The PlayStation 3 was developed on the purpose-built Cell processor, co-developed with Toshiba and IBM; SCE's president Ken Kutaragi envisioned a home entertainment system akin to supercomputers.

[18][19] It was the first console to use the Blu-ray disc as its primary storage medium,[20] the first to be equipped with an HDMI port, and graphically was the first to be able to output at 1080p (Full HD) resolution.

[22][23][24] In September 2009, the Slim model of the PlayStation 3 was released; it no longer provided the hardware ability to run PS2 games, but it was lighter and thinner than the original version.

[36] A functional version of the system was not present there,[37] nor at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005,[38] although demonstrations (such as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots[37]) were held at both events on software development kits and comparable personal computer hardware.

[41] The 60 GB model was to be the only configuration to feature an HDMI port, Wi-Fi internet, flash card readers and a chrome trim with the logo in silver.

[77][78][79][80][81][82] The white colored Super Slim model was released in the United States on January 27, 2013, as part of the Instant Game Collection Bundle.

[94][95] At E3 2007, Sony was able to show a number of their upcoming video games for PlayStation 3, including Heavenly Sword, Lair, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Warhawk and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune; all of which were released in the third and fourth quarters of 2007.

It also showed off a number of titles that were set for release in 2008 and 2009; most notably Killzone 2, Infamous, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, LittleBigPlanet and SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation.

[102] Among the titles available in the budget range include Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Call of Duty 3, Assassin's Creed and Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

As of October 2009 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Devil May Cry 4, Army of Two, Battlefield: Bad Company and Midnight Club: Los Angeles have also joined the list.

[115] Initially, Sony’s hardware development team did not plan to include a dedicated GPU, believing the Cell microprocessor could handle all graphics processing tasks.

Successive models have added or removed various features, reduced the console's initial purchase price and weight, and increased storage capacity (with exceptions).

At its press conference at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, Sony announced the DualShock 3 controller with the same function and design as Sixaxis, but with vibration capability added.

[133][134] In response to the televised report, Sony issued a document criticizing the program's accuracy and conclusions; specifically that the faults were evidence of a manufacturing defect.

[144] In November 2010 the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) created a powerful supercomputer by connecting together 1,760 Sony PS3s which include 168 separate graphical processing units and 84 coordinating servers in a parallel array capable of performing 500 trillion floating-point operations per second (500 TFLOPS).

PS3 includes the ability to store various master and secondary user profiles, manage and explore photos with or without a musical slide show, play music and copy audio CD tracks to an attached data storage device, play movies and video files from the hard disk drive, an optical disc (Blu-ray Disc or DVD-Video) or an optional USB mass storage or Flash card, compatibility for a USB keyboard and mouse and a web browser supporting compatible-file download function.

The Friends menu allows mail with emoticon and attached picture features and video chat which requires an optional PlayStation Eye or EyeToy webcam.

[163] In April 2010, support for MLB.tv was added, allowing MLB.tv subscribers to watch regular season games live in HD and access new interactive features designed exclusively for PSN.

On June 29, 2010, Sony released PS3 system software update 3.40, which improved the functionality of the internal clock to properly account for leap years.

Sony has also demonstrated PSP playing back video content from PlayStation 3 hard disk across an ad hoc wireless network.

[221] It also stated that it was possible that users' profile data, including purchase history and billing address, and PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained.

Various news agencies, including The Times[235] and The Wall Street Journal[236] reported that this was due to poor sales, while SCEI maintains that Kutaragi had been planning his retirement for six months prior to the announcement.

[247][248][249] The PlayStation 3's actual manufacturing cost at launch was never officially disclosed; SCE's Phil Harrison said in a 2019 interview that during the system's launch "it was a worry because 600 bucks was actually too cheap, because the machine was so expensive to make", before telling the interviewer that he can't disclose the real figure but that it would "make your eyebrows shoot clear off the top of your head".

[251][252] Critical and commercial reception to PS3 improved over time, after a series of price revisions, Blu-ray's victory over HD DVD,[253] and the release of several well received titles.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has criticized PS3's high development costs and inferior attach rate and return to that of Xbox 360 and Wii.

In an interview with The Times Kotick stated "I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform.

CNET United Kingdom praised the system saying, "the PS3 is a versatile and impressive piece of home-entertainment equipment that lives up to the hype [...] the PS3 is well worth its hefty price tag.

"[268] CNET awarded it a score of 8.8 out of 10 and voted it as its number one "must-have" gadget,[269] praising its robust graphical capabilities and stylish exterior design while criticizing its limited selection of available games.

[281] Tech media website CNET gave new Super Slim 4 out of 5 stars ("Excellent"), saying "The Super Slim PlayStation 3 shrinks a powerful gaming machine into an even tinier package while maintaining the same features as its predecessors: a great gaming library and a strong array of streaming services [...]", whilst also criticising the "cheap" design and disc-loader, stating: "Sometimes [the cover] doesn't catch and you feel like you're using one of those old credit card imprinter machines.

There doesn't seem to be any reason for existing PS3 owners to upgrade, but for the prospective PS3 buyer, the Super Slim is probably the way to go if you can deal with not having a slot-loading disc drive.