It was the year of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the PS3 Slim, the price drop, dynamic themes, and oh so much more – this was 2009 in the land of the PlayStation 3. With another 365 about to be under our belts, IGN is happy to pour a cup of coffee, sit down to our computers, and tell you all about what Sony's baby did and didn't do in '09. We're going to talk about the major stories, the big deal events, where the system is, and where it's going.

Are you ready to go beyond the "It Just Does Everything" commercials? Then click on, friend. This is the PlayStation 3 2009 Year in Review.

2009 was undoubtedly the best year yet for the PlayStation 3. The game lineup was phenomenal, sales of the console have started picking up in a big way, and the positive mindshare of the PS3 amongst gamers has seemed to increase a lot over these past 12 months. Yes indeed, this really was the PlayStation 3's year.

The biggest news was obviously the introduction of the new PlayStation 3 form factor, which most people refer to as the Slim. Whatever you call it (Sony just calls it the PS3), the accompanying price drop was enough to really open the flood gates for sales (as well as good vibes). Some folks may say that the $299 price tag still came too late, and while it certainly would have been nice to have seen it at that point six or twelve months earlier, all of the bad times really seem to be ancient history now.

While the price drop was certainly a huge reason for this, the influx of awesome games that hit the PS3 this year was the other half of the puzzle. Killzone 2 was released early in the year and somehow actually managed to live up to the years of hype, both in terms of gameplay and visuals. Other major exclusive releases like Infamous, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, the God of War Collection and Demon's Souls gave the PlayStation 3 owners plenty of reasons to be happy.

And then there's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The release of Uncharted 2 was an important spot on the PS3's lifecycle as it was one of the three biggest games (along with God of War III and Gran Turismo 5) that potential PS3 owners were waiting to purchase a system for. Coupling the price drop to $299 in mid-September with Uncharted 2's release a month later was really the lighthouse signal that fence sitters needed to finally pony-up for the console.

The PlayStation Network also saw a fantastic year, with releases like Shatter, Fat Princess, PixelJunk Shooter, Critter Crunch, Peggle and Braid really raising the bar for what you'll find on the network. Not all of them were exclusive, mind you, but there's no denying that the quality of the content this year was fantastic.

And all of that doesn't even include the awesome third-party, cross-platform titles that hit shelves in 2009. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Street Fighter IV, Assassin's Creed II, Batman: Arkham Asylum and lots, lots more basically made sure that gamers' wallets were empty year-round, for better or worse.

Sony also had a great showing at this year's E3, formally announcing the likes of Gran Turismo 5 while also finally pulling the cover off of Team ICO's next release, The Last Guardian. Regardless of how big 2009 was for the PlayStation 3, it made sure to show fans that this wasn't everything it had up its sleeve.

On the sad end of the scale, 2009 also brought lots of studio closures (and some corresponding game cancellations), though fortunately Sony's main development houses seem to have made it through the tough times intact, which is great news for PS3 owners.

Again, this really felt like the year when the PlayStation 3 stood up, made a (good) name for itself and, in many ways, outshined the competition. Sony has been saying for a long time now that its strategy for the PS3 has been a long-term one where it'll outlast the competition, and that its library would become the best on the market. 2009 was really the first time when this looks to have been proven as a legitimate stance and that it could actually pay off in the end. When you have a year like this and still have the likes of God of War III, Gran Turismo 5 and The Last Guardian to look forward to (not to mention countless other great titles), you can't help but be happy with how the PlayStation 3 is doing these days.