Everyone knows that the PlayStation 3 received a ton of criticism upon launch due to its size and price point, but has any gaming platform received as much criticism and cynicism as Sony’s PlayStation Portable? Officially launched five years ago to the day, the PlayStation Portable has heard it all from its lack of dual-analog sticks, software support to its pricing point.

However, despite all of the shortcomings that people cried about, the little handheld that could is still pushing along and selling pretty well overall. Sony has released several editions of their handheld ranging from the PSP-1000 to the PSPGo and through that time several cool things have occurred such as the ability to play emulators on it and Homebrew apps to the option of downloading all of your titles through the PSN Store with the PSPGo.

Whether you feel proud or ashamed of the product is up to you, but the success of it can’t be denied when you look at all of the other attempts into this industry owned by Nintendo. SEGA Game Gear? No thanks — that platform was a disaster in comparison to the original GameBoy and GameBoy Color. When you look at things from that perspective, it’s hard to truly dog the Portable because of the great success it has had as a platform despite stepping into a world always owned by Ninty.

Regardless of it all, we congratulate Sony on sticking with it and with upcoming titles like Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and ModNation Racers PSP, it’s only a matter of time until everyone is satisfied with their purchase (if they’re not already).

Five years and counting…