PlayStation 3

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This article is about a subject in the real world. Information in this article is about real-life people, companies, and objects, which do not relate to the in-universe Sonic series.

The PlayStation 3 (プレイステーションスリー, Pureisutēshonsurī^?) (abbreviated as the PS3) is a video game system made by Sony Computer Entertainment. It competed with Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360 as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. It was released on November 2006 in Japan and America and in all other nations during the following year. It hosts a handful of Sonic the Hedgehog titles.

It is the successor to Sony's most successful console, the PlayStation 2. The PS3 is notable for its use of Blu-ray technology for its game disc, becoming the first ever gaming console to use Blu-ray. It uses the XrossMediaBar (XMB) as its graphical user interface.

The PlayStation 4 (PS4), the successor of the PlayStation 3, was announced on February 20, 2013 and was released on November the same year.

Sonic games

File:STH'06.jpg Sonic the Hedgehog	File:Sega superstars tennis (ps3).jpg Sega Superstars Tennis	File:Sonic Unleashed (PS3).jpg Sonic Unleashed
File:Sonic's Ultimate Genesisps3 Collection.jpg Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection	File:SASASRPS3Box.jpg Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing	File:Sonic Generations (PS3).jpg Sonic Generations
File:SASRT PS3 US.jpg Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Characters introduced

• Silver the Hedgehog
  • Super Silver
• Princess Elise
• Mephiles the Dark
• Iblis
• Solaris
• Chip
• Professor Pickle
• Sonic the Werehog
• SA-55
• Wentos
• Brenda Hernandez
• Dark Gaia
• Time Eater
• Honey the Cat

Controllers

At launch, PS3 consoles were bundled with the then-standard Sixaxis controllers which based off of the DualShock 2 used for the PS2 but were wireless, lacked vibration capabilities and had an accelerometer detect motion in three directional and three rotational axes (hence the name "Sixaxis"). In 2007, the DualShock 3 was announced which had the same capabilities of the Sixaxis, but with the addition of vibration functionality.

The PS3 is also forward compatible with the DualShock 4 either via a wired micro-USB cable or wireless Bluetooth connection.

PlayStation Network

PlayStation Store

The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation Vita game consoles via the PlayStation Network. This Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games, add-on content, playable demos, themes along with games and movie trailers. On May 20, 2022, couple of games such as Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles have been delisted from the service.

File:S4E1 PSN Icon.jpg Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I	File:SA PS3 US.jpg Sonic Adventure	File:Sonic1 PS3 Icon.jpg Sonic the Hedgehog
File:PSN Sonic2 Icon.jpg Sonic the Hedgehog 2	File:PS3 SG Icon.jpg Sonic Generations	File:PSN SCD Icon.jpg Sonic CD
File:SH PS3 EU Icon.jpg Sonic Heroes (EU/Asia)	File:S4E2 PSN US Icon.jpg Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II	File:SA2 (2012) PSN.jpg Sonic Adventure 2
File:PSN STF Icon.jpg Sonic the Fighters	File:ShTH PS3 JP Icon.jpg Shadow the Hedgehog (Asia)	File:PS3 Unleashed Icon.jpg Sonic Unleashed

Miscellaneous

File:PSN Sonic Avatar Set Icon.png Sonic the Hedgehog series Avatar Set

PlayStation Now

PlayStation Now is a video gaming streaming service similar to Netflix where players can stream video games from a PlayStation 3, PS4, and other Sony consoles, including Smartphones and Tablets. Announced during Sony's Keynote address in the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, it launched as a closed beta in January 2014, and was later started as an open beta on July 31, 2014, on the PlayStation 4. PS Now Open Beta on the PS3 was released in North America on September 18, 2014, and will be released in Europe by 2015, with the United Kingdom to get it first.

• Sonic CD
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II
• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
• Sonic Generations

PlayStation Plus

PlayStation Plus is a paid PlayStation Network subscription service that was officially unveiled at E3 2010 by Jack Tretton, the President and CEO of SCEA at the time of that announcement. Rumors of such service had been in speculation since Kaz Hirai's announcement at TGS 2009 of a possible paid service for PSN but with the current PSN service still available. Launched alongside PS3 firmware 3.40 and PSP firmware 6.30 on 29 June 2010, the paid-for subscription service provides users with enhanced services on the PlayStation Network, on top of the current PSN service which is still available with all of its features. These enhancements include the ability to have demos, game and system software updates download automatically to the PlayStation 3. Subscribers also get early or exclusive access to some betas, game demos, premium downloadable content and other PlayStation Store items as well as a free subscription to Qore. Users may choose to purchase either a one-year or a three-month subscription to PlayStation Plus.

SCEA is offering a limited time offer for the one-year subscription, which is an additional three-months for free, while SCEE is offering one-year subscribers a digital copy of LittleBigPlanet for a limited time. Regular free bonuses are also made available. These include PlayStation Store discounts and free PlayStation Network games and Downloadable Content (DLC), PSone Classics and PlayStation Minis which the user will own for the duration of their subscription as well as themes and avatars which the user can keep after their subscription has lapsed. PlayStation Plus also offers "Full Game Trials" of some PlayStation Network and retail games, allowing the user to download the full game and use it for one hour. Users can later purchase the game and continue their progress. For SCEA, the first Full Game Trial is for inFamous, while European subscribers get to try out Shatter and Savage Moon. In addition, users who are PlayStation Plus subscribers have the PlayStation Plus icon by their PSN ID. Users can only sign up for PlayStation Plus through the PlayStation Store via the PS3.

After a major PSN outage during April 2011, Sony announced that on May 1, 2011, all PlayStation Network Users will get 30 days of free membership of PlayStation Plus and an extra 30 days for existing PlayStation Plus members, as part of their "Welcome Back" program.

With more information of Sony's PlayStation 4 announced during E3 2013, SCE decides to keep the multiplayer free on the PS3 although they also announced that the PS4 now requires a PlayStation Plus subscription.

PlayStation Home

PlayStation Home is a virtual 3D social networking service for the PlayStation Network. Home allows users to create a custom avatar, which can be groomed realistically. Users can edit and decorate their personal apartments, avatars or club houses with free, premium or won content. Users can shop for new items or win prizes from PS3 games, or Home activities. Users interact and connect with friends and customize content in a virtual world. Home also acts as a meeting place for users that want to play multiplayer games with others.

A closed beta began in Europe from May 2007 and expanded to other territories soon after. Home was delayed and expanded several times before initially releasing. The Open Beta test was started on 11 December 2008. Home is available directly from the PlayStation 3 XrossMediaBar. Membership is free and requires a PSN account.

Home features places to meet and interact, dedicated game spaces, developer spaces, company spaces and events. The service undergoes a weekly maintenance and frequent updates. At TGS 2009, Kazuo Hirai announced that Home has been downloaded by 8 million users.

PS Home shut down all of its servers on March 31, 2015.

Backwards compatibility

All PlayStation 3 models can play most PlayStation games without much issues. However, most models are unable to play PlayStation 2 games due to the omission of PS2 hardware on later PS3 models. Most fat (and all Slim and Super Slim) variants of the PS3 do not contain the Emotion Engine (EE) CPU and a Graphics Synthesizer (GS) GPU which is required to run PS2-compatible software. This was due to the high costs to produce a PS3 and it was done to make it more affordable for gamers to buy. Hence, only the 60 GB (CECHAxx) and 20 GB (CECHBxx) models can play most PS2 games without problems. That means that most Sonic games (including the PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed) can be played on those models and most of the games will work normally as if it was played on an actual PS2 console. There has been a few issues on a few Sonic games if used on the 80 GB NTSC version PS3 with model numbers CECHCxx and CECHExx and the 60 GB PAL version (the EE chip was removed and emulated instead) as shown below:

• In Sonic Heroes, there are bugs at certain points, mostly at gameplay, audio does sutter and also there are extraneous graphics that remain on-screen.
• In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, on the "Press START" button screen before gameplay, the text does not flash as it is supposed to do so. Sonic's quills during gameplay often have stiff animation.
• The Sega Genesis Collection will still work with the 60 GB PAL and 80 GB NTSC PS3 but it's unknown if that will work with other PS3 models that offer backward compatibility with the PS2. If the player attemps to enable progressive scan in the game's settings, the screen will be completely black.
• Sega Superstars Tennis on an 80GB NTSC PS3 has the most performance issues; character models often have glitchy textures during gameplay and the game often softlocks after playing it for a while.

Sega Superstars can be played by connecting the PlayStation 2 EyeToy to the PlayStation 3's USB ports.

Trivia

• There are no PS3-exclusive Sonic games; every Sonic game on the PS3 is also on the Xbox 360.
• Recently, PlayStation as started making a series of live-action commercials in promotion to their new fighting game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (a similar title to the Sega All-Stars and the Super Smash Brothers series.) starting with the very popular commercial "Michael" which was the bases for the previously said game.
• The PlayStation 3 is Sony's first region free home console.
  • Downloadable content, however, is region locked (with exceptions, but none pertaining to Sonic). For instance, if a user were to purchase all of the DLC for Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) from the European PlayStation Store and attempt to use it with a North American copy of the game, it will be incompatible as regional variants of the same game(s) have different game IDs, and any DLC is programmed to only work if the game IDs from the DLC and the base game match.
  • Save files are also often not cross-compatible for this reason.
• The PlayStation 3 models with the Emotion Engine included (CECHAxx & CECHBxx) were only released in Japan and North America. By the time the system launched in Europe and Australia, Sony had already moved to the CECHCxx models, which removed the Emotion Engine in favor of software emulation. In other words, no PAL models of the PlayStation 3 have full backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 games.
  • All PS3 models with any form of PS2 backwards compatibility still retain the Graphics Synthesizer, which means that PS2 games are rendered about the same as they would on original hardware (barring any visual glitches) without any internal resolution scaling or performance improvements to games.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sega Superstars Tennis, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection are the only Sonic titles on PlayStation 3 to use the original Spider-Man-style logo on its packaging and discs. Starting with Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, they began adopting the new PS3 logo.
  • Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection and Sonic Unleashed (in Europe) were eventually re-released using the new PS3 logo via the Greatest Hits and Essentials budget labels.
• The console itself, alongside the Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Wii and Wii U, are the only consoles in which all three voice casts are included; the original ones who debuted in the Dreamcast, the ones from 4Kids Entertainment, and the current ones who voice the characters in the recording studio, Studiopolis.

External links

• Official website
• PlayStation 3 at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• PlayStation 3 at PlayStation Wiki

Video game platforms

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