Sony’s PlayStation consoles have been a dominant force in gaming for around 30 years at this point, and every generation has had its unique selling points and place in gaming history. But which generation was the best, and which was the worst? I think I’ll rank them in this super-scientific and not-at-all subjective way!
5
PlayStation 3: The Biggest Loser
Ironically, this is the one PlayStation generation I’ve bought into the most. I’ve owned three PS3 versions over the years, but looking back at this system it’s clearly the lowest point in Sony’s home console history.
The big problem is that the PS3 tried to do too much. This was a console generation where Sony jumped into the HD era, while also pushing its Blu-ray business, and building up the PlayStation Network. The PS3 is maddeningly slow at everything you ask it to do, you can’t install games from a disc in the background, and for some reason it takes forever to delete games from the internal hard drive.
Clunky, laggy, and with many games languishing in the sub-30fps zone, this is the least enjoyable PlayStation I’ve ever had to use. Which isn’t to say that it doesn’t have some fantastic games. Sadly, thanks to the PS3’s wacky, exotic system architecture, many of those awesome games are still trapped on the console, with not even the mighty PS5 seemingly capable of emulating them. Speaking of which…
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PlayStation 5: The “Meh” Generation
First, let me say that I really love my PlayStation 5. On a technical level, it’s a great console, and it does everything a new generation of hardware should. Frame rates are better, resolutions higher, games have fancier graphics, and overall it deserves its success as a gaming product. I didn’t rank it second-last because it’s bad, it’s just not as good as the consoles I rank above it.
The main reason for this is that the PlayStation 5 is really more like a PlayStation 4 Pro 2, and I guess the PlayStation 5 Pro would then be a PlayStation 4 Pro 2.5. It takes everything the PlayStation 4 did, and does the same thing but with more horsepower and technical flair.
I’m not really blaming the PlayStation 5 for this at all, mind you. It’s just that we hit a plateau in video game design and development during the PlayStation 4 era, and there’s no real qualitative difference between previous- and current-generation games. The PS5 is a welcome refinement of what the PS4 achieved, but ultimately not that exciting.
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3
PlayStation 4: Sony’s Last Big Leap
The PlayStation 4 was a revelation, coming from the trainwreck represented by the PlayStation 3. When I got this console in my home, the only thing that disappointed was the lack of backwards compatibility with the PS3. This was the first Sony home console (apart from the first PlayStation obviously) that didn’t offer compatibility with previous console generations.
The tradeoff for this clean break was a polished system that could walk and chew gum at the same time, as the saying goes. Play games while downloading stuff in the background? No problem! This was something the PS3 could only do with some types of download. Switch between your active game and apps like Netflix? Easy-peasy. Get a solid 30fps out of games? Most of the time, yes!
The PS4 also had just so many fantastic games, many of which were exclusive. To be honest, the only real reason I bought a PS5 at launch was because I wanted to play my PS4 games at higher resolutions and frame rates, and honestly, late-generation titles made my launch PS4 sound like a jet engine. I have family members who stuck with the PS4 and are perfectly happy with it halfway through the PS5 generation.
The PS4 was a large and awesome jump from the half-baked PS3 in every way, and I salute it.
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PlayStation 1: The Birth of Modern Console Gaming
It pains me to rank the PS1 second, since this is personally my favorite console of all time, but we’re trying to feign objectivity here, so I can’t deny that while the PS1 is a monumental system, it has points deducted for being a rough diamond.
While the elements that make up the PS1 (optical drive, 3D graphics, adult-oriented games) have been done before, the PS1 sews it all up into a seamless package. It might be hard to envision now, but this was a turning point for video games. Fundamentally, consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X still follow the same basic template the PS1 introduced.
Most importantly, in my opinion at least, were the games. 3D gaming was new territory, and the foundation of modern console gaming was born here. How we control characters in 3D worlds, how stories are told, the various genres of 3D games and so much more were born during this time. The games from the PS1 era are so good, that I still play them today. Whether via emulation or by using my PlayStation 2’s backwards compatibility feature, there are plenty of titles worth playing still.
1
PlayStation 2: Hail to the King, Baby!
I don’t think there’s ever been a bigger single-generation leap than going from the PS1 to the PS2 in gaming history, and although the PS2 didn’t end up being the most powerful console of its generation, it has one of the best game libraries ever. I am still working through a backlog of PS2 games that I never got to play, and these games are still being ported to modern systems.
If all I had was a PS2 for the rest of my life, I’d still have more amazing titles to play than I could realistically finish. On top of that, it was my bedroom DVD player, and I suspect the first DVD player in many households.
The design is second only to that of the PS1 in my opinion, and virtually perfect backwards compatibility with PS1 games made it an absolute no-brainer at launch. Maybe the Switch will eventually topple the PS2’s title of best-selling console in history, but even then it will do nothing to tarnish this absolute legend’s legacy.
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