Joystiq [PlayStation]

Units shipped
Of course, the most common way gamers look at a console's success is how many units it's shipped or sold. While most people know the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 are the largest-selling home consoles ever with more than 100 million units sold each, did you know that, in its first year, the PS3 nearly doubled the sales of the original PlayStation? While it's way too early to tell if the PS3 will reach the success of the PS1 or PS2, it is eye-opening to realize how well it's off to when directly compared to its eldest sibling.

Launch
Although many gamers were pretty skeptical regarding the "success" of the PlayStation 3's launch, Sony continued to toot its horn saying it was more successful than its predecessors. "[The] PlayStation 3 launch has been, objectively by any measure, more successful than PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2 or other competing system out previously," boasted Phil Harrison in a February interview.

To back up that claim, Sony reported the PS3 was the fastest PlayStation console to reach 1 million sales, only taking the new machine six weeks to hit the landmark. Although reliable sales figures for the PS2 and PS1 are hard to come by today, the PlayStation 2 was breaking records in its own right when it launched. In the first 24 hours, the PlayStation 2 sold 500,000 units and generated more than $250 million in total revenue. Moreover, it was, at the time, the most successful launch ever and shattered that of the Sega Dreamcast's $97 million and with it, the hopes and dreams of millions of Sega fanboys.

Bringing up the rear is the original PlayStation having shipped 800,000 units from its launch in September to the end of the year.

Although sales figures are important to the companies involved, gamers care more about the games, right? Well, in this three-way fight, the PlayStation 2 is the clear winner in terms of sheer numbers when it launched with 29 titles, headlined by Tekken Tag Tournament. Due to several unanticipated delays to high-profile games such as Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the PlayStation 3 only had a dozen titles available at launch. While the North American PS3 launch was a bit light on the software side with only 12 titles, Europe received double that amount when it shipped there in March. Funny enough, the original PlayStation, which many regard as having one of the best libraries of all time, only had 12 titles when it launched, too.

Price cuts
Undoubtedly, the PS3's biggest criticism has been its hefty price tag, which, depending on how you look at it, has forced Sony to cut the price and offer new, cheaper hardware models. While the PS1 and PS2 were both launched at the $300 price mark, Sony chose to overstuff the PS3 with features like Blu-ray, HDMI port, WiFi and more, which caused the 60GB and 20GB model to a skyscraping $600 and 500 price tag, respectively.

Having launched in North America on Sept. 9, 1995, the PlayStation 1 didn't see its first price cut until more than a year later when Sony cut it from $300 to $200. Taking a page from its older brother's playbook, the PS2 didn't get a price reduction until May 2002, which was roughly 19 months after its initial release.

Whether you look at it as Sony realizing its newest console was in trouble or if it was just being nice, the PS3 got its first mark down only eight months later when Sony slashed the price of the 60GB from $600 to $500 and launched the 80GB model with Motorstorm at the original $600 mark in August. However, that price didn't even last very long before Sony once again slashed the 80GB PS3's price by $100 and introduced the more wallet-friendly 40GB unit.

If judging by price cuts alone, it appears that Sony realized it couldn't stay in the game with such a higher-priced unit than its competitors and quickly reacted to meet industry norms. Although it's still higher priced than the Xbox 360 and Wii, there's no debating the technology-for-dollar deal consumers are getting. With two price cuts in its first year, we don't expect to see Sony slicing and dicing the PlayStation 3 for awhile.

Software sales
Although the PS3 and PS1 shared the same amount of games on launch day, the story is far different when looking at it at the end of both system's first year on the market. The PlayStation threw down 116 titles, while the PlayStation 3 has only managed to release 65 titles so far in North America and even less in Europe. However, the PS2 is the winner here boasting more than 200 games all within its first year of existence.

Looking at the PS3 lagging so far behind in sheer number of games is a bit concerning, but with Kaz Hirai's recent announcement that Sony will release more than 380 games on the PS3 and PlayStation Network, it makes it a lot easier to stomach the drought. On the other hand, since that number includes 180 PlayStation Network games, many will undoubtedly be games originally released on past PlayStation consoles, so that takes away a bit of our enthusiasm.

Online services
With the technology still in its infancy, Sony eschewed online support for the PlayStation 1 and didn't give any online love for the PS2 until 2002, several years after its release.

Having finally understood the massive popularity of online play, Sony made sure the PlayStation 3 was online capable right out of the box. The PlayStation Network, while still free, now offers most of the same features that Xbox Live users are enjoying. Boasting more than 5.5. million users, the PlayStation Network has definitely been a step in the right direction, and with Home, the PlayStation Store, downloadable movies and music, and further online integration of the PSP and PS3, the PSN will most assuredly close the gap between it and Xbox Live.

Hardware problems
Longtime PlayStation owners can attest to the frustrating nights spent flipping over-heated PlayStations on their backsides or being filled with rage when met with the dreaded "Disc Read Error" on the PS2. With so many hardware problems, Sony quickly became the brunt of many jokes throughout the industry and journalists and gamers alike fully expected the PlayStation 3 to follow in its predecessors' footsteps.

However, that hasn't happened. Somewhere down the line, Sony has seemed to rectify this issue as the mass majority of PlayStation 3 owners have had the surprising luxury of still owning their original system without experiencing any problems whatsoever.

Even though recent reports claimed the PS3 had hardware failure rate of 40 percent, those claims were quickly denied by Sony of Europe and eventually the site pulled the article altogether. We imagine if the numbers were anywhere near that high, we'd see internet riots the likes of which only Xbox 360 fanboys can relate.

Conclusion
As the dust settles, it's clear the PlayStation 3 isn't quite keeping up to the pace its elder siblings set in the generations before it. Even PlayStation fanboys must admit that the PlayStation 3 had a rocky start ... and that's putting it lightly. But despite its setbacks, it appears the PS3 has finally found its identity. With a competitive price tag, a massive surge in software and the biggest marketing push Sony has ever put behind its consoles, all indicators point to the PlayStation 3 having a stellar year and putting all those bad memories to rest for good.

See ya next year!