Well, here we are people. The PlayStation 4 is now on the shelves, and the end of the PlayStation 3's life cycle has begun; as well as this mini series. Over the past week I've discussed some of the games which I personally felt made the PlayStation 3 great. Sadly there was not enough time to discuss everything, but today I'm going to touch on a lot of them. Not individually, but they do deserve at least an honorable mention.
The thing about the PlayStation 3 is that its game library really exploded over the past few years. Not only did we get new IPs such as "The Last of Us," we also started really seeing game collections as well. These collections were normally released at a lower price than standard games, and they came with quite a few games; they were well worth the money. When you would walk into the store and look at the PS3 game section, you would see games like the "God of War Saga," the "Jak and Daxter Collection," the "Sly Collection," the "Killzone Collection," and even just lately games like "Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD." Whenever you bought one of these collections you were normally getting anywhere from 3 to 5 games, and they ranged from new to old!
Some collections actually brought back some of the amazing classics from the PlayStation 2. The Sly Collection, Jak and Daxter Collection, Ratchet Collection, Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD, and the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection all introduced some of the PS2's great exclusives to the HD era. Each one was completely remastered for the PS3 console, with trophy support, and in some cases some extras. These classic collections were really some of the nicest games on the PlayStation 3. Sure they weren't new titles, but do they have to be? When it comes down to it, not everyone actually got a chance to play these titles on the PS2, and there are also a lot of people who loved these games, but no longer have access to the originals. Of course there are others who simply just love the games, but what's wrong with that? Nothing, that's what. It was really nice to get to see old favorites remastered in HD, and for some people it may have even given them a reason to return to the games they once lived. They weren't new games, but they were still fun.
Although there was a large library of older games in collections, the PlayStation 3 had newer collections as well. The God of War Saga not only included the two PS2 games, but it also included remastered HD versions of the two PSP games, as well as the PS3 exclusive God of War 3. This collection came with 5 games, and was a must have for any God of War or hack and slash fan! It was released at a lower price than most games, and it had a lot more games in it than most collections, but it also wasn't the only one to do so. Just within the last year the "Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection" was released as well. This collection included the PS1 Metal Gear Solid, the PS1 Metal Gear Solid VR Mission game, the HD versions of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 (which inside of Metal Gear Solid 3 you can also play Metal Gear 1 and 2), the HD remastered version of the PSP game "Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker," and it also included the updated version of the PS3 exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4.
Besides the larger collections which mixed both newer and older games, PS3 game collections were released as well. Uncharted 1 and 2 were released in a collection bundle, Infamous 1 and 2 were released in a bundle, and there was even a Mass Effect Trilogy. While the latter is not PlayStation 3 exclusive, it was the first time the original Mass Effect got released on the PS3 in disc format, and it was a great series of games. These newer collections were a great way for newcomers to get into each of the series, and they alone were games worth getting. The Uncharted series was great (which I touched on earlier this week), the Infamous series was a great super hero styled sandbox game, and Mass Effect had an amazing story. Even without the collections, they were games that made the PlayStation 3 worth owning.
Overall, the PlayStation 3 was just a great console. Sure it had a very rocky start, but things did work out in the end. As new original IPs and other exclusives started showing up on it, more people got interested in it, and that larger fan base is the whole reason we even started getting newer games. The more there are playing, the more games we would get to keep us playing; it is a cycle which takes a push to get going, but once it does, it never slows down.
