The PlayStation 3 — Sony’s futuristic black monolith of gaming — crash-landed in living rooms in 2006, looking like a sleek, alien artifact designed to summon extraterrestrial life. Weighing roughly the same as a small dog and radiating enough heat to cook a Hot Pocket, the PS3 was a technological marvel of its time. It boasted a Blu-ray player (a huge flex in 2006), stunning HD graphics, and a controller that, while wireless, still clung to its ancestors with the same button layout from the PS1. And let’s not forget the iconic startup sound — a celestial chime that made you feel like you were about to embark on an interstellar journey, when really, you were just booting up LittleBigPlanet.
However, the PS3 wasn’t without its quirks. The launch model came with a price tag so high ($599!) that it felt like Sony was daring you to buy it. Early adopters also faced the infamous “Yellow Light of Death,” which was basically the console’s way of politely imploding. And the online service? Free — but also held together with duct tape and hope. Yet despite its rough start, the PS3 blossomed into a legendary console, delivering classics like Uncharted 2, The Last of Us, and Metal Gear Solid 4. It was a machine that, in its own charmingly complicated way, helped redefine gaming and laid the groundwork for the powerhouse that Sony would become. Plus, it made a pretty decent space heater in the winter.
