It was anticipated of course — when they decided to release the PS4, we knew this sad day was in the offing. Sony is finally ceasing the production of the PS3 — a real videogame-changer in the league of PlayStations.
The first of its kind to have a DualShock 3 (previously Sixaxis) wireless controller with motion sensing technology. Sixaxis meant a great deal to racing game enthusiasts — it meant that they had the option to double the controller as an actual steering wheel, which was something that only the Nintendo Wii gamers used to boast about in the same period.
But it was more than just the motion sensing and vibration feedback. The PS3 came to us in several incarnations in its 10-year period of existence. When Sony gave us the PS Move, we knew it could never match the elite league of the Wii, but we appreciated it all the same. And it is the improved version of the PS Move that strives for brilliance in PlayStation VR. We watched it grow in its revamped incarnations from 2006 to 2016. The last one being the PS3 Slim — but the slide based CD drive of this one didn’t really give us the satisfying roll that the older versions did.
The PS3, the sole nemesis of the Xbox 360 — its rise marked the rise of console wars amongst raging gamers. The games it released are an irreplaceable memory of an entire generation of gamers (specifically Uncharted, because no one except the PS3 users had the privilege of playing it). With the next generation of consoles racking in the new games, the PS3 controller lies desolate — like Dumbledore falling from the top of the Astronomy tower. Frayed and worn, with the outer rubber shield ripped from the joystick, dust in its crevices, but still strong as ever. As Sony finally bids adieu to the PS3 — I can almost see the controller’s red lights blinking really fast (like it always did, when we pressed the PS bubble button by mistake) for a good two minutes, as though tempting us to play some more — but this time, for one last time.