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Is the Playstation 3 still worth a purchase?

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
While sitting in a waiting room tonight and browsing the web I happened upon the "Demon's Souls website pulled & servers shut down" thread and after reading a few pages, I had the sudden urge to pick up a Playstation 3.

For what it's worth, I've never owned a Sony console. I own a PSP though, so I've never been completely without Sony hardware in my life.

I looked up the Playstation 3 on Amazon and prices seem to be all over the place. A 12GB PS3 is $210 and a 500GB or 250GB PS3 is $260, with a snazzy looking white unit for $270. That seems rather high for what is almost 10-year old hardware. Heck, the Playstation 4 is $350 and that includes a game, whereas all the models I just mentioned don't include anything outside of the console and controller (presumably)

I've be using it to play PSOne games from PSN, as my PSPgo's TV connectivity has been rather flakey lately, plus a handful of PS3 games. I glanced over the Wikipedia page for PS3-exclusive titles and this is what I've pulled out of it for interesting titles:

  • Journey
  • Ratchet & Clank (Series)
  • flower
  • Sly Cooper Collection
  • Motorstorm (Series)
  • Folklore
  • Katamari Forever
  • Puppeteer

The more I think about it though, that's a lot of money to throw at a console that has so few titles I'm interested in playing for it. Any thoughts?
 
If you never owned a sony console, there are a lot of ps1&2 games you can play on the ps3.
The PSN has an endless selection of those.
 
it has solid games the biggest problem with the PS3 is that the UI and store are a fucking pain in the ass to navigate and update these days. If you can get by that there is still a solid library.
 
Did you have a 360? If you didn't, that would open up a lot of multiplatform games for you.

If you've never owned a sony console before, I say jump on it. There's a lot of PS1 classics, a good selection of PS2 games, and plenty of PSN-exclusive/indie games on top of the major retail exclusives and multiplats.
 
A lot of key PS3 titles are available in one form-or-another on Ps4; be it port/remasters or through (if you're in the US) PS Now. That said, the only reason I keep my PS3 around is so I can hit up some MotorStorm Pacific Rift and WipEout HD every now and then. Until they're both playable on a newer system in some way, my PS3 is staying.
 

Mozendo

Member
Are you not interested in buying it used? They usually go for $120-$150 in the B/S/T thread, sometimes with games included.
 

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
Did you have a 360? If you didn't, that would open up a lot of multiplatform games for you.

I do own a Xbox 360, I should have mentioned that in the OP, apologies.

also Uncharted series, GoW series,and TLOU if you don't have a PS4

None of those franchises interest me, unfortunately.

If you never owned a sony console, there are a lot of ps1&2 games you can play on the ps3.
The PSN has an endless selection of those.

I thought newer PS3 consoles didn't play Playstation 2 software?
 

ClearData

Member
Still my favorite console. It has a very diverse and deep library. You might find better prices at GameStop for a used console.
 

120v

Member
i was looking for one recently mainly as a blu ray player/streaming device... then realized i just may as well buy a used ps4 and did

just way too expensive for 10 year old hardware unless you can find a bargain
 

silva1991

Member
None of those franchises interest me, unfortunately.

What about JRPGs? Ni No Kuni is great and I don't think Persona 4 was ever on PSP and you can buy it on PS3.

edit:

oh Ico and SotC remasters is phenomenal

270705b.jpg



edit2:

I've considered picking one up just for Okami HD and Demon's Souls

Okami too in case OP never owned a Wii.
 
You can get a PS3 used starting at around $100, and seeing how many cheap games there are at both retail and during Flash Sales, I still recommend picking one up. If anything, there are a ton of PS1 and PS2 games to check out as well as some good remasters that still aren't available on PS4 yet. Unfortunately finding a new PS3 is pretty hard nowadays so perhaps your best bet is to get a used console.
 
I still play mine for a few co-op cover shooters, PS1 and PS2 RPGs, and MGS Collection.

Play a few PC games on there too like XCOM and Deus Ex HR...

So, still worth it IMO because I use mine probably almost every week, and every now and again I'll use it more often than my PS4 (e.g. after MGS V, it was pretty busy with a replay of Snake Eater and Peace Walker). I still use my PS4 the most but I still get regularly use out of my PS3, and even my PS TV (it's my Tactics Ogre box, basically lol).
 

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
What about JRPGs? Ni No Kuni is great and I don't think Persona 4 was ever on PSP and you can buy it on PS3.

edit:

oh Ico and SotC remasters is phenomenal

270705b.jpg



edit2:



Okami too in case OP never owned a Wii.

I have Okami for my Wii, and have never played it, naturally.

Ico, SotC, Persona 4 and Ni No Kuni don't interest me, unfortunately.

As much as I love RPGs, I just don't have the attention span for them anymore these days.
 

Clive

Member
Best version of Shadow of the Colossus, the only version of Demon's Souls and the only place to play Yakuza 3-5. It also has a bunch of good-to-great exclusives but the above are among my all time favorite games.

Of the game mentioned in the OP, Flower and Journey are also on the PS4.
 

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
That is correct, but there's a decent amount of emulated digital games available from the Playstation Store, as PS2 Classics. List here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_2_Classics_for_PlayStation_3

Interesting. Do these all run fairly well, or do they have issues like the Xbox 360's backwards compatibility solution does? Glancing at the PS2 games available in the US I'd probably pick up Maximo, Shinobi, and Katamari Damacy.

Unfortunately even on that list there's not a huge amount of software jumping out at me.
 

playXray

Member
It's worth it for Demon's Souls, WipEout, Ni No Kuni, the Yakuza games and Red Dead Redemption (for non-360 owners). Most of the other great exclusives have been remastered for PS4 by now, though there are probably a few I've missed.

However, I picked up a mint-condition refurbished PS3 for £99 - I wouldn't recommend paying much more than this for something so old (I bought the 12GB PS3 and then stuck the 500GB HDD from my PS4 in there once I'd upgraded that to a 2TB HDD).
 

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
It's worth it for Demon's Souls, WipEout, Ni No Kuni, the Yakuza games and Red Dead Redemption (for non-360 owners). Most of the other great exclusives have been remastered for PS4 by now, though there are probably a few I've missed.

However, I picked up a mint-condition refurbished PS3 for £99 - I wouldn't recommend paying much more than this for something so old (I bought the 12GB PS3 and then stuck the 500GB HDD from my PS4 in there once I'd upgraded that to a 2TB HDD).

Oh shit, I forgot completely about Wipeout.
 
Interesting. Do these all run fairly well, or do they have issues like the Xbox 360's backwards compatibility solution does? Glancing at the PS2 games available in the US I'd probably pick up Maximo, Shinobi, and Katamari Damacy.

Unfortunately even on that list there's not a huge amount of software jumping out at me.

I only have a couple of them, but they run pretty near-flawlessly IMO.

As for potential exclusive suggestions, maybe the Yakuza series? 4 and 5 are both easily available on the Playstation Network. They're pretty meaty (5 moreso) but work just as well as pick-up-and-play, bit-by-bit games as they do sit-down-marathon games.
 

LewieP

Member
If you've got a PS4 and/or a reasonable gaming PC I'd say it's of fairly limited utility. If you don't have either (the OP didn't mention PC or not, but did mention not having a PS4), putting the money into a PS4 or PC would be the wiser investment imo.

A lot of the better Sony published titles have found their way over to PS4: The Last Of Us, Uncharted 1/2/3, God of War 3, Flow, Flower, Journey, Sound Shapes etc. I would imagine that Sony are planning to continue to update their PS3 games for PS4, and I'd not be surprised by getting some kind of Demon's souls remaster.

Most of the Sony funded indie games on PS3 eventually hit PC too, such as Papo & Yo, , Dyad, Velocity, Joe Danger, Everyday Shooter etc.

Also the vast majority of games that were on PS3 and 360 performed better on the 360, and many of them have also had further enhanced PS4 and/or PC releases.

There are certainly a handful of great games that are currently only available on the PS3, and especially when looking at some of the retro stuff that's missing from the PS4, it's worth having, but I'd only encourage picking one up either after a PS4, or if you are able to get one second hand for pretty cheap.
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
I have Okami for my Wii, and have never played it, naturally.

Ico, SotC, Persona 4 and Ni No Kuni don't interest me, unfortunately.

As much as I love RPGs, I just don't have the attention span for them anymore these days.

Your loss
 
I'm going to say it depends. A lot of the great exclusive games that were released for the PS3 now have remasters on the PS4. For example, TLOU and The Uncharted trilogy. For me, Demon's Souls was worth paying $200 for the hardware a couple of years ago. I don't think you can get the hard-drive equipped model for that price these days.

From what I've read the PS3 CELL processor is a lot more inefficient than the hardware in the newer consoles, so it will waste more energy if you want to use it as a streaming/Blu-Ray player. One good thing is that all the multiplayer games you can play for free if the servers are still running.

The best solution IMO is to find a used PS3 in decent shape for cheap. Even better, ask a friend to borrow theirs, play Demon's Souls and move on.
 

orochi91

Member
I have Okami for my Wii, and have never played it, naturally.

Ico, SotC, Persona 4 and Ni No Kuni don't interest me, unfortunately.

As much as I love RPGs, I just don't have the attention span for them anymore these days.

Those are some legendary PlayStation games you're gonna end up missing out on, among many others, lol
 

Clive

Member
Sounds like you're just not interested in what's available. Passing on Shadow of the Colossus though, damn.
 

Persona7

Banned
It's excellent. There are a ton of games available. The selection of PS1 and PS2 games is also pretty good.

Easily worth the current cost of the system. The PS store is atrocious though but you can buy things through a web browser and they will download to your system.
 
My PS3 is still my main console however that's mainly due to me not playing much of the library past 2010 or so. I've been catching up on a lot of the late gen stuff and it has been a blast. I'm currently playing through RE5, GOW:A, and Beyond and am having a blast. I chuckle when people ask me if I'm playing a PS4. The games still look fantastic even all these years later. Especially some of the first party stuff.

If you missed out on a lot of last generations best games then yes, PS3 is definitely worth owning as it has a huge library of great games both exclusive and multiplatform. If you play mostly digital games and have the means to then I suggest adding a SSHD. I'm not sure how the load times are affected on disc games but I know that anything on the hard drive has load times vastly improved and the pop in that used to plague UE3 games is gone.
 

Wagram

Member
I can't think of a reason why one would not want a PS3. It arguably has the best library of last generation.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Sounds like you're just not interested in what's available. Passing on Shadow of the Colossus though, damn.

Passing on TLOU makes me shake my head.

It hits so many venn diagrams: smartly written for those who love art games, gunplay for shooter heads, horror for goths... it's even pretty much moe.
 

Aters

Member
If you own a X360, I don't see why a PS3 is necessary.
Buy a PS4. Sony will move the whole PS3 exclusive library onto PS4.
 
Yes, you can play that amazing South Park game, if you don't own a capable PC either.

Edit: Misread, seems that if you own a 360 already, I think the PS3 is still worth it. Plenty of exclusives to get you going.
 
Considering that you can probably pick up one for around $150 (when on sale, or used), and that it has an extensive library of classic and modern games, YES. Only real downside is that the DS3 will feel like SHIIIT for the first couple of weeks. Wish they would've tried out new moulds sooner
 

Jigorath

Banned
Yeah. You can probably get a used PS3 for a cool $150. Well worth it considering the fantastic library. The controller is kind of ass though. I'd recommend buying a Dualshock 4, a lot of the games should be compatible with it.

No. It is slow and 10 years old console with no HD support.

wut
 
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