The Dark Age Of PlayStation (2005-2008)

Big-Name Exclusives Arrive

2009 would be the year Sony pulled the PlayStation 3 pulled itself of its dark age, proving itself a major competitor in the seventh generation. With system adoption having increased to over ten million units at the end of 2008, it was time to land the heavy hitters. Luckily, the likes of Guerilla Games, Sucker Punch Productions and Naughty Dog were on hand to make the system's best year yet.

The PS3's third year kicked off with Killzone 2, a phenomenal shooter that overcome its initial disappointments to create a rousing sequel.

With this title, Sony now had its own first-party FPS franchise to compete with Halo. Around halfway through the year, this was followed up by InFamous, a standout franchise debut with explosive third-person combat. Last, but not least; Uncharcted 2: Among Thieves delivered the system's biggest and best killer-app. All three titles could only be played on Sony hardware and drastically upped the sales figures.

In addition to this, the PlayStation Network had also expanded and Sony was repairing its fraught relations with other third-party dev teams. One key moment was when Valve's Gabe Newell took the stage at Sony's E3 presser in 2010 to announce Portal 2.

While there was no chance of catching up to the Nintendo Wii, it was a dramatic turn-around. From here Sony would continue to rise in both critical and commercial success. In 2010, this continued with the likes of God of War 3, Heavy Rain and MAG: Massive Action Game.

These releases, despite arriving to different receptions, continued the PS3's ascent.