Another One Bites the Dust
By Aaron Thomas in Xbox 360, RROD, Red Ring of Death, PlayStation 3, Disc read error on Jul 6, 2009
Is it just me, or is the current generation of consoles the most poorly made ever? The Xbox 360 is clearly the worst console ever made from a reliability standpoint. I literally don't know anyone with a 360 that hasn't had to replace at least one. I'm on my second, my brother is on his fifth, my buddy Sean is on his second, my friend Don is on his second or third, we had a stack of eight dead systems in an office at GameSpot.... I could go on and on
While Microsoft's issues are well-documented, there are a growing number of people that are experiencing problems with the PlayStation 3. You can now count yours truly among them.
My girlfriend and I have been watching the Harry Potter movies on Friday nights in preparation for the release of the sixth film. We own the first four on DVD, but I guess my girlfriend was feeling saucy at Best Buy one day and bought the fifth on Blu-ray. That meant that I had to move my PS3 from its usual dust-gathering spot out in my office and into the living room where it would play just its second Blu-ray movie ever. Or at least that was the plan.
We bailed on the movie about halfway through because we were so tired. On Sunday, after hiking up a mountain we sat down to finish the flick and enjoy a nice, hot meal. I skipped ahead to the part where the trio was whining about not being able to learn any spells in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class and then as quick as you can say "Avada Kedavra!" the PS3 froze up like Hermione after she saw the basilisk.
I rebooted the system, but it wouldn't recognize that there was a disc in its tray. My delicious meal got colder. I put in a PS3 game and then a DVD, but each time I got the same result. My food continued to get colder. I hoped that a firmware update might do the trick, and because Sony sends out pointless updates seemingly every other week, there was one waiting for me. The firmware took an absurd 45 minutes to download and install; it of course did nothing. At least I got to eat my room-temperature meal while I waited for it to download.
I'm furious, and I'm not alone.
Message boards are filled with tales of people with the same exact problem. I'd love to know why Sony isn't acknowledging that this is part of a manufacturing error -- the official Sony page says to do a few basic troubleshooting things like make sure the disc isn't screwed up, reset the system and stuff like that, and then it just says "Send it in" -- but what I'd really like to know is why the hell are the 360 and PS3 about as reliable as a $10 counterfeit Rolex?
I've used the PS3 for a whopping 10 to 15 hours since I got it last October (my first system was stolen). 10 to 15 hours and my "good as new" system straight from Sony's repair center is already broken! Thankfully I was wary enough of purchasing a "refurbished" system to buy a year warranty (I needed a backward compatible unit and you can only get them used), or else I'd be out $150 or more to get it fixed. What a load of garbage.
I'm tired of buying warranties, calling customer service, shipping off consoles, losing game saves, redownloading online content, and reinstalling games. I'm tired of spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on consoles that don't work. The next console of mine that dies isn't getting replaced.
End of story.
Comments (28)
Don't worry it happens to every console. Some consoles more then others.
And for the most part, my primary gaming platform, my PC, is in good shape as well.
I've on a 360 since... November of 2006? I've had it since the first Gears of War, and have never had any sort of hardware fail. A few times I've had to reinsert discs and I might've gotten a flashing quadrant once months (maybe even a year or more?) ago, but have never had my hardware fail. I own the old "Pro" 20 GB Model. Guess I'm one of the few lucky ones when it comes to the red ring?
Granted, the PlayStation 2 from the previous generation wasn't (and still isn't) much better. I'm currently on my third PS2 because of the infamous "disc read error" that plagues the system. And I fear it'll eventually claim victim to my current one.
I'm hoping the next console cycle doesn't have such issues. Because having to buy another system, or sending it in to get it fixed is something I hate to do.
The PS3's issues are nowhere near that common, but it seems that a lot of people are having problems. Toss in the fact that mine failed after just 15 hours and I'm not a happy camper.
Just as a after thought, can someone do a comparison between 360 failure rates and PS2 failure rates? I bet they would be quite similar.
But anyway, I'm extremely pissed at Sony. My PS3 started freezing a month after my warranty was up, and they want 150$ to fix it. I'm hoping that when they announce a price drop, the cost of fixing a PS3 will go down as well.
What I wonder about the 360 is if most of these defective systems are consoles manufactured in 2006 and used/refurbished units. I'm betting that many of the people that return their system then buy a refurbished or used system, which are the ones that typically have the problems. It's also important to regularly clean your system, leave it in a well-ventilated environment, and turn off your system every couple of hours.
Invariably, when you try and fit a mid-level gaming PC into an eeeBox like price-tag and chassis, reliability are going to get shot.
I've owned a ton of systems over the years and built just as many PCs to play games, and the only consoles to ever fail on me are decade-plus old NESs. Not trying to be a jerk here, but sometimes it just comes down to taking care of your stuff.
Sorry to hear of your PS3's death, though.
The 360 I bought from Costco has pretty much a lifetime warranty. If my PS3 goes I'm going to have to have a hard decision to make if I want to purchase another one.
Sadly, I think we may only have ourselves to blame. Am I incorrect in stating that Sony is currently producing PS3s at a loss, similar to the PS2s and Xboxes that came before it? And yet we cry out for price cuts, and refuse to buy hardware until it comes down in price... Maybe if we can't afford it, we really don't need it. In this writer's opinion, we're reaping what we have sown. We have asked for cheaper hardware, and we are getting just that.
If they didn't include a BR player, then the games that are on blue-rays would not be playable. And that is all of them.
More recently my ps3 died with the yellow lights and it did indeed cost me over 170$ Canadian to get fixed. The sad part is I don't have a reason to get it fixed as Ogio and 2 of my other friends have sold their PS3s due to lack of titles, so they wanted to get some money back before Sony is either out of the game or the console is cheaper and they get less back.
The problem however, is because of us. We should be screaming to the heavens about this crap, but in society today we are far to passive. Do you really think or Fathers generation would put up with faulty products in their generation? Hell no, and secondly companies would not even dare release a substandard product. We are victims of the times, technology and companies who just sidestep the question while the media is not there to press them for a valid answer.
I truly hope the PS3 fails for no reason other than they became to cocky, and tried to strong-arm the consumer. I hope Microsoft eventually loses all of the lawsuits against them, and we can find out exactly when they knew about the failure rate and why they released the console anyway.
But, at the end of the day, we will continue to purchase products and deal with substandard products because there are no alternatives.
C'mon Sega
Rob
It's a damn shame too, because all these people buying multiple 360's (and PS3 less commonly...all my friends are still on their first one. go figure) are just enabling Microsoft to continue to manufacture piss-poor hardware in future consoles.