The PlayStation 3 turns 20 on November 11, 2026, marking the anniversary of its Japanese debut. Time Extension’s birthday retrospective revisits a console whose North American introduction included a 60GB model for $599. Subtle entrance, Sony. Source Source
The console launched in Japan on November 11, 2006, followed by North America on November 17. Europe had to wait until March 23, 2007. Source
That $599 model wasn’t the only North American option: the entry-level 20GB PS3 cost $499. Those are 2006 US-dollar launch prices, without adjusting for inflation. Time Extension identifies the high cost as a reason the console struggled out of the gate. Source
The hardware presented another hurdle. According to the retrospective, Sony built the PS3 around the Cell Broadband Engine, a custom processor co-developed with IBM and Toshiba. The outlet says the PS3 was seen as harder to develop for than Xbox 360 because of Cell’s bespoke design, leading many third-party developers and publishers to target Microsoft’s hardware. An ambitious chip, apparently without an easy mode for the people making the games. Source
Time Extension says Sony lowered the price over time and added significant exclusives to the library. The outlet reports 87.4 million PS3 units sold globally, compared with 84 million for Xbox 360 and 101.63 million for Wii. The retrospective doesn’t identify the underlying sales sources or reporting cutoffs. By those figures, PS3 finished ahead of Xbox 360 but behind Wii. A comeback, not a clean sweep. Source
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