The Dark Age Of PlayStation (2005-2008)

The Laughing Stock Of The Industry

Overblown promises mean little as opposed to proper games and Sony learned that first-hand as the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii powered ahead in both sales and critical reception.

The former head a year's head-start alongside Gears of War and Halo 3 to tide players over, while the latter was able to outsell both competitors in its launch period. Meanwhile the PS3 trudged along, managing three million units sold by the end of 2006.

The poor critical reception came at a bad time for Sony, as user-generated content on the internet exploded from 2006 onwards. Many took to forums or made videos mocking the PlayStation 3's weak offering. Outside of the ability to play Blu-ray discs and its free online service, the console didn't have a lot going for it and Sony didn't do much to assuage gamers who were on the fence about making a purchase.

It also didn't help that the few exclusives the PlayStation 3 did have weren't making much of an impression. Genji 2: Days of the Blade, Ridge Racer 7, The Eye of Judgement and Lair all failed to catch on in the early stages of the system's life-cycle.

In both the production and initial release periods, Sony had no killer app with which to sell its product. Sure, the likes of Warhawk, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune did make an impact, but none of these reached "must-own" status.