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PS3 Problems Cause Sony Stocks to Slide
eldavojohn writes "Gamespot has an article describing PS3s operating erratically at conference demonstrations.' In its defense, Sony said the PS3 failures were caused by unusually high temperatures created by having many of the next-gen consoles operating in close proximity to each other. 'It's not a problem with the PlayStation 3 unit itself,' Sony spokeswoman Nanako Kato told the AP. 'For a normal player at home, there shouldn't be any problem.' As a result, Sony's stock slid 2.75%. I guess they should have thought first before releasing five times the number of kiosks as they did with the PS2 — they're causing each other to overheat. There goes my PS3 beowulf cluster idea!" Update: 10/04 20:40 GMT by Z : anti-human 1 wrote in to mention a GamesIndustry.biz article, with a flat denial of overheating issues from Sony. "As could be seen on the TGS floor by the tens of thousands of media and public attendees, both the hardware and software worked flawlessly."
Geez, if these things are that heat senseitive they probbaly are not going to work in a closed-door stereo cabinet.
I currenrly have my DVR, my Xbox, and my reciever all in a stereo cabinet with a closed door. All work fine with no overheating. Is Sony trying to say that if I want to get a PS3 I need to buy a new stereo cabinet too?
Overheating demo game console units is no reason for stock of one of the largest electronics manufactures to slip. I'd bet it has more to do with exploding batteries.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
The Wii has never had this sort of problem and it costs less than half as much as the PlayStation 3 does.
Hey, I'm all for the Wii too, but isn't it a little silly to say that an unreleased product that has not been tested by the public has never had any one specific problem? (The hardware at E3, from what I recall was not necessarily the final hardware, nor was it actually packed in the Wii cases... which is a big deal when it comes to overheating issues.) I think we can guess that the Wii won't have those issues since it's not intended to be a super-ultra high-res mega-spec console. But it is in a tiny box, so we won't know until real people actually use it.
Fortunately, most consumers are quite diligent when it comes to ensuring that their game consoles are properly positioned in a well-ventilated area with adequate clearance on all sides. I don't predict much trouble with people laying the damn thing on the carpet; butting the air vents up against the wall; setting it next to the radiator; cramming it into their entertainment center's shelf between the TiVo, XBox, and a bunch of DVDs; putting stuff on top of it; or anything else that your typical consumer would simply never dream of doing to a game console.
Big. Honkin'. Red. Flag.
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
The PS3 launch is looking more and more like the 360 launch. Horrible shortages, overheating problems, higher price than most gamers wanted to pay (remember a year ago when $400 for a console seemed like too much?). I was really pulling for Sony when all we had to look at was what Microsoft had done, but they've managed to take every oportunity to make their console less interesting. There's no way I'd buy one at launch now, I'm betting the hardware problems will be worse than the PS2 launch and 360 launch combined. I just hope Sony can bounce back and come up with a quality console, because the industry needs competition. God forbid Microsoft of all people runs the console market.
That being said, I'm probably going to get a Wii at laucnh (Wii + Zelda + Red Steel is still cheaper than a 360). I just hope they make the wiimote very configurable. The hardcore gamer in me still wants the Next Gen HD hotness though, so I'm hoping for a price drop from at least one of them within a year.
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I don't understand why people keep echoing the statement, "Well, the PS3 doesn't look nearly as good as the PS2, but hey it's a Sony and that will make it the market leader."
It literally took Nintendo one generation to go from an "invincible" first to second, and a further generation from second to third. Branding doesn't mean a thing in this industry; it's all about the games.
Then explain to me why Madden continuously outsold NFL 2KX. The truth is that branding doesn't mean a thing to real gamers. To fanboys and casual players -- the one whose friend has a PS2, but he's never owned one himself -- branding is everything.
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
They made it "fanless", right? Fanless electronic devices with significant heat loads are inherently vulnerable; if the external environment is worse than the design spec, they die. Hot weather or tight shelf space, and you're dead.
Worse, if some systems are failing early in life due to cooling problems, more are very likely to fail later. ICs that run hot has a reduced lifespan; there's a well-understood relationship for this. So if demo units are failing when new, this is serious.
Somewhere at Sony, I suspect that engineers are frantically trying to tweak the heatsink, airflow, and case hole design before shipping. It's very late for that.
There will probably be aftermarket fan kits. Liquid cooling would be overdoing it.
I can't speak for the pro-Sony lunatics, but I happen to be a different kind of lunatic - a Metal Gear addict. As far as anybody's heard, the next one is PS3-only, just as the last one was PS2-only. Once the price sees a drastic drop or two and the hardware is revised enough that it won't burn my house down or have its precious stupid blu-ray laser fail, by then maybe the inevitable super-edition of Metal Gear Solid 4 will be out and I'll finally cave and get one of these damn things.
...I'm sorry Slashdot, you just caught me in a Sony-inspired grumpy mood.
But at launch? Oh hell no. And for love of Sony? Pff. I could try and say something like "at least they're not as evil as Microsoft", but that's saying so little as to be meaningless. I just don't want to miss out on tasty gaming simply because the console manufacturer pisses me off.
Fucking hell, those I-am-not-a-robot images are hard to read! How the hell much interest is there in spambotting slashdot anyway?
I'll explain it to you easily - because Maddden is a GAME, not a console. I guess I wasn't clear on my statement - CONSOLE BRANDING doesn't mean anything in this industry, it's all about the games.
Interestingly enough, Madden WAS steadily losing market share to NFL2kX year-to-year and probably would have eventually been overtaken unless they got their act together or bought the license. They chose option 2.
If all three major players have had a history of the same thing, then it really comes down to purchasing the console that will have the most value to you. JRPG fans should buy a PS3, action gamers often find the Xbox/Xbox 360 to be a good fit, while the fans of quirky games and Nintendo's established franchises might want to hold out for a Wii. Which is not to say that anyone is restricted to a particular platform if their finances permit.
For the fanboys who can't stomach what I just said, I'll translate that statement into trollspeak:
If you want to sit around and watch cutscenes all day, buy a PS3. If graphics are the only thing you consider when buying a game, go for a 360, if you want kiddie games for mongoloids, put down a pre-order for a Wii.