19th Apr 10
Playstation 3 Crash
by Chas Parker
On March 1st 2010, Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) users happily downloaded the latest software update for their super-powered console, not knowing the drastic consequences this would have. Users were suddenly unable to sign into the Playstation Network, consoles refused to turn on, trophies were being erased, madness ensued. This worldwide problem was on par with the Xbox 360 infamous Red Ring of Death, but doesn’t come close to the Video Game Crash of 1983 – the age of the most successful home video game console, the Atari 2600.
Sony was able to release a new update within 24 hours, resolving any issues people had. These days updates tend to do more harm than good – remember the era or 16,32 and 64 bit consoles? No updates, yet these consoles still work 10 – 20 years after they were built. Sony believes the problem may be due to the old hardware built into the old, fat PS3s and the internal clock. Millions of people worldwide use the Playstation Network either to play online, download demo’s and videos or use Home and this may have caused a bug in the system to appear.
Sony was quick to respond, warning PS3 owners not to use their PS3s as this could cause a loss in saved data, trophies or even damage the console. An announcement on the official PS3 blog explained that the older PS3 models recognized 2010 as a leap year, – was this bad software or something bigger? Sony hasn’t released any details explaining the cause. There has been talk that Sony will eventually stop refurbishing the old fat PS3s and focus on the PS3 Slim.
For people worried about losing their hard-earned trophiesm don’t fret, just pop the game in and the PS3 should re-access all the data and the trophies should show. If the worst comes to the worst and your trophies didn’t show after popping the game in, it gives you a good reason to replay most of your game (unless you really don’t care for them and play games the way they were meant to be played, for fun, not to gain trophies ruining most of the exploration and experience. Why pay £40 plus to rush through a game like Uncharted 2 Among Thieves? Why not allow the graphics, music and surrounding absorb you into the world and make you feel like your in Nathan Drake’s shoes?).
People who own one of the earlier models of the PS3 will have to keep their Playstation 2 nearby in case their fat PS3 has any further problems; why Sony never included full backwards compatibility in all Playstation 3’s confused and even angered gamers. The Playstation and Playstation 2 both had an incredible library of games including Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Shadow of the Colossus, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon and Tomb Raider to name a small fraction of the classic games both consoles had. So what does the future hold for all the gamers who still have working fat PS3s? A choice between either buying a new PS3 Slim or hoping their original PS3 fat will keep working for a few more years, if they’re lucky.
Hopefully Sony will carry on updating the console and fix any future problems so gamers can enjoy playing Playstation 1,2 and 3 games on the same console. With all those problems put to one side, it is pretty much expected that the first generation, be it games console or some other form of technology will always have issues, but should gamers have to expect these sorts of problems after spending their hard earned money? Well, yes and no. Yes as in its the newest form of the console yet it is still the first, no as in you have just bought this piece of expensive tech and the last thing you want to do is either send it in for repairs or have to buy a brand new console. Sony has always had some trouble with the first generation of their consoles. Some people reverted to turning their Playstation’s upside down to get the laser to read games, the Playstation 2 occasionally had faulty disc drives and the Playstation 3 has update problems. You may be one of the lucky one in which both your Playstation and Playstation 2 work exactly like they did when you first took it out of the packaging and plugged it in.
Hopefully in the near future there will be a point where Sony will release consoles that will experience no hardware or software problems and we’ll have one of the best entertainment systems ever made. People will still complain about this problem but let’s hope that when Sony reveal the Playstation 4 it won’t experience any of these internal clock or update issues and will run smoothly.
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