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."

Comments

What about the cabinet?

[brunes69]

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?

I don't buy this argument.

[LoudMusic]

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.

Re:I don't buy this argument.

[avirrey]

Does anyone here even play the market? Who care if the argument makes sense? If Fujimori 'downgrades' Sony, the stock WILL go down. Same is true for every other company listed. Downgrade = immediate stock decline. Upgrade = immediate stock rise. If you don't think Fujimori is justified, then go buy the stock now that it's down 3%... if you're right, you'll make your 3% back...

===== All above forward looking statements are non-legally binding and are simply projections based on known... oh who cares.

Wait a minute...

[norminator]

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.

Defense

[American AC in Paris]

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.

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.

The trouble with fanless systems

[Animats]

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.

Re:About that Xbox...

[Y-Crate]

Something I've always wondered: How come people on Slashdot are normally of the mindset: I would never use a Micro$oft product ever unless I had to, my entire home setup is based around Linux even where that reduces convenience, if you help Micro$oft, you are a terrorist, Bill Gates is a cyborg , but then, no one bats an eyelid when someone castually mentions their Xbox -- a completely unnecessary Microsoft purchase?

I think it may have something to do with the fact both Sony and Nintendo have thrown their respective weight around the gaming market to the detriment of consumers and developers, which renders any value judgments regarding Microsoft's tactics in the console arena to be mostly null when it comes to selecting a system.

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.