Twelve long months ago, the PlayStation 3 was in dire straights. November and December 2008 saw the system selling just barely over a million units combined. By contrast, the 360 moved more than twice as many units and the Wii a whopping four times more than the shiny black brick. Things were even more dire heading into 2009; a precipitous drop to barely more than 200,000 units in January and a slight uptick to just over 275,000 meant things needed to change. Fast.

Except they didn't. Sony held steadfast to its $400 price point for the 80GB version of the system for the bulk of 2009. It wasn't until August of last year that the prices were slashed to make way for the Slim at the magical price point of $300, but that was apparently what the public was waiting for. To say that the Slim PS3 has breathed life into a system that was at a sales standstill is massive understatement.