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PlayStation 3
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Manufacturer
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Sony Computer Entertainment
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Type
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Video game console
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Generation
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Seventh generation
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Release date
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November 11, 2006
(Japan) November 17, 2006 (United States) March 23, 2007 (Europe/Australia) |
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Units sold
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80 million
(as of November 2, 2013) |
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Media
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Blu-ray Disc
DVD Compact Disc |
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CPU
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3.2 GHz Cell Broadband Engine with 1 PPE & 7 SPEs
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Predecessor
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Successor
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PlayStation 4
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The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment.
It is the successor to PlayStation 2, as part of the PlayStation series. It competes with Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, with international markets following shortly thereafter.
The console was first officially announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2005, and was released at the end of 2006. It was the first console to use Blu-ray Disc as its primary storage medium. Major features of the console include its unified online gaming service, PlayStation Network, and its connectivity with PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita, In September 2009 the updated PlayStation 3 Slim, was released. This Slim is lighter and thinner than the original version, which notably featured a re-designed logo and marketing design. A further refined Super Slim design was released in late 2012. As of November 2, 2013, PlayStation 3 has sold 80 million units worldwide. Its successor, PlayStation 4, was released on November 15, 2013, in North America and in Europe on November 29, 2013. Following the release of PlayStation 4, Sony has stated that they will continue to support PlayStation 3 until 2015.
PS3 Slim and console rebranding[]
Following speculation that Sony was working on a 'slim' model, Sony officially announced the PS3 CECH-2000 model on August 18, 2009, at the Sony Gamescom press conference. Among its features are a slimmer form factor and quieter noise when powered on. It was released in major territories by September 2009. As part of the release for the slim model, the logo was changed from the "Spider-Man font" and capitalized PLAYSTATION 3 to a more traditional PlayStation- and PlayStation 2-like 'PlayStation 3' logo with "PS3" imprinted on the console. Along with the redesigning of the console and logo, the boot screen of all consoles changed from "Sony Computer Entertainment" to "PS3 PlayStation 3", with a new chime and the game start splash screen being dropped. The cover art and packaging of games has also been changed.
Hardware[]
PlayStation 3 is convex on its left side, with the PlayStation logo upright, when vertical (the top side is convex when horizontal) and has a glossy black finish. PlayStation designer Teiyu Goto stated that the Spider-Man-font-inspired logo "was one of the first elements SCEI president Ken Kutaragi decided on and the logo may have been the motivating force behind the shape of PS3".
On March 22, 2007, SCE and Stanford University released the Folding@home software for PlayStation 3. This program allows PS3 owners to lend the computing power of their consoles to help study the process of protein folding for disease research.