What happens if my 60GB PS3 Breaks?
November 3rd, 2007, 2:59am by JeffHas this been addressed yet? With Sony having phased out all of the fully backwards compatible PS3s in under a year, I’m starting to worry about what happens if (when?) my PS3 fails.
Already this generation I’ve had problems with my 360 (bad USB port) and Wii (stray pixel issue) that required me to send my system back to the manufacturers for repair (in the 360’s case) or replacement (in the Wii’s case). Maybe the next generation of hardware will take reliability seriously, but since this generation basically hasn’t, I’d at least like my repair processes to go smoothly.
My PS3, since I’ve had it, already makes strange “clicking” sounds when I’m running something on it. It doesn’t quite sound like hard drive clicking, but it’s still a bit worrisome. The only reason I haven’t done anything about it yet is because my games have seemed to work just fine (with an occasional freeze, unfortunately something else common to this generation anyway), until just recently. During one of my Ratchet and Clank Future sessions my audio and video became seriously out of synch during cutscenes. There is a stutter (like, “R-r-r-Ratchet” instead of just “Ratchet”) and then suddenly the visuals (including the lip synching) doesn’t match the audio that’s playing. So far it’s happened only once, but I haven’t heard anyone else mention it yet as a problem with R&C, so I’m chalking it up to my PS3.
So my question is, if my currently fully backwards compatible system breaks now, will I get a fully backwards compatible system back? Quite honestly, the biggest factor for me in buying the PS3 when I did was ensuring I had backwards compatibility. I’d be extremely angry if they were not able to guarantee that I’d get a backwards compatible system back if I sent in my system for repair. Hell, if they make the 40GB SKU their “main” one, I don’t even know if I’d get as big a hard drive back in the process. Maybe Sony would send one of their new $100 PS2 consoles as a consolation for making me downgrade to an inferior version of their product, despite the fact that it still mostly defeats the purpose of having a backwards compatible system to begin with.
The removal of all backwards compatibility (after it was available initially) has to be the biggest change to a console’s capabilities during its run, especially so early in its lifetime. The Gamecube removed its component output, which was annoying for some late adopters, but at least it could still play all the same games and component, particularly Progressive Scan capable component, was still not widely available on TVs anyway. The PS2 Slim I believe made just a couple more PS1 games incompatible. Other than that, can anyone else think of another supposed version of the “same” product that’s actually removed as much capability as the PS3 has now, and what exactly did that company do to support the older, more fully featured products?
Posted in Jeff, Sony, PS3, Commentary |
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:36 am
This is an interesting question I hadn’t thought of.
If its under warranty, I certainly hope they would replace it with the same model. If its not, they could probably try to repair it and send you the same unit back? Here’s hoping they do the right thing.
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Under warranty or not shouldn’t matter, in my opinion. The only difference is whether I’m paying for the “repair” or “replacement”. My Sony replacement lasts 1 year, but having bought it on a qualifying Visa, theoretically they extend the manufacturer warranty an extra year. What that means is if my PS3 dies in 1.5 years, Sony may request payment for the repair, but Visa pays for it. In any case, I’d want my backwards compatibility back, no matter who is paying for the repair.
November 3rd, 2007 at 7:19 pm
um, hey cisco. Just wanted to ask you: is this real:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeEqNMD0aKE
Because if it is….well, lets just say i’d bail out of their stocks now…. -_-
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:27 pm
I don’t get it, Laesp? What’s the big deal about that video?
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:19 pm
i was very tacken aback by that guy’s aggressiveness agains intel. I mean, him talking like that, and with that chart in the back, and the clips of other random guys praising AMD’s quad and bashing Intel’s quad…
just screams desperation and backlash to me. If you are losing money to a currently more popular competitor and giant, like Intel, it’s very bad to be seen as a crybaby or a troll. Just work on your product and pimp it, but don’t go around looking like an ass.
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:27 pm
I really don’t get the problem… Isn’t it normal practice to criticize your competition and praise your own products?
November 4th, 2007 at 4:59 am
I hope its true. Maybe my AMD stock will quit puking long enough for me to break even.
November 10th, 2007 at 4:27 am
hey so I had the exact same problem with R&C. It’s happened twice and I have now idea why it’s doing it. I was just thinking that maybe it was the game’s fault, but now I’m kinda worried