More HowLongToBeat Users playing PS3 in 2021 than Xbox Series S/X

[GoldenShaka]

I wasn't an early ps3 owner. But to my taste I've bought enough ps3 titles, meanwhile I'm still purchasing ps4 titles. One of the factors was indie gaming, that was almost non present on ps3.

I think that the main reason for so many players it's not necessarily the catalog but FREE online. 

Not being worried if the game has a mode of any kind of content that requires a subscription to play online is HUGE.

You buy a cheap ps3, cheap bunch of games, nothing else to pay. Absolutely attractive.

[You]

I almost did a poop at the thought of being able to play PS3 games on a PS5. lol

[ArtMontef]

I genuinely wonder, could someone who spent a lot of time playing PS3 tell me what was so great about PS3 games? I have few friends that have the same opinion, that it was the best console. By no means I disagree with it or think it's a bad take, I just never felt the same way, so I am genuinely curious, without any irony or whatever. 

 

I was very late adopter of PS3, had it for around a year and then switched to PS4, and it was like the whole new world of games appeared. Is it just preference of games? For the year I was using it I genuinely struggled what to play ? is it just my personal preference for RPGs/open world/story games interfering with seeing the whole library as valuable? Or because those games became super popular in PS4 era and people that don't like them see PS3 more fondly? Or could you say it's just rose tinted glasses of nostalgia? Or budget thing, because of free online and relatively cheap discs? 

 

Genuinely curious, seeing all those comments about PS3 library, while my personal feeling was quite the opposite. It could be that I was just ignorant and could have played tons of games but never knew they existed lol

[Jeanolt]

13 minutes ago, Forunth said:

I genuinely wonder, could someone who spent a lot of time playing PS3 tell me what was so great about PS3 games? I have few friends that have the same opinion, that it was the best console. By no means I disagree with it or think it's a bad take, I just never felt the same way, so I am genuinely curious, without any irony or whatever. 

 

I was very late adopter of PS3, had it for around a year and then switched to PS4, and it was like the whole new world of games appeared. Is it just preference of games? For the year I was using it I genuinely struggled what to play ? is it just my personal preference for RPGs/open world/story games interfering with seeing the whole library as valuable? Or because those games became super popular in PS4 era and people that don't like them see PS3 more fondly? Or could you say it's just rose tinted glasses of nostalgia? Or budget thing, because of free online and relatively cheap discs? 

 

Genuinely curious, seeing all those comments about PS3 library, while my personal feeling was quite the opposite. It could be that I was just ignorant and could have played tons of games but never knew they existed lol

I agree with you, I always thought the PS3 library was far worse than PS2 and PS4, and the games aged a lot faster imo. PS3 is still a great console but the library doesn't compare to the other consoles, even 360.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Jeanoltt

[ryanofx92]

38 minutes ago, Jeanoltt said:

I agree with you, I always thought the PS3 library was far worse than PS2 and PS4, and the games aged a lot faster imo. PS3 is still a great console but the library doesn't compare to the other consoles, even 360.

Even 360? What in the flying fuck are you talking about?

Edited December 27, 2021 by ryanofx92
Spelling

[Helyx]

1 hour ago, Forunth said:

I genuinely wonder, could someone who spent a lot of time playing PS3 tell me what was so great about PS3 games? 

 

PS3 was straight fire.

 

Two words: Demon's Souls 

[akdkiller]

3 hours ago, darknolam said:

it seems that ps3 games are more varied in game style compared to ps4 and ps5 which are generic with the same proposal (open world, collectibles etc)

 

This.

 

Part of why i think the ps3 generation was better is for this subject. Im really tired of open world, Generic FPS, or only sequels or remastered. Ok there is a group of good indie games with new and good ideas, but its not like the AA games from the ps3/360 generation.

[bayabug]

2 hours ago, Forunth said:

I genuinely wonder, could someone who spent a lot of time playing PS3 tell me what was so great about PS3 games? I have few friends that have the same opinion, that it was the best console. By no means I disagree with it or think it's a bad take, I just never felt the same way, so I am genuinely curious, without any irony or whatever. 

 

I was very late adopter of PS3, had it for around a year and then switched to PS4, and it was like the whole new world of games appeared. Is it just preference of games? For the year I was using it I genuinely struggled what to play ? is it just my personal preference for RPGs/open world/story games interfering with seeing the whole library as valuable? Or because those games became super popular in PS4 era and people that don't like them see PS3 more fondly? Or could you say it's just rose tinted glasses of nostalgia? Or budget thing, because of free online and relatively cheap discs? 

 

Genuinely curious, seeing all those comments about PS3 library, while my personal feeling was quite the opposite. It could be that I was just ignorant and could have played tons of games but never knew they existed lol

AAA games were still good back then

[OmegaRejectz]

2 hours ago, GoldenShaka said:

I wasn't an early ps3 owner. But to my taste I've bought enough ps3 titles, meanwhile I'm still purchasing ps4 titles. One of the factors was indie gaming, that was almost non present on ps3.

I think that the main reason for so many players it's not necessarily the catalog but FREE online. 

Not being worried if the game has a mode of any kind of content that requires a subscription to play online is HUGE.

You buy a cheap ps3, cheap bunch of games, nothing else to pay. Absolutely attractive.

Some PS3 games have those stupid online passes that disincentivized used games.

The worst part is EA eventually scrapped the entire system for any of their games that implemented it, but Sony's 1st party titles (GOW Ascension and Ratchet & Clank) still require them.

If you solely buy digital you wouldn't notice. But I don't think many avoid physical for PS3.

I have 0 nostalgia whatsoever for PS3 and I can never understand all the praise for it.

 

Obviously toss out any third-party games/series/publishers (COD, Battlefield, most EA, Ubisoft, Activision, Rockstar titles). The way users/accounts/profiles are handled on PS3 compared to 360/PS4 and I assume XB1, PS5 & XSX|S is incredibly stupid. With the saving profile mechanic for games like MW2 & MW3 (those are just examples, not the only examples). Any highly praised series on PS3 is expensive too. You can't just buy a bundle of every Ratchet & Clank for a reasonable price.

 

I can still hook up a Wii to this day and enjoy the hell out of it. The UI, hardware, games, etc don't feel outdated or clunky. Popping in a GameCube game such as MK: Double Dash is incredibly fun and still holds up.

[Xenoblast91]

I'm hard to nails believer in that this is due the lack of backwards compatibility between Sony's consoles. Historically, Xbox brought the online features that we enjoy today, and according to the official documentary on YouTube—by which I highly recommend as it is pretty interesting and deeply fascinating about the record that brought us here, the Live service helped the industry to build-up the connectivity between players from the then-newborn Internet common usage. But, given the monstrosity Sony already was at the time, it is logical to conclude that the majority of players relied on brand-loyalty (I forgot the slang for the term) so when the 7^th Generation hit, there was a stake at play. However, Sony played a well obscured, but cleverly designed beneath-the-sleeve card: the online features were free and no subscription was needed back in the day; and that actually amazed me when I discovered that shocking fact. Something alike the controversy that free-to-play games brought in contemporary media. 

 

2 hours ago, Forunth said:

I genuinely wonder, could someone who spent a lot of time playing PS3 tell me what was so great about PS3 games? I have few friends that have the same opinion, that it was the best console. By no means I disagree with it or think it's a bad take, I just never felt the same way, so I am genuinely curious, without any irony or whatever. 

 

I was very late adopter of PS3, had it for around a year and then switched to PS4, and it was like the whole new world of games appeared. Is it just preference of games? For the year I was using it I genuinely struggled what to play is it just my personal preference for RPGs/open world/story games interfering with seeing the whole library as valuable? Or because those games became super popular in PS4 era and people that don't like them see PS3 more fondly? Or could you say it's just rose tinted glasses of nostalgia? Or budget thing, because of free online and relatively cheap discs? 

 

Genuinely curious, seeing all those comments about PS3 library, while my personal feeling was quite the opposite. It could be that I was just ignorant and could have played tons of games but never knew they existed lol

 

I share the same feeling, pal. I had the same experiences as you describe them, to be honest! At the dawn of the 8^th Gen, the bets were already taken and Sony managed to capitalize despite the PS3 warm development in his "active" years. I come from the competition on that time, and PS3 was barely, if even, available option to play. Non of my friends had one, there were just few titles that could even make me consider buying it, plus the overprice tag it had against Nintendo's Wii (which was basically my main platform that the time) and from my personal experience, the omnipresent Xbox 360 (seriously, I lived where 7 out of 10 of my acquaintances played!) with its pretty basic and silly features that eventually inspired other stuff (in fact I bought it because a single game, and been playing on it on and off since then; and it made me realize the value for achievement/trophy hunting, eventually) that is mainstream today. 

 

I can't share my experience too, but I can admit that PS3 has its charm, undoubtedly. Bought it early this year (2021) due to the "store crisis" that run out through the forums and the closure of servers, and I can say that even to today standards the platform is enjoyable on many forms. Hence, my intro statement: the retrocompability between hardware is one—if not the biggest and only, reason why this statistics shows the player base today. Also, reading through few YouTube old videos, sprout due the GTA Online servers closures on that generation consoles, many players (especially on regions with low incomes and incredibly complex social hardships) rely on consoles that are now more accessible and cheaper on cost of fanciness, modern and actualized technologies. In other words, they can't afford current consoles (not to mention all the shit that we've been through in the last 2 years...) and they still play on a console that has great things to offer plus the sad fact that you need to play on it because the following generation neglected them due an arrogant corporate decision to future gamers. Also, digging a little deeper (as I'm guessing you're ~25 years old) you can remember that PS3 was the last in the console war back then; and was precisely due the few points I highlighted above. 

 

Nonetheless, its a wonderful console, despite all the aging it got during its lifespan; I currently want to hunt several titles that couldn't play at the time, and are still relevant for today players. Enthralling if you're into the history of video game consoles which I, personally, have a kink and passion to indulge too. 

 

PD: Have to mention also... The lack of trophies in early titles that defined many franchises today is a thing that Sony had thought before releasing the console. Despite there are a good number of games with trophies on them, the OGs shine by their omission in the lists too. Probably that could hinder or even rise the popularity of the console, perhaps. I decline more for the former. 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by Xenoblast91

[dieselmanchild]

The PS3 remains one of the greatest consoles ever with and very deep and varied catalogue of great games to choose from. I still play mine regularly and have many games left in the PS3 backlog. I hope support continues for a long time to come.

[The_Mighty_Ducks]

3 hours ago, Forunth said:

I genuinely wonder, could someone who spent a lot of time playing PS3 tell me what was so great about PS3 games? I have few friends that have the same opinion, that it was the best console. By no means I disagree with it or think it's a bad take, I just never felt the same way, so I am genuinely curious, without any irony or whatever. 

 

I was very late adopter of PS3, had it for around a year and then switched to PS4, and it was like the whole new world of games appeared. Is it just preference of games? For the year I was using it I genuinely struggled what to play ? is it just my personal preference for RPGs/open world/story games interfering with seeing the whole library as valuable? Or because those games became super popular in PS4 era and people that don't like them see PS3 more fondly? Or could you say it's just rose tinted glasses of nostalgia? Or budget thing, because of free online and relatively cheap discs? 

 

Genuinely curious, seeing all those comments about PS3 library, while my personal feeling was quite the opposite. It could be that I was just ignorant and could have played tons of games but never knew they existed lol

I'll be open and honest. 

So the reason why I got the PS3 a year after it's launch was cause...

(In no particular order)

1. Free on-line play

2. Blu-ray player

3. Was sort of a PlayStation fan boy

4. All of my friends had the PS3, not 1 person I knew had a 360. 

 

I didn't get a 360 due to the fact that you had to buy a HD-DVD player and a proprietary hard drive to get bigger memory.. which put me off of the 360.. 

 

Then later I realized that the games and on-line services were better on the 360, but then the Red Ring of Death happened. That's when I felt like I dodged a bullet, so I never bought a 360 after that, fearing that I might get a lemon. 

 

I stayed on the PS3 cause of Uncharted and other exclusives, especially the exclusives near the end of the PS3's life cycle. Oh and the fact that the trophies seemed more appealing than the Gamer Score points.

 

As for now, I still play my PS3 and Vita to collect trophies and just to play old games. But I will be getting a Series X (Cause of backwards compatibility) then a Switch (Cause they have uncensored games and the exclusives) PS5, I will get when there's a new design and a price cut. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Helyx]

11 minutes ago, dieselmanchild said:

The PS3 remains one of the greatest consoles ever with and very deep and varied catalogue of great games to choose from.

 

Not to mention the amazing peripherals PS3 had. PS Eye, Move, Buzz, uDraw, Skylanders, Wonderbook, the Tony Hawk board, Guitar/DJ Hero etc.

 

1 minute ago, The_Mighty_Ducks said:

4. All of my friends had the PS3, not 1 person I knew had a 360. 

 

I was the exact opposite; all my people had 360, so I wanted to expand the possibilities amongst my inner circle of close friends with the Sony catalog.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Helyx

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

I'm probably guilty for a chunk of these stats. I wasn't aware anyone even used HowLongToBeat seriously, or at all to be honest, but that's where I manage most of my backlog.

 

I can't say I'm too surprised though. With the PS5 now having been out for a year, the PS3 has kind of entered that, dare I say it, "retro" territory now. Almost anyway. There's a lot of people now that have either never owned a PS3, or barely played any games on it, and there's a lot of games stuck on it that don't seem to be showing any indication of ever being ported or remastered. And considering PS3 consoles and PS3 games are still a reasonable price, now is a good time to get on board if you haven't already, before they start entering the "retro" or collector's territory fully.

 

The Xbox 360 is unlikely to receive the same attention because a very large chunk of its desirable games are backwards compatible on the XbOne/Series X/S.

 

I think if the HLTB stats tell us anything, it's that Sony really is ignoring a decently sized crowd of people that want to be able to play PS3 games on more modern hardware (and not just via streaming services). The fact they backpedalled on closing down the PS3 store earlier this year proves this further. I guess they just don't see it as being a big enough audience to make enough of a profit for their dollar filled eyes, or they genuinely still haven't figured out PS3 emulation (considering their PS2 emulation has always had issues, it wouldn't shock me if this were the case).

Edited December 27, 2021 by SuperSmexy500

[Kolm]

7 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Did you install an SSD or something?…

…Because as much as I love my PS3, every one i’ve had has had the UI be borderline unusable when accessed from within an in-play game.

 

Trophy synching is interminable slow (in-game or not)…and clicking back to the XMB after looking at a specific game’s trophy list from within a game is borderline broken - it can take (quite literally) 4 or 5 full minutes to stop spinning the little loading clock and get back to the action! 

 

Sounds like your trophylist on PS3 is still in online mode... Which means that every time you open your trophylist, it'll download your trophies from the PSN servers and considering that the PS3 doesn't have much work memory... it's hard to handle for the system. I'm even surprised that it still loads in the end with the amount of trophies you have. Mine started freezing years ago in online mode while checking it ingame and even without a game running.

 

Solution: Put it in offline mode. Go to the trophy icon on the XMB, press triangle and then switch online mode to offline mode.

Both ingame and without a game running, the list loads almost instantly.

In offline mode it'll only show the trophies that are on the system instead of always downloading everything.

 

Downside: If you open your trophylist while ingame it won't automatically sync and you won't be able to use triangle+sync on the trophy icon while ingame. But a trick to still sync while ingame is to go to your friendlist and then click on your own profile card. It'll sync your trophies before showing the details of your card, even when the trophylist is in offline mode.

Without syncing you'll still see the earned trophies though and that's mostly what I use it for: What trophies I have for the game I'm currently playing. I either sync with the profile card of after quitting the game to get to see them here on PSNP.

 

Only thing on the XMB that's still slow for me is the loading of the friendlist when I boot the system. Once it's loaded I can scroll fairly quick through it but with over 100 friends, it takes awhile to get it all in from the PSN servers when booting.

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by Kolm

[dieselmanchild]

2 hours ago, Helyx said:

Not to mention the amazing peripherals PS3 had. PS Eye, Move, Buzz, uDraw, Skylanders, Wonderbook, the Tony Hawk board, Guitar/DJ Hero etc.

 

Very true. I never got a chance to use many of those and there are some I haven’t even heard of, but stuff like that is a big part of what made the PS3 such a neat system.

 

I do have amazing memories of the early years of guitar hero though, it remains to this day one of the best party games I’ve ever played! Getting yourself completely immersed in a guitar hero duel while shitfaced and surrounded by dozens of drunken screaming groupies made for some epic times back in some of the HS house parties I went to. ?

[cometowner]

PS3 generation was the best generation at least to me: 

 

• NEW AAA that will define the gameplay for next generations
• widely accessed multipayer from a home console 
• Social/party sessions
• HD games

 

it was revolutionary at that time 

  

[ArmoredSnowman]

On 12/25/2021 at 5:11 PM, ChiefMichigan said:

Fingers crossed PS3 titles come to PS5 (not just streaming only like on PS Now). 

I wish. Auto-sync, rest mode, Spotify while in-game, voice chat. Felt weird getting my PS3 out to play Portal 2 last week, after almost 2 years of not using it. 

On 12/25/2021 at 5:55 PM, Xillynoc said:

Fully agreed - so many great games on there that never got ported to later consoles for whatever reason, most notably the inFAMOUS and Sly Cooper games.

Black Ops 1 & 2 (yeah, there's W@W, MW3), Prince of Persia series, Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, Arkham Origins, Portal 2, Ratchet & Clank series, God of War series, various LEGO games, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 1 & 2, Tomb Raider Trilogy, Killzone series, Resistance Series, and so much more. 

[ArmoredSnowman]

11 hours ago, Ninjise said:

There's so many endless good games on PS3 and you can get a vast majoirity at the price of 5 bucks, i

I wish that were the case for Wolverine. Expensive rn. 

6 hours ago, Forunth said:

genuinely wonder, could someone who spent a lot of time playing PS3 tell me what was so great about PS3 games?

There's dozens, if not hundreds, of games on PS3 that still haven't been ported or remastered for PS4/PS5. 

[yellowwindow7]

there's still some interesting games on the ps3 that never made the cut to ps4/ps5, not to mention there's still some RPG's that you have access to only if you own a ps3.

 

as long as it have trophies people will still gonna go back to and play on it to earn trophies and boost their profiles.

call it all you want but you have to admit that trophies / achievements do help sell games, gave them replay ability.... and now keep people going back in troops to play legacy platforms ?

 

7 hours ago, Forunth said:

I genuinely wonder, could someone who spent a lot of time playing PS3 tell me what was so great about PS3 games? I have few friends that have the same opinion, that it was the best console. By no means I disagree with it or think it's a bad take, I just never felt the same way, so I am genuinely curious, without any irony or whatever. 

 

I was very late adopter of PS3, had it for around a year and then switched to PS4, and it was like the whole new world of games appeared. Is it just preference of games? For the year I was using it I genuinely struggled what to play is it just my personal preference for RPGs/open world/story games interfering with seeing the whole library as valuable? Or because those games became super popular in PS4 era and people that don't like them see PS3 more fondly? Or could you say it's just rose tinted glasses of nostalgia? Or budget thing, because of free online and relatively cheap discs? 

 

Genuinely curious, seeing all those comments about PS3 library, while my personal feeling was quite the opposite. It could be that I was just ignorant and could have played tons of games but never knew they existed lol

 

i'm one of the people whose still play on the ps3...

 

- there's a lots of games on the ps3 that I likes to play that never made it to ps4/ps5 for an example Saints Row the Third, I spend around 200 hour in the game that you can pretty much 100% under 40 hour, once I beat it I just create a new character and start again from scratch, once it landed on the ps4 as a remaster and i got it I never gone back to the ps3 version.

 

- unstacked trophies probably one of the reasons why there's people going back to the ps3 to earn those trophies and boost up their profile level.

 

- the online is still free on the ps3 and there are people who don't care about all this nonsense of FPS, 1080p and 4K and stuff, as long as if their favorite game is still runs online while there's still some people playing it they'll gonna go back playing it for the old time sake.

[mcnichoj]

PS3 was awful hardware and it's the gen where Sony started going downhill.

 

As for that site, go check out the top five current played games. Halo and Forza are top two.

[DORE145]

Despite having a PS5 and Series S I'm still playing on my PS3. I really want to clear my backlog. Especially Prince of Persia and God of War series. 
Only 14 games left. Then I will probably sell or hack my old lady

[TJ_Solo]

10 minutes ago, mcnichoj said:

PS3 was awful hardware and it's the gen where Sony started going downhill.

 

As for that site, go check out the top five current played games. Halo and Forza are top two.

 

The hardware was actually excellent. Just as the PS5 tech is excellent. Lisa Su was incharge of both chips and wanted to cut into the gaming and server markets. Her second attempt is doing pretty well.

 

idk what you are on about going downhill. The PS3 was the lowest selling console for Sony but then lead to PS4 which was an uptick from PS3 not a continued decline. 

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by TJ_Solo

[GUDGER666]

15 minutes ago, mcnichoj said:

PS3 was awful hardware and it's the gen where Sony started going downhill.

How is the hardware awful? Best imo. Blu Ray player, multiple supported audio options also my super slims are silent and I'm still using my day 1 Dualshock 3. PS4 is where Sony went downhill, ridiculously loud fans to the point it puts me off playing some games and the Dualshock 4 is very poor quality with a terrible battery life. 

Edited December 27, 2021 by GUDGER666

[Tiricy]

 

On 12/26/2021 at 2:04 AM, The_Mighty_Ducks said:

They better not.. 

I'm still buying and playing on my PS3 & Vita. 

 

There's 3 reasons why I still do

1. Can't find a PS5

2. Would get a used PS4, but the used prices on the PS4 went really high cause of covid and chip shortages. And at this point you might as well just get a PS5 that can also play PS4 games. 

3. PS4 & PS5 don't have old games. 

 

Wish they didn't delist or take down servers until covid is over.. 

I have a PS5

but I still buying and playing on my PS3 & Vita

Old games are always awesome and they work hard to get the best story on the game.

These days most of the new games don't care about the story just only graphics are also priced more expensive. 

 

2 hours ago, GUDGER666 said:

How is the hardware awful? Best imo. Blu Ray player, multiple supported audio options also my super slims are silent and I'm still using my day 1 Dualshock 3. PS4 is where Sony went downhill, ridiculously loud fans to the point it puts me off playing some games and the Dualshock 4 is very poor quality with a terrible battery life. 

I agree with you. I bought my PS3 in 2008 also bought my PS4 in 2013. It's true what he said. Sony went downhill with PS4 quality is terrible. I bought 3 PS4 Pro, but I didn't change my PS3 until now and I still play until today on PS3 quality is higher. It's my experience with PS3 and PS4.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Tiricy