PlayStation 3 Super Slim
Variant of PlayStation 3
- Manufacturer
- Sony
- Released
- 2012
- Generation
- Gen 7
- Type
- Home
- Launch price
- $269
- Units sold
- 87.4M
About PlayStation 3 Super Slim
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, followed by November 17 in North America and March 23, 2007, in Europe and Australasia. It competed primarily with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Library & collector facts
1,450licensed games
- North America: 978
- Japan: 1,110
- PAL: 950
What's different from PlayStation 3
- Manual sliding disc cover (top-loading style)
- 12GB internal flash storage SKU (cheapest PS3 ever)
- Even smaller and lighter than Slim (~25% volume reduction from Slim)
- User-replaceable 2.5-inch HDD via screw-on bay
- Motorized disc tray — replaced by manual slide cover (cost-cutting)
- Tactile build quality — widely criticized as cheap-feeling plastic
- finish: Matte solid plastic → glossy ridged plastic that feels hollow
- disc loading: Motorized slot-load slim → manual slide-cover top-load (must physically push lid open)
- storage tier: 120GB/250GB Slim → 12GB flash / 250GB / 500GB Super Slim
Lineage
Pricing
Launch price (2012)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $269
Controller
Sixaxis / DualShock 3
Launch titles & exclusives
Resistance: Fall of Man · MotorStorm · Genji: Days of the Blade · Ridge Racer 7 · NBA 07 · Tony Hawk's Project 8 · NHL 2K7 · Marvel: Ultimate Alliance · Madden NFL 07 · Call of Duty 3
None standard; many bundles included Resistance, MotorStorm, or Uncharted
Uncharted trilogy · The Last of Us · God of War III / Ascension · Gran Turismo 5 / 6 · Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3-exclusive for years) · LittleBigPlanet series · Killzone 2 & 3 · Infamous 1 & 2 · Resistance trilogy · Heavy Rain · Beyond: Two Souls · Demon's Souls (PS3 original) · Journey · Flower · Ratchet & Clank Future trilogy · MotorStorm trilogy · Twisted Metal (2012) · Folklore
Shakedown: Hawaii (2019) was among the last licensed releases on PS3
Demon's Souls 'Asia English' import (~$200+ CIB); MGS4 Limited Edition Bundle sealed; God of War III Ultimate Edition CIB; Atelier series limited editions; Mister Mosquito-tier import oddities
Hardware specs
- Cpu
- Cell Broadband Engine
- Gpu
- RSX Reality Synthesizer @ 500 MHz
- Ram
- 256 MB XDR DRAM (system), 256 MB GDDR3 SDRAM (graphics)
- Sound
- AV Multi: (Stereophonic sound, 2ch), RCA connector, Analog stereo, Optical audio: (2ch, 5.1ch), Advanced Audio Coding, AAC, Dolby Digital, DTS (sound system), DTS, Linear PCM, HDMI: (2ch, 5.1ch, 7.1ch), AAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD*, DTS, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, DTS-HD…
- Os
- PlayStation 3 system software
Hardware revisions
- Original 'Fat' PS3 CECHA/CECHB(2006)
60GB SKU had full PS2 backward compatibility (Emotion Engine + Graphics Synthesizer hardware), card readers, 4 USB ports — the most collectible PS3 SKU
- CECHC/CECHE(2007)
emulated PS2 compatibility, partial
⚠ CECHG/CECHH; 2007–2008; PS2 compatibility removed entirely
- CECHK/CECHL/CECHM/CECHP/CECHQ(2008)
Yellow Light of Death (YLOD, BGA solder reflow failure) the platform's signature defect, comparable to Xbox 360 RRoD
- Slim CECH-2000 / 2500 / 3000(2009)
redesigned cooling solved YLOD epidemic
- Super Slim CECH-4000(2012)
final cost-reduced top-loading SKU, sliding cover
Launch colorways & special editions
- God of War: Ascension Bundle (2013)
- GTA V Bundle (2013)
- The Last of Us Bundle (2013)
- Beyond: Two Souls Bundle
- Naruto Storm 3 White Edition (EU)
- Limited Edition Cobalt Blue / Garnet Red (2013, NA)
- Final Fantasy XIV ARR Bundle (JP)
Modding scene
- Difficulty
- soft-mod
- Custom firmware
- Custom Firmware (Rebug, Evilnat, PS3HEN); PS3 ToolBox for management
Reception & legacy
Catastrophic launch — $599 USD price (highest console launch price at the time), shortages, third-party developer complaints about the Cell architecture's difficulty; recovered after 2009 price cut and Slim redesign
Manual disc cover felt like a downgrade from motorized tray — many reviewers called it 'cheap'; 12GB flash model couldn't hold modern game installs without HDD upgrade; ridged glossy plastic widely mocked as the worst-feeling PlayStation
Cemented Blu-ray's victory in the format war; PSN outage reshaped industry security practices; The Last of Us and Uncharted defined cinematic Sony first-party output that continues today; one of the most architecturally interesting console failures-turned-successes
References
More from Sony
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