The day my PS3 died: Is this a bigger problem than we thought?

Gamezine:

'Video game enthusiast, deep, loses his PlayStation 3 to the console-devil. This is the first part of his story.

We all know the reported early unreliability of the Xbox 360, with many gamers struck by the infamous red rings of death (RROD) once, twice, even three times. The problem resulted in Microsoft extending the Xbox 360's warranty to three years, possibly costing them millions in repairs and replacements.

So how about the PlayStation 3? The failure rate for the console has been predicted at around 1% (the Xbox 360 is presumed to be around 16-30%), below the tech industry standard, but its reliability has recently come into question.

Firstly, my PlayStation 3 died...'

[techie]

I wrote this for 'em guys, so you know I'm not a PS3 troll.

[Pennywise]

Sorry for your loss. I read it because you wrote it...

I get nervous every single time the PS3 freezes. Fallout 3 put me through hell.

I am way past my warranty, but I would gladly shell out $150.00 to get it back quick. Usually the warranties are 90 days.

I think Sony should of had a 3 yr warranty.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

Reading your report makes me cringe. My PS3 has frozen on me a number of times in the same manner you describe.

So far no flashing red lights yet....

[Nineball2112]

This is mainly happening with the 60gb models.

I think I read something about the type of solder used in them?

But it might also have something to do with the fact that the 60gb models are the oldest ones too.

Anyways, sorry this happened to you.

[staub91]

My launch 60g PS3 broke two weeks ago.

I played the heck out of it so its no surprise to me it died.

My replacement is running great though.

[Kleptic]

yeah I beta'd Warhawk and Killzone 2...and both of those betas would freeze my PS3 every couple hours without question...and I would nearly shat a brick each time until it rebooted fine...hope it stays that way...

good article though...like you said, there is no evidence of more than 1% of PS3's being faulty...a large number of Wii users are reporting disc load problems too...and it may sound like a lot when you browse through Youtube seeing all the videos...but there are over 40 million Wii's out there...so i'm sure its 'in range'...

I hear conflicting reports on what this yellow light thing is...some say its the BD drive...some say it occurs from a corrupted firmware...both of which involve support from Sony though...so yeah, if you can, let us know what you come up with...

[BrianC6234]

"yeah I beta'd Warhawk and Killzone 2...and both of those betas would freeze my PS3 every couple hours without question...and I would nearly shat a brick each time until it rebooted fine...hope it stays that way..."

Do you think that just maybe you had those problems because you were playing betas? Betas are versions of games being tested for bugs. If your PS3 runs finished games fine but crashes on betas then I'd say your only problem is you're play betas.

[TheTwelve]

Sorry for your loss, man. While PS3s breaking isn't endemic like it is with the 360, every console will have dud copies. I hope you get yours replaced soon enough!

I've never had a broken PS3, but a 20g that I gave away to someone did die on them eventually. I currently have a 60g that shows no signs of letting up.

12

[BigPappaPump]

I feel your pain and frustration Deep. I myself a former victim of YLOD 2 months back. Unfortunately I had to cough up $150 for a refurb. I can't help to feel extremely cautious with my replacement believing it can happen again after each boot up.

[Parapraxis]

Yeah, it's a bit of a problem with 60GB PS3's.
Here's a link to the official PS forums to give an idea.
http://boardsus.playstation...
TOTAL PLAYSTATION.COM FORUM VICTIMS
258 MEMBERS
There were currently 1,153 members online, the forums are huge, so 258 people having the problem isn't suprising.

I'm posting this to give a good perspective of how widespread the problem is and the info in the link is helpful.

Typical from a PS3 fanboy huh voiceofreason?

[mugoldeneagle03]

I know half the people on here will disagree with me, so check my comment history to see that I indeed do love my PlayStation 3, or loved.

My 2nd PS3 died just last week...

I was playing Socom and my system shut down abruptly...No power down, no screen freeze, everything shut completely off and I was left with the Red Power Button blinking. When I attempted to turn my system back on, it powered up but the Green Light (Power), went to Yellow, and blinking Red once again within 2-3 seconds...

I'm opting to purchase my 3rd PlayStation 3 next Friday and I'm hoping this one lasts a bit longer than my first two.

1) 60GB Launch PlayStation 3 - November 26th 2006-November 3rd 2007
2) 80GB Best Buy Warranty Ex. - November 3rd '07-January 14th '09
3) 3rd Playstation 3 - ________ - ____________

And for those wondering my first Playstation died altogether. No blinking lights, nothing. Wouldnt even turn on.

Now I'm not saying it's Sony's fault or poor development, because I'm pretty rough on my system...Not in a physical way (PS3 Stands atop entertainment system with plenty of space to breathe), but it's on every day for at least 9-10 hours at least.

Anyways, if your an avid gamer like myself at least have a backup plan for when the day comes, IF it comes....

Wish me luck on my 3rd : /

[Information Minister]

Even after nearly 2 years and quite a few 12 hour gaming marathons it just keeps on smiling.

BTW there's a slight incorrection with your article: where it reads "We all know the reported early unreliability of the Xbox 360", it should read "We all know the reported continued unreliability of the Xbox 360".

[shovelbum]

I had a PS3 die last Spring so I swapped it out at BB and so far so good with the new one. For the record my launch 360 and Halo version have not RROD'd yet but I practically keep them in a freezer. You could hang meat in my house on most days.

[gaffyh]

My PAL 60gb is fine, I've had it since launch. Maybe I'm just lucky, but it seems like most PS3 failures seem to come from people not taking care of their console properly.

[ThanatosDMC]

A bunch of people got their PS3s screwed up by GTA4 when it first came out without any patches. It was suggested that if a game start freezing up. It's best not to play that game till they fixed it.

[Kleptic]

@ Brian...

no it was definitely the beta's...I understand that...was just saying it still freaked me out every time it happened...a hard reset can still corrupt stuff on the HDD...and since the firmware of a PS3 is stored on the HDD (I am not positive on that, never saw any confirmation...just assuming that all these problems are said to be due to corrupt HDD's)...it can still mess stuff up potentially...

I get freaked out every time I update it too haha...I worry that a power surge will kick off the system while its installing the new date...which = brick...so maybe its just me...

so far so good though...knock on wood...but I was really excited for Warhawk and killzone 2...and the beta was worth it even though I would want to slaughter someone every time it froze...killzone 2 had a server side update for phase 3 of the beta that almost entirely fixed the freezing problem...so it was definitely related to the online code of the game, not the actual game itself (as there was no client side update), or my physical ps3...

those might be the last games I actively try to beta though...probably doesn't get much worse than having a PS3 get destroyed by freezing on a game you are desperately waiting for...

[Real Gambler]

This guy gives all the numbers.... 20 million install base (I think it's a bit less), then 350 failures, then another 50. Industry standard is about 3% failure rate per year on ANY electronic product (he is bang on). He then goes on to say that Sony seem to be about 1% which is better than the industry standard.

But in this blog, he worry about those 400 consoles, which amount to 0.002% failure rate over 2 years. Not even close to be a serious problem, yet, sure enough, his blog becomes NEWS...

Technically, if they really really have a 1% failure rate (which would be totally absolutely awesome!), and they are reaching close to 20 millions console sold over two years, we are talking about 400,000 thousand consoles who died in the last 2 years. But 19.6 millions consoles that are still working wonderfully. With so many electronic parts, that's seriously awesome.

Now, with the typical 3% industry standard, (your typical DVD player, TV, etc), that would become 1.2 millions units dead after 2 years, if they would have sold 20millions tvs, or dvd players... And you would not hear about it because that's what people are used too. In real numbers, that's usually about 1 million unit sold over 3 or 4 years, and at 3%, about 90K dead after those 4 years. End of production, new model are out, nobody knows or even complaint (and those appliances may only have 90 days warranty!)

So, sorry, but I do find it funny that with the numbers he is splashing, the trouble he is talking about means 0.002% failure rate! This will bring in tons of comments on N4G, but to me, he is saying that the PS3 is truly awesome!

[Bnet343]

Glad my PS3 has never froze. I never think about it failing. I just play without worrying. Same for my Xbox 360. If it breaks, it breaks. Tough luck. :/

[BattleAxe]

I own 2 - 60 gig PS3s and the first one I bought in February of 2007 got the Yellow Light. Luckily I had bought the 3 year extended warranty from Future Shop. This happend just before christmas.

But my PS3 got used almost everyday, so it was extremely well used. Since its practicaly a launch model, you kind of have to expect that its not going to be perfect. You'll know if you're going to be at risk of getting a yellow light if your PS3 starts to freeze on a daily basis like mine was.

@mugoldeneagle

What you described happening to your PS3 is exactly how it happened on mine. I was playing CoD: WaW and then it shut down. When I tried to power it back up, the green light would come on for a second and then a yellow light, then it would beep 3 times and shut down again. I tried to turn it on at least 15 times. Then I googled the PS3 Yellow light and saw that its basically total hardware failure.

[va_bank]

I'll do better then wish you luck:

When you pick up your next PS3, buy a surge protector. If your first died completely (no lights) you fried your power supply. These things, just like all computers, are sensitive to changes in current. Variations in current (surges OR dips) can kill power supplies.

Buy a surge protector.

[phosphor112]

that Sony is temporarily replacing broken PS3's that are out of warranty. I think it was on N4G.

[Sarick]

This is a power issue from what I heard.

[dantesparda]

Rip me apart. But i gotta say, that after the DRE errors of the PS2 and the complete and utter failure of the 360s reliability, things like this have got me both nervous and uncomfident about these systems reliabilities. My sisters PS3 which is a MGS4 bundle system (so the 80GB with partial BC) just broke (it wont stay on anymore, it'll just automatically keep shutting itself off). And truthfully all these stories of the system failing to read Blurays anymore or just outright failing got me shook. Now i have gone through the 360s problems MANY times (im on my 5th replacement 360). And truthfully, i feel that not only is a 1 year warranty not enough, but heck even a 3 year warranty isnt enough. I think that a 5 yr warranty should be mandatory for these systems, giving all these unreliablities associated with them (not to say that the PS3 is as bad as the 360 in terms of reliability).

If my PS3 dies on me, there is no way that I am paying sh!t for it (just like with my 360). And Sony will lose a good customer, as I buy most of their exclusives and encourage people to do so also. So i hope Sony gets this under control soon.

[Agent VX]

I really fail to accept a 1% failure rate. I have 5 people I know that have a PS3, and 2 of them have had their PS3 fail. They both had their consoles replaced fairly quickly, but the failure rate is definitely worse than people think. Including me, that is a 33% failure rate, though I don't believe it is close to that number.

I haven't had many problems besides the odd freeze, but my PS3 is beyond the 1 year warranty. And getting a replacement PS3 will be very expensive.

[AuToFiRE]

I believe we should all write Sony about our next-gen console with last-gen problems

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

I don't know, my PS3 is rock solid when it comes to hardware quality. However, so far my PS3 has frozen on my numerous times and I have the 40GB 65nm version.

I use my PS3 considerably less than my 360 (1:5 ratio at least) and the PS3 has frozen on me more. I wish they would make the software more stable....

All of you that somehow find a way to disagree with my personal experience go ahead.

[KnowitAll]

Funny stuff funny stuff.

So Xbox gets the red light before dying and Ps3 gets the yellow light.
I hope wii gets the green light.

[Consoldtobots]

sounds like nothing more than a bad batch of consoles, I know because I had my launch 60gb die on over a year ago. I used to leave it folding overnight and one morning the focker was not dead per say but would freeze every game and even the xmb was glitchy. They sent me another one and it has worked fine ever since. That is completely acceptable, what isn't acceptable is a company who still hasn't fixed major issues with their console in its 4th year on the market.

[NickIni]

"Including me, that is a 33% failure rate, though I don't believe it is close to that number."

Lol. If it was as big a problem as that loads of people would have had their PS3s break and there would be articles everywhere about it, just like the RRoD.

[Jacobite]

Saying nothing to jinx anything lol. My launch 60gb PS3 has had no probs since day 1, and our PS2 is 7 years old. On another note on our third 360 : ( ups and downs eh?

[Scottama]

@1.24

You moron!

The failure rate is based on MILLION of consoles. The larger the study, the more probable it is to be correct, relevant, reliable, accurate and statistically significant.

You know of 6 PS3s. Two just so happen to have broken, so you quote a 33% failure rate.
If you were the ONLY person you knew of who owned a PS3, and it broke, would assume a 100% failure rate? Of course not, that'd be stupid.

Maybe in your tiny, insignificant case study, the failure rate is 33%. But Sony's (and other evaluators) case studys cover millions. So perhaps they're more qualified to comment.

Just as an aside... in your group, the lowest possible (non-zero) failure rate would be 17%. Not exactly precise, is it... You have 7 tiers of failure rate (0, 17, 33, 50, 67, 83, 100), but once again, Sony have millions,

So stop spewing arrogant, and wrong, bullshit. And maybe just THINK about what you're typing before you hit "Add reply".

Good day, sir.

[Parapraxis]

"200 ppl out of 1200 isnt a lot? That is more than 1%.. Keep that spin up Sony guy... Why are you even denying it? It isnt like its a bad thing to be a fanboy. Everyone has their preference. I personally love the PC and no console will ever take its place. I have no problem admitting it. "
lol, There were currently 1,153 members online, that is NOT the total members total of the playstation.com forums...OBVIOUSLY! There are that many people ONLINE at any given time when you visit the site.

jonondaspot -
o parapraxis, thats the total people that claim to have a loss.
Yeah, because many people go through the process of signing up to forums to claim they had their PS3 break huh.

[DaTruth]

AgentVX is a rabid PS3 hater so you can't even take into account what he's saying. Only huge 360 fanboys know so many people with broken PS3s.

[zPlayer]

My ps3 died the beginning of this month from normal use. the light was sereal and almost turned me off to video games. i really love LBP. deep i hope the you'll be able to get more out of calling support than i was able to. I'll be ever so greatful if by your article you'll get sony to something for the faithful gamers who bought their ps3's at launch and then got the YELLOW DEATH like me. ;'(

[Chris399]

Froze on me once, only, when I was playing Enchanted Arms.

Probably disgusted that I was actually playing Enchanted Arms; it was trying to save me, really.

Runs like a champ otherwise.

- C

[BrianC6234]

I bought a 60GB back in Jan. 2007 also. I think I had Resistance lose it's game save once. Or maybe it was Motorstorm. Once I backed up my saves though I didn't have that problem anymore. And my PS3 hasn't had one single problem. I think that save problem was a bug in the game only.

I hope people don't start trying to say the PS3 is buggy. All electronics will have some failures. It doesn't mean it's junk. When you have a huge failure rate like the 360 had then you have a problem.

[duplissi]

haha, i owned that game for about five minutes damn it was a P.O.S. haha and that gay guy was so annoying

[Kleptic]

freezing sucks dude...I hate when its seemingly the game, and not the PS3...as GTAIV at launch did it all the time, although I never had it happen...

but betas are bad news in this department...warhawk and killzone 2 did it at least every time I played it (a server side update to phase 3 of killzone 2 remedied it)...so I guess I was lucky, as it never resulted in anything bad...

but i've had my US NTSC 60gb model since March 2007 (checked the serial number once, and according to some reports...its not a 'launch' model, but had a slight revision to certain components...not sure what though, and if that has anything to do with this yellow light stuff)...but I know a lot of people had trouble too with 40gb's when they first released...which was confirmed to be a corrupt firmware flash from the factory...and was usually taken care of immediately...

but with all that said...i've had my PS3 freeze probably 50 times throughout the hours of beta testing those 2 games...haha that still worries me...

[Ju]

Got my first 60G in Jan 07, and started to get wired poly errors. Send it back just a week before my warranty expired and got a new one. Works fine since. The freezes are mostly SW errors. You can tell if its always the same game which freezes. Would it be HW, this would happen independently from the game you play (or would occur more frequently).

[kazuma]

"The console is a work of pure technical genius in design - featuring liquid and fan cooling."

edit: okay, i take it back, still it was kinda funny ^^

hope there's no hard feelings ^^

there's actually a mod for the ps3 to use liquid cooling, but there's no way a stock option for a console would be actually using liquid cooling...

still, about the topic: it isn't a big problem, you just happened to get a problematic one, happens with tv's dvd players everything else. as you pointed out in the article, it's nowhere near the ridiculous 360 fail rate. you don't see many people complaining about the ps3 and the wii overall. i guess the only part that isn't truly reliable are the blu-ray and dvd players, you really can't trust those laz0rz.

also, add the fact that u know update firmware on all consoles regularly and u've got a recipe for disaster. u just download that brand new firmware, some goddamn bit got f*cked up and ur ps3 won't boot. that's why sony's giving end users the option to boot in recovery mode now, i'm pretty sure a lot of ps3's went to repairs just because of that.

[techie]

Has pipes in it :) Edit: Did some research - it's normal heat sink pipes. Sorry my memory of the design was wrong... I'll let the editor know. Don't laugh at me :(

Edit: I didn't just update my PS3, thanks. There are MUCH more reports of PS3 failure recently - it's not as rare as you think it is.

I didn't have a DUD PS3. It's the same as all the other 60gb's - It lasted almost 2 years.

[BrianC6234]

"I didn't just update my PS3, thanks. There are MUCH more reports of PS3 failure recently - it's not as rare as you think it is."

I don't see a lot of reports of faulty PS3s on the Internet. I see the same few people saying it but that's the Internet for you. The squeaky wheel. If it was a real problem the media would be all over it since they seem to have it in for Sony.

[Kleptic]

he stated in the article too that a 1% failure rate would involve roughly 200,000 PS3's out there...and we are seeing no where near that, even though its obvious that every person affected by it wouldn't report it online...

articles like this and subsequent board linked to them usually bring out a lot of people affected by it...

but I agree with Deep...i've noticed a lot more of these popping up recently...maybe its just because the installed base of the PS3 is so much larger now...first thing I researched when I bought my PS3 was how reliable it was...Saw my cousin pop a 360 just days after he got it, and didn't want to have to go through what he did...and there where PS3's right at launch having this exact same problem...but I also notice the yellow light thing happening to 40gb models the most from what I can tell...maybe its just coincidence, who knows...

it DOES exist...just not on a massive scale...like the issue with the wii (no video signal for some reason)...as more people buy these systems...more people are going to report any problems they have...

[rucky]

If it was bigger than we thought, trust me the media would've been all over it.

[Helghast Slayer]

Yeah exactly my thoughts. The title should read "The day i talked out my ass" lol /jk

[techie]

Oh cheers, thanks. ONE: do you know who I am? TWO: Do you know how many failed PS3's have been reported in the last year?

[Helghast Slayer]

Chill mate, chill. I was just taking the piss.

[kazuma]

yeah, if it was like the 360 failure rate, we would surely get the ps3 is doomed articles

[GrooveMachine]

haha god forbid anyone should be allowed to do that, wear your heart on your sleeve or go home

[UnwanteDreamz]

I don't doubt this happened and I am sorry it did, but unless you can provide evidence that the failure rate is over that 1% 200,000 then I don't see why this is news. We know the PS3 is not above failing as I have seen at least 2 or 3 stories about it every year since launch.

I understand you wishing it were a a larger problem but i am afraid there just isnt enough evidence to suggest that.

[Spike47]

Sadly, there is no perfect console in any way, this guy along with a few other are the 1%, and luckily I'm part of the 99%. :)

[BBAM]

I wasn't aware of the 5 year thing in UK, else I wouldn't have been as impressed by the helpline's good will in giving me a free refurbished Playstation 3 when my warranty's past
But at least you were able to get your disk out! my LittleBigPlanet is gone forever =[ and still waiting for a replacement from SCEE

[techie]

Well it's not actually 5 years....it's just "reasonable amount of time"...and most tech companies don't abide by it up front...unless you complain lots.

[XS]

mine died 2 days ago. same thing happen while playing PoP. all my game save date gone.. and i was 1-2 trophies away from platinum on 3 different games... anyone know if i can get the data out ???

[techie]

No. Apparently you need to know your PS3 is going to die before it does (ie. back up all your saves regularly)

[Kleptic]

can't get your saves back...but don't worry about the trophies...they are linked to your PSN...that is assuming you regularly 'sync' them...either by viewing them on your xmb...or looking at your own profile card on the friends list...they don't update to your PSN automatically...they sync when you go to the trophy section on the xmb out of game...

to anyone that cares about trophies...I would suggest doing that often...for reasons such as this...

when you get your new PS3 and activate it...just use your same PSN account...and go to the trophies...the sync operation will take a bit longer, as the PS3 will then download all your trophy information to your local PS3...this also works if you are playing a game on a friend's ps3...you can get your trophy information by logging in under your own PSN ID...earn trophies...re-sync it...then redownload the info to your own PS3 when you get back home...its pretty nice...

[cmrbe]

for me sofar. I really think that its not a big problem than we thought. For me personally. I know six people with x360 and all but one now has PROD. 5 people with PS3 and only one suffered a RDE when his blu-ray drive couldn't read anymore disc.

As someone said. No electronic HW is perfect.

[techie]

Yup, agreed. BUT, a failure rate is produced by reports from consumers...it was originally thought to be less than 1%, but it could be more after recent reports. That's the question.

[Captain Tuttle]

Bubble for you Deep for even raising the question...takes some balls around here.

This isn't even close to the RROD fiasco (I just got my third back from MS) but I'd bet that it's more than 1%. There's a couple of pretty big threads over at the Official Forums
http://boardsus.playstation...
http://boardsus.playstation...

[JokesOnYou]

Obviously the problem isn't nearly as big as the 360 problem *used to be, but judging by the comments it seems sony loyalists would rather NOT know IF further investigation reveals there is indeed a higher fail rate than what was previously thought. Again its not proof of any sort of massive failure rate, but 350 reports on 1 forum would at least suggest a potential of a higher failure rate.

JOY

[thebudgetgamer]

but not while playing games its usualy when im on the browser some websites dont seem to like my ps3. ive been lucky with my consoles thus far heck i still have a 5200 that works and i think most of us here know of the controller issues that had. anyways that sucks and i feel for you

:)

[UnwanteDreamz]

That would be the question if you could provide some evidence.

I would be in complete agreement and worried to boot if it wasn't just your word. Truth is you only have been following this since it happened to you, and you not being aware that more people then yourself have gone through this, is no reason to think there is an abnormaly high ammount.

Edit: To those that disagree
Results 1 - 10 of about 596,000 for XBOX 360 RROD. (0.15 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 35,100 for PS3 YLOD. (0.19 seconds)

I can link stories of the people who have had multiple hardware failures for the 360 and I am having a hard time finding even one story of a person having multiple hardward failures with the PS3.

[cmrbe]

surprise if the PS3 failure rate is 4%-6% but i think this is within industry standard and is the main reason why people and especially the media isn't kicking up a fuss.

It's good though you raised the question deep. If its a big problem then it definately needs to be address.

[Kleptic]

the RROD of the 360 wasn't really 'raised' by consumers though...as complaints to MS were apparently being 'hidden' from the public...it took several retailers coming out and saying 'we get a TON of 360's returned on a daily basis'...and that was when shat affectively hit the fan...

[BGDad]

Have my original launch console still. Its still more quite then my 360 WITH games installed...

Electronics die no matter how good you build them... Its a non issue until it winds up like the RROD... And its even worse when you can type RROD, which is basically a few letters, but people know exactly what you mean and what you refer to...

Ill buy a new Ps3 I think when they make them smaller but honestly my Ps3 is a champ an cant imagine it giving up!

[GiantEnemyLobster]

Yellow Light of Death strikes again! Watch out PStards! Its gonna getcha!

[Obama]

haha don't worry, it's only 1%. You surely will get the rrod though.

[Why dis]

Disc loader issues and all.

Sony had to return a whole shipment in some asian country because they were faulty Sony covered it up fast(had the info pulled before the source could spead the news after a few hours). That is what they're doing.

The Playstation brand is known for faulty hardware and Sony is known to try and hide/lie/cover it up untill enough attention is payed to the brand(or taken to court).

[Obama]

pog u don't have a ps3.

[Sir Ken_Kutaragi]

.___.......___......___....._ __.....
||.....||....||.....||...||.. ...||..||.....\\....
||___||....||___||..||...... ||..||......\\....
||......\\...||.....\\..||... . ||..||.......||....
||.......||..||......||..||__ _||..||___//...
;-D
I have had mine for 1 year and a few months and it's working like a dream;) I feel sorry for the RARE people who do lose there PS3's. I'd cry if i lost mine.

[MONOLITHICIDE]

lol yea good thing sony covered it up atleast they didnt try and sell it like microsoft does to its retarded loyal fan club. Atleast they know what happened and took care of it buy not selling it. lol you act like its some big a$$ conspiracy

[ultimolu]

Sorry for your loss. Even I get nervous sometimes when my PS3 freezes on a game. One time, it froze on Uncharted so I had to restart it.

I think this is a more of a common problem with launch PS3's.

[Biphter]

My Euro launch PS3 has only ever fozen on Uncharted, and that was after the trophy patch. Its happened 3 times and it was always when I was checking Trophy info through the XMB whilst ingame. I avoid this by not accessing XMB ingame for uncharted and haven't had the problem since.

[Dave2001]

Though I'm not surprised Ps3s are dying reports from other game sites indicate that 95% of sold Ps3's have huge Hardware problems.

Oh well that's what idiots get for buying a Ps3.:p

360 FTW!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cyrus365]

Deep, did you try when the amber light comes on, holding the reset button for 3-5 seconds, it happened to me once, but i did that, and it went to normal operation.

With the new firmware, you'll likely boot to safe mode, and go from there (although i'm not sure how that works).

[Kleptic]

good point...I don't know the details on this safe mode stuff yet...but that sounds like it may have something to do with that...

and that fits with numerous points of this problem being related to nothing hardware related...and only a corrupted firmware...in which case people where returning their PS3's simply to have them reflashed and sent back...at times with a new HDD if that thing ended up being totally trashed...

but anyone know what this Safe Mode stuff is about?...

[Hockey11]

Same thing happened to me accept I blame Olive Garden.

[read disc error]

no one really knows what the failure rate for each console is. also, the problem with Playstations in general is their longevity. seeing that the PS3 is over 2 years old we should expect more of these problems to start appearing. Back in the day, PS2s started dropping like flies after a couple years. But, what do I know? I've only been gaming since the 80's.

[thebudgetgamer]

i never had a problem with my ps2 but i didnt buy mine a launch so that might have been the reason and like you ive been a gamer since 87

:)

[ceesiebo]

He mentions that Sony is going to repair the Dutch broken PS3's that are out of warranty and that it has probably to do with bad press. Well, bad press will certainly have something to do with it, but it's also consumers going to court. Dutch law just orders Sony to fix the PS3's. This warranty of 1 year is, according to Dutch law, ridiculous and should be at least 3 years.

Also, if the PS3 is such a fantastic reliable machine, why doesn't Sony just put 3 years of warranty on them. It won't cost them much. I have a launch PS3 60Gb and it runs fine by the way.

[furymasterzero]

My Launch PS3 died about 2 weeks ago, but that was a year past it's warranty. I could have sent it in to get it refurbished for $150, though it would only have a 90 day warranty. I don't think this is a huge problem like the RRoD, but it would still be a good idea to use the backup feature about every month or two just in case. That way if it does die on you, you can send it in, without losing your data. I don't see this being too common though.

NOTE: If you see your main display setting reset to a different resolution like back to the default settings, PERFORM A BACKUP!!! because that's what happened to me before it died.

[vlazed]

I have a launch date 60 and 20 that run practically on 24/7 with no problems. The only game that gave my PS3 problems was Oblivion, and I will never play another glitchy Bethesda game again. It is simply not worth the risk.

[Rythrine]

Sorry to hear that, mate. Hope you get it back before the heavy hitters drop next month.

[Fr0ZzZeN]

While my bro still has his 1st 360. Just bad luck I guess.

[Dark General]

Yeah my Ps3 had broked down on me back in August. Fortunately i already had beaten MGS4 and i was in the last month of my warranty. When i got it back i got a 3 month extended warranty. Every once in a while it'll freeze most notably when i'm playing TF2. But other than that it works like a charm.

[ASTAROTH]

...I have the same problem. A 20 gigs PS3 that thanks to an overelectrical shock bricked. I turn it on then a the green light turns into a blinking red one. I called Sony and they said I had to pay $150 bucks for it. I think is not that bad because it lasted on for long periods of time for two years.

I think they service is good because in these $150 is included the Shiping, I live in Puerto Rico and its worth $80 for SONY to ship a package to me and then I shiped it back to them. The only real problem is that they told me that if they cant repair the console they will send me another model. Its good because I am out of warranty and I didnt have to pay $399 for a new PS3 and its bad because if they send me as an example a 40 gigs PS3 without backwards compatibility with the PS2 I will have to buy a PS2.

Thats because I have almost 100 games for the PS2 and over 30 for the PS3. Im still waiting for my PS3 to arrive and I hope it comes before KILLZONE 2 launches, but Im covered because I bougth a 40 gigs used from a friend ( almost new) and when mine arrives I will sell it to another friend.

Life isnt easy man, and electronics tends to break...at least its not like my other console who has became red 3 times. Im really scared of those damn rings!!! LOL!

[no-spin]

PS3 failure rate is within INDUSTRY STANDARDS
WHAT DOES THIS MEANS?
A- its not a hardware design problem
B- PS3 can be bought with confidence
C- ANY TYPE of electronics device has a failure rate (15 - 30% is just trash electronics)

Just because it happened to you and you whine about it in an internet web site does not mean is a wide spread problem.
You just joined the ridiculous viral campaign
Congratulations!

[furymasterzero]

Yeah, it's not all that common. Hell my Launch PS2 lasted until 2006 til it finally came out, it could be attributed to many things like Dust, etc... I'm just glad it's not as widespread as what the 360 has... I'm on my 2nd 360 as well.

[jackdoe]

My first PS3 died due to CoD 4 (apparently, some Activision games stressed a faulty part in some 60gb PS3's). However, my second is still running fine and dandy. I bought my 360 back in November, and haven't run into any major issues with that one. I bought a Wii back in March and haven't run into any issues either. Heck, I didn't get any of the dreaded disc read errors from my PS2.

[ronando]

My PS3 was purchased one week after launch and it's had it's fair share of use to say the least. A had a minor run in with my hard drive about a year ago - prompted with a "Hard drive corrupted" message upon boot, there was nothing else I could do.

Before I started to panic I simply removed the hard drive, connected it to my PC, formatted and slid it back in...Fixed!

Besides that minor hickup it's been consintently used for the last 2 years and I've had an almost flaweless experience...Love it!

[LeShin]

Does anyone here no for sure if this is caused by overheating?

Because if it is, I'm about to rush out and buy that cooling fan add-on just in case!

[ronando]

I wouldn't recommend bothering with an auxiliary fan for your PS3, unless you're consistently using it more than 4 hours a day.

Your best bet is to ensure the area in which your PS3 resides is very well ventilated (not crammed into a small area) to promote proper air flow, and keep it dust free by blowing it with an air can at least once a month.

[Stryfeno2]

To think that my PS3 froze the first day I got it.

[goflyakite]

Of course it did.

/sarcasm

[budbundystyles]

Mine did too actually........(damn F.E.A.R.).

[IQUITN4G]

I wouldn't think it's approaching an RROD problem but certainly machines are brought back.A friend of a friend of mine has fairly often talked about people bringing machines back to where he works 'Game' after they refuse to boot up

[Gambit07]

The only scary problem I've had with my 60 gigger, is that one time I had a corrupted GTA4 save file that would not let me press any icons on the XMB, I thought that my PS3 was done for, but after force restarting the system about 5 times, miraculously I was finally able to delete the corrupted file, after that everything was working fine.

[Grodd]

My PS3 is a tank. I think I've had a freeze maybe once ever in over a year and that's it. I'm very happy. I have the old 80 gb model that came with Motorstorm.

[anubis12]

i work at a gamestop i hear about blu-ray drives just stop working maybe 1-3 times a month.....which is that bad compared to the 360 ,but still show that none of the consoles are perfect.

[rawd]

You know whats even worse. You work at Gamestop

[Darkfocus]

only games that ever froze on me where oblivion and fallout 3 but thats probably just poor coding(those games are so glitchy)=/

[khellendros1]

My PS3 died back in Oct. and I had to pay the $150 to get it replaced. That was the longest 2 weeks I've had in a while. Luckily I had backed up everything a week earlier.

[lewis]

good thing i dont got a 60gb,

[Stereojet]

Seems like it's mostly the yanks that are having any issues at all...

Can't say it's anywhere near the same fail rate as the 360, so it's just normal to have a few early systems going wrong.

[crillyconlig]

im on my 2nd ps3, the first one launch 60gig bluray stoped reading, my friend is on his 4th, because he's a dumb ass and keeps his ps3 in a cupboard where NO air gets to it, but from my expirience working in an electronics store, ps3's are very much more reliable than the xbox

[Vulcan Raven]

Fifty other people have experienced this problem!! That is astonishing. If you go to your local future shop/best buy/ Eb games, i guarantee you can find at least 3 people who have replaced their 360 more than twice!!

[mdefalco25]

I had a 60gig less than two years old and died on me w/ the yellow light flash! Sucks!

[Sangria]

I got 2 PS3s, the first is a 60GB that died two times, the second is a 40GB that died one time. Where i'm pretty fvcked is that i can't download my bought games anymore on my last PS3 because it reached the activated systems limit.

And now i'm pretty pissed because i don't know how to deactivate the former PS3 systems since i don't own them.

[TheForgotten0ne]

Just call Support, I did, they are quite helpfull.

[Sangria]

K, i'll do that.

[farhsa2008]

1 dead ps3 = 33 dead xbox 360's, (as the stats will tell you)

[godkiller]

This morning i installed the gow3 trailer,it froze red light beeped,turned yellow.kept trying same,its a launch ps3.
Rang sony,as over 2 years old, mega helpful.sending me a recon 60gb FREE!!.takeing 2 weeks,so went down game bought new 80 gb,took out 80 gb stuck in 320gb hardrive,only downside for me this story is my 2 week save of white knight story"on second play after rebirth was lost!!.

ps i took 3 xbox360s,and one elite,if you took one them apart which i have,jesus the amount parts from countrys i have never heard of NOWONDER IF BLOODY BREAKS ALOT!,I EXPECTED TO FIND BITS OF CURRY IN IT TOO!.god even the silver plastic reminds me of my crap silver daewoo car !!!!!!

[TheMART]

Sorry to heat that Deep...

But yeah its like this

Launch PS3's (60 and 20GB) seem to die after about 1.5 to 2 years on the YLOD

from 40GB PS3's and on after the price cut it seems Sony used cheaper BluRay diode production, those have the dying BluRay after a really short time (my 80GB PS3 lasted 3 weeks, I know someone that had it after 3 days...) and most of the times not longer then 10 to 14 months.

The sad thing is in Europe, if the PS3 breaks down after a year Sony only offers you to pay 200 Euro (that's sick, half of a new PS3) to receive a refurbished PS3 from someone else.

I hope my current 80GB new one I got exchanged at the shop for my broken one will last long. If not I'll change the BluRay lens myself in the future when the warranty is expired.

[Oner]

^^^^^Misinformed biased lies and absolute BS^^^^^

Please pay no attention to him and the others....How is it the can easily complain about a less than 1% failure rate but not about RROD? Amazing huh?! F'ing hypocritical fake gamers need to STFU.

[TheForgotten0ne]

My PS3 died, well the blu-ray driver or what it's called died. It was fixed in one or two weeks for free. It was a 60gb, and still is, it happened when it was about a year and half old. Because of the law in Norway I can scream myself to warranty until it's three years old. *Cheers*

[anubis12]

i agree gamestop sucks ,but its a job.....i basically do nothing and get paid

[Fanboy Slaughter]

Good to know I'm not the only one whose suffered a YLOD before. My launch 60GB died back in September, got a refurb from Sony 2 weeks later, and after spending about a good 6 hours redownloading all of my sh!t...I pop in a disc and the damn disc drive was broken....another two weeks and they sent me back the same one with a spankin' new Blu-ray drive.

Still going strong, but out of it's 90-day warranty now. Knock on wood.

[ottoenie]

i know how it feels, my ps3 also broke in july 08, stopped reading discs, sony's service was great, didn't have any problems, and they gave it back the day they said, they had shipping problems, so i was lucky i didn't have to wait another 3 weeks, i just really hope my new one doesn't bail on me, really love it.

[Canucks23]

dude this happened to my ps3 yesterday, it's completely dead. I was so sure that this kinda thing wouldn't happen. i have a launch 60GB console. 2 of my friends have had this happen to thier launch consoles in the last month too. why is this happening? i don't think the whole RROD argument is fair anymore.

[specialguest]

I don't know if it was just the game or the 60GB PS3, but when I play SF2HD against other players, the game would freeze once in a blue moon. It also freezes whenever I view Friend Score on the scoreboard.

At first when I started playing SF2HD, this wouldn't happen for the first 2 times, but now it happens all the time. My PS3 isn't broken though.

[smurfie4]

I've only been hearing about it with the 60gb models.

[pippoppow]

You do not hear anywhere near the level of horror stories you hear as a 360 owner. Many 360 owners have gone through mulitple prolems and it's fail percentage was verified on a retail level. Going on selective sites to try and put the PS3's failure rate on par with the 360 is rediculous

[zainkool]

sorry for ur loss man, just hope it doesn't happen to me, but I purchased a two year warranty just to be sure.

[Figboy]

its not a Blu Ray drive failure, but an overheat, fan failure.

i sent it in, paid the $159 (i was out of warranty - bought my PS3 2 years ago), and they sent me a brand new 60gig, fully backwards compatible PS3.

it sucked to lose my console for two weeks, but i got it back - minus my game saves.

all my profile stats and Trophies were fine (not like i care for Trophies much), and i'm trying to turn the negative into a positive by giving my favorite games another spin (ie, re-beating all of my games).

on the new unit, they gave me a 90 day warranty, so if i have trouble again, they'll take care of it.

so far, i've had it back for about 2 weeks or so, and no problems.

Sony customer service was rather helpful, so no complaints there. i don't really know what else to say. i got my console back, and i'm happy.

[no-spin]

$160 for a repair/replacement is a good deal in a year plus old console.

[Figboy]

did my PS3 NOT break?
am i NOT happy it's back?
is it NOT a new unit that's performing great so far?
am i NOT rebeating my games?

i'm confused here.

[Magic_The_Celt]

Well i personaly know 2 people who's PS3 died

and just 1 that got a RRoD

but we all know the 360 fail rate is ALOT worse than PS3

[Nineofspades]

YLOD killed my system on okt 18 -08. It was a 60 gig euro launch model so my warranty was up, but swedish consumer laws being what they are, I was protected from the usual $150 needed for a refurbished model/repair and instead was promised repair or replacement unit free of charge. My pain however comes from having to wait 13, yes 13, weeks for this thing to get repaired/replaced. to this day (jan 23) it has yet to be returned to me but it is moving as we speak and come monday I will join u all once again. Can't wait to try Dead Space, Fallout 3, Little Big Planet, PoP, Mirrors Edge and Home.

[Martini]

Now that the PS 3's are starting to crap out can't we all just get along? 360's break PS 3's break... group hug everyone :)

[gnothe1]

i got a launch 60 gig PS3. it runs fine but... one day about 2 weeks ago I was playing ratchet an clank an the system just shut off. I thought for a second that my power went out but my tv an computer was still on. so i turned the system back on an contined playing.I dont know what caused that, has this ever happen to anybody. plus if I ever have to send my system in, will they send me the same kind of Ps3 i have which is one with the Ps2 hardware in it or will it be a newer style Ps3 with software emulation in it!!

[PirateThom]

That has happened to me once or twice, as far as I'm aware it's nothing serious and there didn't seem to be any effect. 60GB, still going strong though. Touch wood.

If you do have to send it in, they give you a choice. They'll send you a refurb 60GB that may take a while to reach you or an 80GB will be sent to you the same day they pick up the 60Gb one.

[enviable27]

My 60gb crapped out on me before warranty expiration too, I sent mine in and got mine back, tried to pop in MGS 2 and it wouldnt work.... Called them again sent it again.....also told them that the console they sent me was very scratched compared to the flawless shine I had on it originally, so they replaced it for a brand new 60gb...... so unless they ran out already of the 60gb you should be fine..... This happened to me like in September of 08

[The_Devil_Hunter]

So I sent my PS3 to Sony and they sent me a brand new 60GB Model PS3, yes NEW not refurbished NEW! I just got it back on wednsday! BRAND NEW!

[PirateThom]

Was it new or was it a refurb?

They replace the case on them all as standard, you know? :P

[arakouftaian]

they send a "used" ps3 to you its not possible 4 them to send you a brand new ps3, call back and ask you will see what i mean. i wish they send brand new ps3 but they do not...

[Frizzo]

you guys make me laugh, ps3s dont fail as often as this, im seeing so many people replying to this with stupid things like "Well i personaly know 2 people who's PS3 died" like cmon, be honest cause thats too close to impossible for me to believe. you guys need to chill with the useless talk, its not going to make people like you....stupid liers

[nominal266]

1)Ive had it freeze a few times within the starting months, 2)have heard the occasional triple beep when quitting games, and 3)only twice did i see a "disk read error" for COD3 (never came back...weird) but as time went by everything went away. For those wondering how i treat my Ps3, its OCD perfect. Changed the HDD to 250GB seagate (found a little dust ball behind the drive and I flipped backwards when i saw it). still no issues up to now. I am somewhat nervous as it seems that the launch 60/20 models are more prone to fail. I am hoping that my ps3 will last at least 5 years. So +1 for list of success stories. :) PS: i play about 5 to 10 hrs a day.

[rTR-Pioneer]

if my ps3 breaks i think i'll post an article about it too. obviously it is considered very important gaming news
*facepalm*
Also, ROFL at the people saying "sorry for your loss", its a games console not his child

[MicroSony]

Im a lucky guys,

PS1 Always work until i sell it before i buy my PS2.
PS2 Always work until i sell it before i buy my PS3 60 gig.
PS3 60gig, still working...

Xbox Always work until i sell it before i buy my Xbox 360 20gig.
Xbox 360 60gig, still working...

[djtek184]

Wow someone actually found the 1% defect, its about time. I'm sure there was a lot of researching involved, congrats to the Bots who found this:)

[Creep]

like the 2gb and 60gb at launch i think came with a crappy Hard DRive cuz mine died on me and I thougth it was hardware failure but it wasnt it had the yellow lights also but it turns out that it was the cheap ass hard drive they put on it so went and got a 160gb hardrive wich i was plahing on getting anyways and hurray back on my ps3 but there isn't enough cases to make a RROD issue.

[cjflora]

I'm confused...how does YOUR PS3 dying = higher failure rate than we thought? You didn't question it until your died?

[Expy]

"Is this a bigger problem than we thought? "
Nope

[Xbots play games]

HOLY CRAP! I thought this day would never come..True story!!!!

Two friends who live next to each other both have broken PS3's..we crack on them ALL the time..like how in the freakin' world do you have the ONLY 2 broken PS3s when only a couple of people we know got RROD..and that was original 360s years later..and the other was used...

Anyways..One had a disc problem..something to do with his laser..he sent it in...The other..damn it..I experienced first hand

He was headed out of town for the holidays..I asked him could I borrow his PS3 to watch some Blu-Rays with family in town...he had the disc problem..so he gave me his neighbors PS3 (who is a mutual friend of ours and was also away for the holidays)

So I ran to blockbuster..this X-mas eve..rented like 4 Blu-ray movies (Wanted etc.)..but Lo and behold..the GAME SECTION...So I rent Metal Gear and Little Big Planet..I'm actually excited to get to play the game without having to fork over 500 dollars..

We thow MGS in and it has to load the game up..DAMN PS3..so we are waiting and waiting,,which honestly got entertaining with Snake on the screen smoking a cigarette...20%..40%...60%..76 %..76%...FREEZE!!!!! WTF????

The Game Froze..tried to reset it..nothing..off and on..nothing..call my friend the owner of the PS3 and he says..yeah..it freezes after about 5-10 minutes..and takes forever for the system to reset..he believed it was an overheating problem...oh well...guess sony and The George Foreman grill have issues too..but I doubt there will be pet name initials like the Xbox has

[Cajun Chicken]

This 'yellow light' thing has been something that has really caught my attention, no, it hasn't happened to me, not at all.
However, occasionally, very rarely the PS3 yellow light blinks too much and basically, I take precaution due to the 'screeeing' and turn off my PS3 immediatly.

It just seems to be an overheating issue. It has happened to me twice in Uncharted, once in Ratchet and Clank and mostly Resistance 2 around the grims in the early section of Chicago. Other games, no such problem.
I personally find that the danger of this happening is really decreased if the Information Board is hidden and turned off on the XMB as that really f**ks up everything.

Its also to hear by these comments that Sony will be able to refurbish my PS3 as it is an EU 60GB, I don't know what I would do without it if something was to happen.

So sorry for everyones misfortune on this situation, hopefully the problem is isolated soon.

[SnakeShady]

that's what happened to me 4 days ago. my ps3 died with cod5 inside. i can't take it out of the ps3. i bought my ps3 on day 1 so it's more than a year...but i'm lucky, here (Italy) we have 2 years warranty. so blockbuster replaced my broken ps3 (but not cod5) for free.
they gave me a new ps3....but after 3 hours my new ps3 die again, this time the console didn't recognize the discs....wtf sony....3 ps3 in 3 days....blockbuster replaced my ps3 again and this seems to work (for now).

[Rhoic]

I would be devastated if my PS3 broke down on me.. thing is a beauty.

[HolyOrangeCows]

The old programming had it so that the drive read constantly, unlike the way it does now, it which it only reads when you are playing.

[tethered]

I have a X-Box 360 (20 GB) and two PS3's (A 60 GB that use to be a 40 GB and a 320 GB that use to be a 60 GB)

I should be OK.

When the hell is Microsoft going to make Online Play free?

Waiting...............

[Cajun Chicken]

Same here, PS3 and 360.

Don't buy into it, or MS will NEVER make XBL free and paying for online gaming features in subscriptions will be the norm next gen because MS got away with it twice so others will join because MS made it 'okay'.

I'll stick with PSN anyway as all my fav games are on that, I'm not really bothered by Halo3 now as I used to after my short free trial (takes ages to get into a game anyway) and no other exclusives appeal to me to take online anyway.
I could do with playing Duke and Doom online though.

If I was still forced to pay to play online on my 360 thoughout the whole rest of the 360's life, the max I would pay would be £15 a year, I don't see that or free XBL Gold happening anytime soon.

[tethered]

I was talking to a dude at Gamestop when I preordered KZ2.

As I walked into the shop I heard him tell a 360 guy the exact same thing.

Again, this is comming from a Gamestop employee.

He also said that they will not get rid of the $50 a year charge for online for a long time because that is the only thing keeping their gaming division afloat. Not sure about that but I do know that the three workers at that shop were sick of the online charge.

The store was Gamestop at the intersection of Kingshighway and Chippewa in St. Louis MO.

[byaaface]

Lol. This story is absurd.

[LinuxGuru]

Well, let's see...

Let's say it's just 1% failure rate for the PS3...that amounts to...

between 160,000 and 200,000 PS3s that are defective.

So far....we've heard about...what....20 incidents here on N4G?

Where are the other 159,980 reports? This is internet FUD at its best. Put things into PERSPECTIVE, you fools.

[enviable27]

Give it an year or two and we'll see who's the fool

[LinuxGuru]

Oh, so we'll so a class-action lawsuit against Sony and over 1 billion dollars of free warranties?

How about no.

Try to understand, that unless there are WELL over 300,000 DOCUMENTED cases of PS3 failures, then we'll discuss this "problem", if not, then these failures are just victims that fall under the perfectly acceptable industry failure rate of between 2 and 5%.

There would have to be between 500,000 and a million documented cases of this for it to become a problem outside the scope of normal failure percentages.

[arakouftaian]

u will not care, n u just act like a fanboi, you should care even if 1% rate of ps3 , its sonys fault n not ours. if you are mature you will understand. this mentality is why the world is the way its...

[LinuxGuru]

Oh my GOD people! I am MATURE enough to recognize that every failure of a product is NOT a special case demanding of attention by the mass media and public!!

If my device's failure falls within industry norms, then I am PERFECTLY WILLING to forgive the company I bought it from, and either use my warranty that I bought, smartly, or buy another unit!

Come on people, stop acting like these few reported cases are a pandemic!!!

People like yourselves are why every damned point of view in countries like America MUST have their voice and point of view and special amendment to the constitution.

Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill...JEEZ.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

when she logs on to meet up with me. The HDD circle up in the corner spins to show it's saving the data from HOME. Then it the loading bar starts up then when fully loaded, the screen blurs out to load the new area, then NOTHING! it stays at that screen till rebooted. I haven't had problems with my 60 gig PS3. But I seen this problem happen on my gf's PS3 myself. Anyone else having this problem?. She always starts off in HOME in her Harbor Studio, she can get to the Mall fine. Anywhere else causes the freezing. I haven't been on HOME on my 60 gig, since I noticed this problem on her PS3 3 days ago. Hope this isn't a sign her system isn't about to go. She will be livid. I would be EXTREMELY P!SSED OFF if my 60 gig dies on me, considering I've heard multiple times that people send away their 60 gigs only to get 80 gigs back! I WANT MY BC. I swear I've delt with this crap enough with my 360, my 4th system just got returned to Best Buy for a new one (got the RROD 2 days after renewing my Live Gold account). If my 60 gig fails on me. It's going to be pathetic to be stuck with my Wii... especially with the great games 360 and PS3 offer. But Im wayyyyyyyy out of having patience with failing consoles and dealing with these companys for repairs, etc.. Im just tired of dealing with it. Im 1 gamer thats about to just sit it all out if this s#!t keeps up. It's agrivating, dissapointing, and sad.

[karlostomy]

Rising reports of reliability problems and reduced sales forecasts are more the norm than the exception for the ps3, as of late.

Many people are talking about the need for Sony to increase advertising and this is true. However with recent financial forecasts asserting that money spent on marketing is set to DECREASE, this looks unlikely to happen. http://www.gamezine.co.uk/n...

Sony will need to pull the proverbial 'rabbit out of the hat' to overcome such problems.

What will they do?

Interesting times....

[XxBarretxX]

with the new update there a safe mode

[pshizle]

care of their sh*****t?

[enviable27]

Had mine for 10 months dusted and kept in well ventilated area, played maybe 3 PS3 games, and prob about 5-6 Blu Rays on it..... Yea I play my 360 alot, well if that doesnt qualify for taking care of the thing I really dont know what does.

Edit: I had Blu-Ray drive fail

[arakouftaian]

but our sh!t came out broken n did not got lucky like you l0ser

[dredgewalker]

Well my first PS3 was replaced due to video card failure. It was a launch PS3 and i had it replaced with a newer version. Its almost a year and i still havent had any problems but i still do regular backups just in case it does. I only play about 3-5 hours a day and i keep my PS3 in a well ventilated area and wipe out any signs of dust. I keep it vertical and i found that its much cooler that way. I think the reasonable play time for a console is about 4-6 hours a day in a well ventilated area and anymore than that increases the chances of overheating. I live in a tropical country so i am more careful of my unit.

[gersh]

Whew, good thing the failure rate occurs more on the 360.

[piam45]

my 40gb that i had dec 20th 2007 died on 12th jan 09 but ive neva played a console like this one 12-15hrs standard game play every day out of warranty they sent me an new 1 (refurb) 4 days later got that 1 downloaded 2.53 and it started acting funny eg friends list and wouldnt read fallout3 disc phoned sony back they sent me another 1, 2 days later and this one is fine better than fine... two of my friends had 360 fail within a year an they didnt get there 360 back for at least 3 weeks no gaming for 3 weeks... i was ok for 4days got my wii, ds, and my blu ray lap top hp pavillion dv5 check em out 1 of the best lap tops around......

[arakouftaian]

n this one my 2ps3 stop working(i was on the killzone 2 beta and it frez my ps3 like 20000times ) last mount after 1 year n a half n know they want me to pay 150 dolls, not fair, i did not break it, it stop working by itself sony should fix it, i got the yellow light of death .

ps. this is why the world is the way lots people does not care unless it happen to them, you people should care even if is 1 % of ps3 stop working sony should fix the problem for free because is their fault, not mine, and yes i do take care of my ps3. you people should be ashamed of loving a s.t.u.p.i.d corporation. f.-.u.-..-.k you all fan---boys n please b a lil more mature.

[Horny]

I agree with Deep.

My PS3 died on Jan 6th, blu ray drive doesnt work anymore. I had a 60 gig, and still havent replaced it yet.
Im waiting to see if sony will give out free warranties because lately I heard about a lot of PS3s breaking. Personally I think the failure rate is much higher than 1% now, that might have been true a year ago but now its higher. The worst part is sony a$$ kissers saying it doesnt happen or its a dud system while we have to pay 149 +tax.
Out of all systems I had, which is a lot, the PS3 is the first one to break on me, and I take good care of my systems.

[n4gzz]

Lunch 60 gb running strong. Average of 30 hrs gameplay/week. My brother has 40 gb, he brought about yr ago and it is running perfect with over 30 hrs gameplay/week.

[Mr_Zkaar]

Same here mate.

[Jdoki]

Just do the math... I'll even lay it out for you...

20,000,000 / 100 = 200,000

20,000,000 / 100 * 3 = 600,000

Is that a lot consoles? Yes

So if Sony is at the upper end of the industry target of 3% failure rate, that's still well over half a million consoles. In some respects - the more they sell the worse it will look!

But is it a bigger problem that we thought? No, and I'm surprised Deep would use a title like that for the article.

EDIT: I would also add, that the 3% would be for manufacturing faults - it won't take in to account people who don't look after their stuff and then try and claim on warranty.

[Mr_Zkaar]

That's the most stupid and ill-thought post i have ever read.

[Jdoki]

Care to elaborate, anthonyp01?

Is it the math that is troubling you perhaps? I could try typing slower if that would help!

[Mr_Zkaar]

Had my 60Gig since launch, runs like a dream and never had any problems.

[Mr_Zkaar]

Have you ever thought that it could be the game and not the console? Games freeze all the time on the PC, and it gets patched.

GTA IV caused me problems but that was GTA IV not the PS3, i think people need to stop jumping on the bandwagon and put things into perspective. The PS3 is one of the most advanced and well built console's ever made, and also one of the most reliable.

Had a 60 gig PS3 since launch and i've had no problems with it, however stuff breaks all the time everything breaks occasionally. You can hardly put the PS3 in the same light as the Xbox like some people are desperate to do.

[micro_invader]

Touch wood, mines been going smoothly since April 07. Although, there is the occasional freeze here and there.

Hope you get a replacement soon, Deep.

[AngryHippo]

.....both of them were 60GB models, I now have an 80GB and it seems to be running fine. It seems to be like majority of people that had this occur had the 60GB model.

[Don_Frappucino]

Whenever i've heard of PS3 consoles just dying and not turning on, its normally the fuse, not the PS3. A lot of people dont think to check the fuse so end up sending their PS3 back.

[Foxgod]

Wow, you guys where right, the Ps3 is catching up to the 360 afterall.
In failure rates!

[Obama]

I didn't know 1% can be compared to 33%. Thank you math professor!

[Foxgod]

did i hit a sensitive spot obama?
i suppose your showing colors by preferring the black console over the white one.....

[Obama]

Did I ever say I am black? imao. First, I didn't pick the ps3 because of its color, and second you 360 fanboys are more racists than us ps3 fanboys that's for sure.

[volcane]

I haven't had a PS3 totally die, but I've had one where it wouldn't read disks, had a couple of issues with the replacements, but then I was sent a brand new one and haven't had any trouble since (touch wood).

Also Sony customer support were awesome - I like how they send you a replacement in a pink box (UK), so you don't have to wonder where your console is, and also I could continue playing GT5P while waiting as the rest of the PS3 still worked.

[Pika-pie]

My story..

PS3 60gb purchased at launch, must have had 1000s of hours of gameplay on it not to mention bluray movies, dvds. Still works perfect.

360 Elite purchase in March last year, 7 months later and probebly not even 200 hours of gaming. Pooof, Red ringed. Although it has to be said that MS customer service were top notch and I had my 360 back within 2 weeks.

End story.

[frictionini]

some comments on the link are lies so effin funny

[Raul_7]

and its still running brilliantly.

*knocks on wood*

[cherrypie]

This isnt the first I've heard about all this.

It seems to be a very quickly growing sentiment as the machines get a little older; Sony is having serious reliability issues.

This has to be considered in the light of the recent service changes.

[RealtorMDandDC]

Sorry to hear about everyone's issues with their PS3....nothing is 100% besides death and maybe taxes

Compare to 30%+ failure rate of a 360..I will take my chances on a PS3..

I own a launch day 360 and PS3..my PS3 has been bullet proof 20SKU upgrade to 160GB..my 360 has had minor issues with it's DVD tray it would not eject when I press the button..but this is not really an issue because I do not play my 360 that much especailly this year.

Edit: I use my PS3 for almost everything...movies(25)...musi c...web(porn, news, and weather)..currenting playing COD4/COD5/ still playing Folklore, SOCOOM, and R2...and currently waiting for KZ2

My PS3 sometimes stay on for more than a day...and so far no issues....My child used the PS3 to record her dance moves for class when I am not there, my wife used it for her party as an entertainment hub..music, pics, and party games(old PS1 and PS2 games)

[redsymphony]

nice try sorry for your loss but dont try to make thing seem as if its a bigger problem my xbox been sent in for RROD and my ps3 NEVER M$ step your game up and stop using cheap labour

[JokesOnYou]

I'm surprised at the reports, I guess alot of ps3 owners on n4g have had their ps3's break on them, than what I thought. My ps3 runs fine but then again I don't use it a whole lot,(own MGS4 & LBP) most of my friends are 360 owners only so when I have time I'm much more inclined to play my 360. Again, I wouldn't say sony has a massive hardware failure on their hands but ps3's 1-3% reliability is definitely questionable, I suspect theres many more who are not members of n4g or any gaming site with similiar problems, I guess in the end truth is theres some intricate tech in these consoles today and everything breaks, either way for those with issues I hope sony will fix them for free.

JOY

[FinalomegaS]

I've had my NES since 1985 and it still works, guess I'm just lucky ( lot of blowing in the carts though hehe)

My super nes fell down a fleet of stairs and I have tape keeping it together but my FF III still works on it:)

my PS1 ( my 4th one) works with mod chip but needs to be put upside down to work. the 3rd one was mod less but plays only standing side ways =/

PS2 (2nd one) Idk wth is up its just dead and I didn't bother to get 3rd until price drops.

Dreamcast, still works. I hate that controller still...

GCN , launch and still works, but cast that aside since wii can play them.

wii, launch still works.

360 , 2nd gen model . still works.

PC , Dell XPS series , still maxed and works

Laptop , Dell M1730 XPS , works perfectly even with dual video cards in it and AGEIA PhysX card inside.

[rezzah]

on how you treat your PS3. Maybe, but ye for those that don't know turn off your system through your controllers. NEVER use the system.

[budbundystyles]

My first year 60gig died about 2 weeks ago. I paid for the replacement, of course! My ps3 freezes at least once a day when playing Fallout 3, incidentally it bricked during that same game . How many of you ps3 users take breaks when doing an all day session? If yes, how long? I just do not want to have mine break again. I certainly fall on the higher end of weekly usage, say 20-30 hours, usually. I have even gone as far as placing a dust cover over it when not it use. Any replies would be helpful on better maintenance.

[Morrissey]

and it's been over a month waiting for a replacement 60gb PS3 because there were no refurbs in stock, at least I've had PSN games and demos to tide me over.

[JaPo]

My first 60GB broke about 7 months in.
The replacement 60GB was broken when it was delivered.
The second replacement 60GB lasted 5 months
The third replacement 80GB is running smoothly.

All fell foul to the 'Yellow Light of Death' - and made me lose all my damned data. All were well ventilated and not left on constantly.

Sony replaced my console out of warranty because I raised an issue with them over the phone. They also gave me a three month accident-inclusive warranty which is due to run out soon. Hopefully these new 80GBs have a better build quality. Real shame I can't play PS2 games though.

It's clear it is a genuine problem. Not quite on the scale of 360s though :).

[Jacobite]

Sure it was'nt a Xbox360 disguised as a PS3. I've heard that can happen on this site. lol

[na2ru1]

does this mean the failure rate is 33%? sarcasm.
well hope you get a 60 gb model as replacement.

[Vitalogy]

The only bigger problem i see is this stupid articles still coming out... LOOOOOOL

[Pleth]

Yes, of course there are the occasional "duds". But, if you play an hour or two a day then you system (PS3 or 360) will last years. If you are like me and many others, playing 6-10 hour sessions at a time every single chance you get, then the hardware is going to fail more quickly. It's like a car. If all you do is putt putt around town at 30 miles an hour it will last oyu a life time. If you take it to the track and drag race it, chances are it will break on you sooner. I respect both Sony and MS and I truly do not believe either of them could make a console that I could not crash given some time. I beat the holy hell out of em and every 6 months I take the unit back to BestBuy and use my replacement plan and obtain a new one. Even if there is nothing worng with it, I know there will be. Every 6 months a new console for free. No biggie.

[slinkey123]

well my PS3 has crashed a fair few times. Mainly on oblivion and motorstorm. But in motorstorm it was usually when i lost connection to the host at the start of a race. Made it freeze for some reason.

My friend is on his 2nd PS3, just bad luck i guess. Both yellow light.

Still though not as bad as the 360, seriously every single one of my friends with a 360 hav had the 3 red lights, including me. Ive had it twice but i fixed it myself the 2nd time. I honestly think the 360 failure rate is 80%+

[JokerSGS]

Sadly this same situation just happened to me. I have the 60GB version and I'm wondering if I send it in will I receive the same one I sent them which is probably unlikely since it's more convenient for them to send a refurbished system. And if they do send a refurbished system, are they giving back out 60GB or one of the newer models without the EE Chip because I'm getting extremely mad at the fact that they could take away something from me that I paid for and got when the system first came out.

[enviable27]

From the looks of it, you will get a refurbished 60gb but its gonna be a long wait for you to get one due to shortage of these models