there's an old addage, no news is good news. We expect things to go smoothly, that's why there's no news stories about buildings that didn't get blown up, or about PS3 not crashing.

PS3's do fail though, They also have a red light problem, and also some games crash in the middle of play, but well within acceptable limits.

Simply put, a 5% failure rate is not news, it's accepted. A 33% failure rate like in the Xbox 360's case, where it costs Microsoft £500m to ratify is newsworthy.

Actually, from what I've heard the biggest problem right now is the controller disconnecting during play.

This issue has plagued every PS3 owner I've spoken with, but there seems to be no press on this issue.

my ps3 has been working with np at all since march its been in a room with 47 C while folding(high performance) without saying a word and the fan is damn silent.

awsome hardware go get it and dont be caught up in the fud bill gates ball lickers keep telling ya.

I have had a few minor problems, 5 lock ups 3 caused myself and all fixed by switching off and on again.
I've never heard of the controller issue you mention above, not that it hasn't happened to someone i'm sure.
i have also been running "folding at home" on the PS3 since it was available to test the machine as no game will work it as hard (and do my part for science) and it has flawlessly performed for 150 work units at 8 hours per piece = 1200 hours = 50 days = 7 weeks of running at the maximum currently possible.
This will change as more games arrive, but for now it's all about the folding (team: 63709) please run it if you can, it will help us all.

hmmmm, my PS1 still works!?

lol Calem
Now that you mention it my ps one works still also, has done since 1994, 13 years.
Yeah, but sony isnt very good at hardware, hahaha...

unless we are just the lucky ones.

not that i need it now the ps3 plays both ps1 & PS2 games.

That Said..
My sega megadrive & SNES also work almost flawlessly i have had since new but wont get replaced anytime soon.

I have PS1 since 1996, PS2 since 2002, PS3 since april, GameCube since 2003 and they still working smoothly. I have Xbox360 since last year and it doesn't work, anymore!

you'll be pleased to know then that it will cost you nothing to get the 360 repaired. and you'll have a warrany for 3 years. I'm seriously considering getting a 360 now I don't have to worry about incuring any charges if it fails.

Regret: you're very lucky then, especially with PS2.

My PS1 was bought in 1994 and died in 1999 (after many many months of turning the system upside down to load games). It was very well used though. I played it nearly every day, so fair enough it dying after 5 years good service

My JPN PS2 was bought in 2000. It lasted 8 months. I waited for the UK systems, and bought one on launch. It also lasted 8 months. UK PS2 #2 was bought immediately after... it lasted 18 months. UK PS2 #3 was bought in 2004, and still works. Oddly enough, I barely used PS2. I didn't really like the games. UK PS2 #3 has only been used a dozen times since I bought it.

My 360 survived a torrent of 15-hour-a-day gameplay sessions, every day, from launch till september (10 months) before my drive couldn't read discs anymore. I didn't get red ring of death.

My gamecube was used a fair bit, and still runs well. It was a japanese launch system.

My Xbox1 runs perfect, and it's probably had the most use out of all my consoles. It was a US launch system and was used 24 hours a day, every day for 5 years. I left it on as a linux server when I wasn't playing games on it, and it still works perfectly to this day.

i got my ps3 at launch and it has never failed on me ever. never has a game frozen up on me, or any other types of failures.

I've never had a promblem with my PS2 or PSP, don't own a PS3 yet. The first Xbox did have lots of problems; it scratched my games, erased my saved files, was loud as hell, freezed a lot, etc.. The hell that I went through with the Xbox is the main reason I haven't bought an Xbox 360 yet and probably will never buy one.

I've never seen the problems some people claim that the PS2 or PSP have (don't have a PS3, so I don't know), but the Xbox (the original, don't own an Xbox 360) ones are definitely real!

Andrew, they say that the PS3 and Wii failure rate is under 1%, the Xbox 360 is 33%.

All you sony fanboys saying you'll never own a 360 or had an xbox - all I can say is you obviosly arent a gamer. I owned all four systems last gen and loved every one for their respective games (even the Dreamcast) went through 3 ps2s and 2 gamecubes 1 xbox and 1 Dreamcast. I own a Wii and a 360 and havent had any problems with either and even if I did I would get them repaired no matter the cost. When the ps3 comes out with something I want to play (final fantasy 13) I'll buy one - no matter what it costs. So all you fanboys snubbing your nose at other systems - your just missing good games. Game on!

MY PS3 has never locked up on me except for in oblivion... all other games work fine ocassionally oblivion is a tad glitchy but that has only happened to me 4 time over the last 370 hours i have clocked into oblivion

oh my god. i never tought i read an un-biased story like this before. everything u said is so true. thank you for saying what ive been thinkin about this whole time matt. seriously thanks for writting something like this. and im not a fan of either 3 game consoles but...it is true. good job

I bought my 360 at launch and it died the end of May. Three red rings of death. I got it back refurbished (same case, different innerds).

I bought my PS3 at launch and it still works, hopefully I can say that in a year, I assume I will be able to - especially for what I payed for it.

My PS2 worked fine, just had the blue-bottom disc problem, also had issues when the dual layer games came out. I am on PS2 #2, a slim line. So I consider myself lucky as far as PS2 goes.

The PS1 I had worked fine, but I was late to the PS1 party because of the Dreamcast.

I never had a problem with my Xbox 1 or GameCube. My Wii has been tame and not had an appetite for my HDTV, either ;)

A friend of mine had PS3 controller issues, and I have heard of others having sync issues. However, I have not experienced this issue at all.

My PS3 has been a real trooper with no major issues, and I leave it on all the time for folding. I did not even have the common controller disconnect issues. The only issues I have had are a couple freezes, but this has only happened on me twice since December. Once on GOW2 and the other on Motorstorm. Sometimes I will get a black screen for a split second once every 2-3 weeks mainly go to and from BD playback. Other than that I have no complaints.

I guess I'm just lucky.

Never had a problem with my PS2 or any disk I bought regardless of whether I bought it new or pre-owned - and that includes the disks I bought from the library which were scratched to hell.

Never had a problem with my PSP or any of its many pixels.

PS3 is doing incredibly. Less than 1% return rate at Game UK stores I hear - brilliant for the consumer and for the stores.

Interesting how the author had to put in that last DIG about the software.

Mature well informed authors who are true gamer's would understand that software takes time to develop. That's been part of a new console release since the dawn of gaming.

Bashing Sony has been and continues to be fashionable. Even a supposedly positive article like this one seemed to have to END on a sour note. That really wasn't necessary.

The software issue will eventually end up like the hardware issue. Good games take time to develop and they are going to arrive soon enough.

@ #6

U are funny guy.. I wouldn't recommend Xbox360 to anyone right now. What about the downtime that cost us? A week without gaming plus possible lost of data and the fuel that use drive to the shop and back. Three year warranty is the least M$ can do.

"The software issue will eventually end up like the hardware issue."

Did you not just admit that the software is lacking yourself?

Anyone should know that software will pick up. Unfortunately, people paid $600 for the chance to play right now. You just said yourself that there is a software issue, so how can you can you can you say there isn't a problem?

Hello there fellow gamers :-)
For once I actually see comments that aren't fanboi attacks of retarded, mind imploded people..

It's a great article you've put up, Matt. The playstation 3 is indeed a pretty solid console. I've had mine since the european launch and it's working flawlessly - at least at what it's supposed to do.. The browser do crash though, if you're watching too many youtubes movies.

I had to replace my playstation 2 once, when it stopped playing disc's... My playstation was a 50/50 bet - sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.. luckily the system was so primitive that even I, as a 7-8 years old, could solder chip in, and fix issues that happend..

AS you probably can see, I've been a bit of a company religious guy.. When xbox came I saw no reason to buy it, as I had the playstation 2 already, and I borrowed my mates console in order to play Halo :P

I was waiting for the playstation 3 to launch, saw no reason to buy xbox360.. However when gears of war launched, and I was at D3 (E3 like), it was on sale, I bought it!.. My nightmare started! 5-6 times I've had to switch to console for a new one, until the shop said NO MORE! blaming me for the errors.. Had to contact microsoft which then came and picked it up.. I guess I can hope it will work this time.. that's been over 7 months.. :P so I'm one of the guys picking up the hig failure rate percentage :P

well i still have my orig. playstation that i bought when it first came out and i still play it non stop with no problem final fantasy 7 never gets old and while i play ff7 i also play ninja gaiden sigma on my ps3, still got my orig. ps2 also with no problems so that has to tell you something about sony and if the xbot lovers cant admit it then its their loss SONY 4 EVER

You're high. I've had a working PS2 since launch that reads all type of disks its supposed to, and you are blowing the PSP dead pixel thing way out of proportion, because only a small percentage of units even had that problem. Most PS2s worked great, a good percentage of them, a much higher percentage than of Xbox 360s that actually don't die.

I waited in line to buy two Playstation 3's all the way back in November... I sold one off and have been running the other ever since. I have had absolutely no problems with it... and I bought my Playstation 2 in it's first generation and it still runs great. My good friend, on the other hand, has been through 2 Xboxes and his 360 just RRODed and he bought an elite... I wouldn't say I'm a fanboy... but my experiences have led me to appreciate buying Sony

My opinion of Sony hasn't been very high for quite some time. The PS2 disc read issues were the breaker for me. I met way to many people who had them, and then it finally happened to mine. Luckily, since my then-fiance (now wife) had just moved in together when this happened, and she had a still-working PS2, I didn't have to buy another one.

I never had any major problems with my original Playstation, but I got mine in 1997, after the problems were solved. (By the way... a couple of people said they got their PS1 in 1994.... I thought the system didn't even come out until 1995..?)


It was funny because I got my PS2 at launch (after personally having a fairly positive experience with the first system, and not yet being aware of the disc read issues to come). Then when Xbox launched a year later, I was leary of it, thinking it might die off prematurely. Luckily it proved to end up being a decent system, and I eventually got one.

I ended up liking it more than PS2, and then when the disc read problems with the PS2 became prominent, my opinions of Sony just went right down the toilet. I also got Gamecube, and love a lot of the exclusives on that system as well. Except for a very few exclusives (like the Kingdom Heart series), PS2 is more or less a useless system to me. I found the Xbox and Gamecube to be a great combo for my tastes.



At that, I ended up getting Xbox 360 pretty much right away (I had reserved mine, but due to the shortage, I didn't get it until just after Christmas.

I am happy to report that I have yet to have any major problems with my 360 (knock on wood). It still works fine. I got one of those Nyko Intercoolers, and it seems to be doing the job well. However, given the failure rate of the system, I am really concerned about it overall. I just hope that they actually develop good systems that don't have this problem anymore. That way, if mine does break down, at least they will replace it with a quality machine or quality new parts.


I also got a Wii at launch and enjoy that system as well.


I have yet to get PS3, and I don't know if or when I will.

I didn't want to jump on board given Sony's past hardware reputation. However, as stated in this article, they haven't had much of a problem.

Of course, if we take into account that the system hasn't been selling nearly as well as PS2, and the lack of games for the system (I've read a lot of message boards and blogs about people's systems just sitting there), a good amount of the systems seem to not be getting much use.
Granted, a few people here mentioned using theirs frequently, but not every system is going to break down either. Given the lack of wear and tear across the board and the fact that there just aren't as many PS3's out there as Sony had anticipated, if there are a few duds, it's probably not as big of a deal.


And despite the system seeming to work well, I still don't see much reason to get it. There's nothing out for it or coming out for it that I can't get on another system that I already own that is wowing me. Hardware issues aside, even Xbox 360 has been a little lack-luster for me. It's got a bit more interest for me game-wise than PS3, but not by a lot. I actually find that most of the games coming out this fall that I am looking forward to are going to be on the Wii. Though, there are a few good ones hitting the 360, that I may pick up. Also, a lot of games are coming out on both PS3 and 360, but with extra exclusive content on 360.


If PS3 eventually gets some exclusives that I care about and if it comtinues to function well, I may get one down the road. But, right now, it's just not doing much for me. And if that doesn't change, I may never get one, which would be kind of weird because this would be the first console generation in quite a while in which I don't end up owning all of the major systems. But, I can't justify spending over $500 on a system that I just don't think I'm going to get a lot of use out of.

Unfortunately i'm in a traumatic crisis now after my PS3 died yesterday. It's the 60GB model brought from launch and been running like a mint till something mysterious happened. There i was playing on Ridge Racer 7, power sliding through a corner then the title locked up... froze on the screen. All keys did not respond and i noticed the (normally green) LED was flashing red continuously. I had no choice but to power it down through the back (Power switch). Waited about 20 seconds before re-initialising the power again. After that the PS3 ceased to function again. When i power the console a the internal fans comes on. Brief green light appear for 2 secs, then a flash of yellow light with a quick sudden click noise. Thereafter the fans shut off and the continuous flashing red lights kicks in. Throughout the whole process nothing comes on the TV screen. Moreover the game disc (Ridge Racer 7) is still trapped inside the machine. I tried force eject (Hold Eject button 10 secs), soft reset (Hold Power button 5 secs) still no luck. I even tried disconnecting the 60GB HD and waiting hours for the machine to cool down. Now i finally declare my PS3 is dead as a do-do. To my knowledge the machine was played horizontally flat down, running with the latest firmware (2.42), machine was offline at the time of the incident. Hmmm... i'm really gutted now, i loved my PS3 and i'm concerned that if i send my machine for repair services i will get back the 40GB or 80GB model where PS2 backward compatibility is removed along with 2 less USB ports and memory card reader. I'm wondering if anyone else this problem?

BTW this is not biased or an attack on Sony. I'm an experienced gamer and i do owe a x360. Also my X360 died last year (3 Red ring of lights), but despite the machine out of the gaurantee period Microsoft kindly agreed to repair the console for free with courier pickup. 4 Days later the console returned but i noticed another issue. The machine started to scratch and mark discs (smear circular marks in a form of concentric raidial rings). I later sold the x360 and brouht the new Halo 3 special edition console. Since then i had no problems and everything runs fine.

Back to the PS3 issue. I suspect 2 main problems. One either the game disc mechanism is trapped ie the game disc cannot be read since the disc cannot eject. Two, the firmware revision has some sort of problem either corrupting the system software or harware issues. I remember reading the net about some machines bricking up via firmware upgrades and unstable firmwares. Please note these are not documented just opionons of the net (fanboys?) and so is not conclusive. Either way it can always be a harware failure issue.

That is terrible news.

When the machine first started scratching discs, did it render them unplayable, or just mark them?