions by 2016. Final production for Japan continued until May 29, 2017. The console sold about 87.4 million units worldwide.

Why the PS3 still matters

Sony paired a new disc format with a custom chip and a high price. Twenty years later, the 87.4 million sales number shows how many players came along for the ride.

Did you buy a PS3 at launch, or pick one up later? Tell us which game you played first.

Image Credit: Nikita Kostrykin on Unsplash