Keeping the console alive for another year
We're entering a new year but there is still a dedicated group of PlayStation 3 fans. So if you are one of those hardcore enthusiasts, or perhaps someone looking to explore it further, here are our Top 10 Tips for the PlayStation 3 in 2025.
Upgrade that Hard Drive
When the PlayStation 3 first launched you had two choices. A 40GB version and a whopping 60GB version. How could one possibly need more space than that you might ask? Well if you are seriously into the PlayStation 3 you will get through that in no time at all, and disk space is a lot cheaper than it used to be. You don’t want to spend time managing your disk storage and for other reasons I outline below, you want a hard drive big enough for you not to worry about the future.
There are other reasons for wanting to upgrade that hard drive. Early models of the PlayStation 3 used rather cheap hard drives that are known to fail, a decent quality one can last much, much longer. Another advantage you can gain is slightly faster loading times if you swap from a HDD to an SDD.
So I would recommend a 500GB, 2.5 inch SATA SSD, these can be picked up for around £30 which is a great price. The maximum size a PlayStation 3 can recognise is 1 TB so definitely don’t go any higher than that. If you want to upgrade you can make use of the PlayStation 3’s “Backup Facility”, which lets you store crucial data to an external drive. The backup process can take hours depending on how much data you have so make sure you have ample time. Then once you have swapped in the new drive, you can use the Backup Restore feature to load the data from the external drive back onto the PlayStation 3.
Take a hit on resolution for better performance
The PlayStation 3 was a HD machine capable of a 1080p output resolution. However there are many reports and findings that suggest limiting yourself to 720p will give you a small performance boost on some games. The PlayStation 3 doesn’t have to work as hard if its outputting a lower resolution. If you look at the back of your game boxes, you will find quite a lot of them can only do 720p anyway. Your mileage may vary on this, but if you value better framerates and less screen tearing, try going into the Display options in settings and dropping back to 720p.
Taking Advantage of Prices
I believe we have probably passed the bottom in prices for PlayStation 3 titles, the days when even the rarest of titles were in the bargain bin in supermarkets, but compared to other systems the games are still cheap. You can build a solid foundation for a collection on a number of cheap titles. Some PlayStation 3 exclusives are still cheap like Heavenly Sword and the Resistance trilogy. But there are a number of titles which are already going for big numbers on eBay and other retro game market places. Games like Folklore and 3D Dot Game Heroes are quite pricey and their value does seem to only be going up, but it might be worth saving up for them now if those look like games that appeal to you.
Check your PSN Downloads
If you have had a PlayStation account since the early days of the PlayStation 3, you might be surprised to find what lurks in your purchase history that you can still download from the PSN Store. All kinds of DLC, Wallpapers, Digital Games, soundtracks. Download them all and keep them on that large hard drive whilst you still have access.
Just open the PS Store and click “View Downloads”. I found treasures such as the MGS4 Database, a Wipeout HD Theme and Bionic Commando Rearmed.
Patch it!
I really hope you listened to the first step in investing in the hard drive as now the real work begins. Most PlayStation 3 games have patches. Some patches are trivial, some are incredibly important, like adding trophies and fixing game breaking bugs. Who knows how long PlayStation 3 servers will be around to serve up these patches. So take every single game you own and put in the disc, start it up and make sure to download those patches whilst you still can. I have around 350 PlayStation 3 games and spent a good few weeks just ensuring every single game had all the patches installed.
Always Ready to Go
Another quirk that this generation of consoles introduced was installing the game to the hard drive. The games are too big and the disc read speed too slow to read everything on demand so most games require installation. Some games have very long installation times. Metal Gear Solid 4 requires all 5 chapters to be installed, which can take up to 30 minutes per chapter. Fortunately a later patch does allow you to pre-install the whole game from the menu. Whilst you are going through your games to install the patches, take the opportunity to also install the game data so that whenever you want to pick up a game off the shelf and play it, it’s ready waiting for you. This is also a good time to make sure any DLC you may have in the store links up correctly and is installed. Each game handles this process differently.
Keep it Cool
If you are fortunate enough to still own an original, or “FAT”, model PlayStation 3, and you haven’t already, it’s time to perform some essential maintenance. Opening it up and cleaning it out is the bare minimum, but if you can, take the opportunity to replace the thermal paste and heat pads. There are many good guides online for this but if you aren’t too confident you can also find local repair shops who may do it. This task is crucial for keeping the PlayStation 3 running cool which not only stops it from sounding like a Jumbo Jet is taking off in your living room, but it should also help prevent the dreaded Yellow Light of Death.
The next thing to do, and this doesn’t matter which version of the PlayStation 3 you have, is to ensure you keep it and the surrounding area dust free, and keep the console in a place where it can breathe. Don’t keep it stuck in a bookcase or on top of another device. All PlayStation 3’s run quite hot so make sure they have the space to keep it cool.
Multiple Controllers
The battery life of the PlayStation 3 controllers isn’t what it used to be. Over time the maximum battery life decreases and you can’t have those marathon sessions that you used to. Although as a father of two children, the battery life is not the thing holding me back. Ideally you’d have two controllers. One for playing and one on charge, ready in reserve, and when the playing controller runs out you can tag in the next one. A charging station can be picked up cheaply too which helps to make sure you keep on top of this.
Sadly, prices for genuine dualshock 3 controllers have rocketted. If you aren’t too bothered about vibration, you might be able to pick up the original “six-axis” controller, for cheaper. There are some third party controllers out there and you can even use a PlayStation 4 controller, although reports about its compatibility are mixed. Be careful though, there are a ton of fake controllers out there too. Worst case, you can pick up a replacement battery for the controller and attempt a repair yourself.
Trophy Hunting
Fortunately we can still get trophies on the PlayStation 3 and the servers are still around to sync up so we can show off our trophy collections to the world. There are lots and lots of great PlayStation 3 games with trophy lists that still allow you to get Platinums.
I do have another tip around trophy syncing. This is where you click the trophy menu from the settings and it syncs to the cloud. On the PlayStation 3 this process is rather slow and gets worse the more trophies you have. But be patient, let it do its thing. I have found that if you try to back out whilst it’s still loading it can freeze causing you to do a hard reset and once, I had to do a few too many hard resets and the trophy list was corrupted and I had to factory reset the console. I recommend only syncing the trophies if you have time and avoid opening the menu whilst you have a game running.
Keep it for Games
This one makes me sad to talk about because part of the PlayStation 3’s great history is its ability to be a multimedia machine. I recommend keeping the PlayStation 3 solely for playing the games. If you still use it for Netflix, YouTube or BluRays there are loads of other options out there for you, cheap options too. It’s probably best to keep the stress down on your machine so that you can maximize the game time.
Join a Community
Even if you like playing single player games by yourself there can still be a social aspect to gaming. There are lots of PlayStation 3 communities around online and it’s fun to meet people to chat about. So get out there, find a community or if you’ve enjoyed this article, please follow us on social media at the links above, to stay up to date on new issues.