Ps3 Fea 1

I feel like a teenager who’s had their iPhone swapped with a spinning top right now. After several months mainly using the PlayStation 4, I’ve decided to go back to the PlayStation 3 in order to clear out some of my backlog – and boy is it torture. There’s no doubt that Sony’s previous generation system played host to some incredible games, but once you get used to the conveniences of its successor, it feels like trying to write a song on a guitar with six missing strings.

To play a game today, I had to go to the PlayStation Store, which, unbelievably, needed patching. To be fair, this only took a minute or so, and that’s hardly worth complaining about – even if it’s beyond awful that the plaza even requires updates at all. Once I was in, I had to battle the borderline unresponsive interface in order to download the game that I wanted. This was irritating, and I instantly missed the fluidity of the PS4 alternative, which practically glides through content in comparison.

Ps3 Fea 2

Then there’s the long, laborious download process. I used to think that people who complained about the PS3’s download times were smoking some kind of illegal substance, but having seen the light elsewhere, I’m inclined to believe that it was actually me that was high on the Kool-Aid. I’m not familiar with the technicalities of it all, but it took me a good three or four hours on an average Internet connection to pull down 6GB of data – a timeframe that I know is quicker on the PS4.

It’s the little things that you miss when you enter the time warp into an older generation

Slow downloads or not, it’s the little things that you miss when you enter the time warp into an older generation. For example, on the Japanese giant’s next-gen console you only need to download a small portion of data before you can play; on the platform holder’s previous format, you need to grab the whole darn thing. And then, of course, it needs to install, which also takes several minutes longer than it should.

And when you’ve gone through all of that, the inevitable updates await. In this particular instance, a further 1.5GB were waiting ready to slap me in the face, so another hour of patching stood between me and actually being able to play. There’s no multitasking during this process; on the PS4, I’ve elected Pure Pool as my go-to ‘wait for something to finish downloading’ game, but I played a round of ‘watch the green bar’ on my straining old-gen machine instead. I’d score it a 3/10.

Ps3 Fea 3

I know that I’m being facetious, but that’s the point that I’m trying to make: returning to the previous generation is hard once you’ve tasted a sample of the next-gen. I still think that the PS3 is a great console with an outstanding library, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking to get into gaming on a budget – but it has real issues that are only really starting to present themselves to me now that I’ve tried something new.

And it’s part of the reason why I think that these complaints about cross-generation games are a little strange. I can understand why people who already own a PS3 may be waiting for a killer exclusive to upgrade, but the whole user experience has to count for something, too. Yes, I can technically play Destiny on a previous generation machine – but based on today’s evidence, I think that I’d rather replace my usual mouthwash with a bottle of bleach.

Are you finding the PS3 similarly difficult to play these days? Do you agree that the overall user experience improvements make the PS4 a worthy upgrade? Pull your hair out in the comments section below.

How’s your relationship with the PS3 holding up? (86 votes)

  1. Strong, we’re still very much in the honeymoon period41%
  2. Like an old married couple, we tolerate each other47%
  3. Urgh, I’m filing for a divorce the next time I’m in town13%

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