PS3s Lock Up... On Purpose?

[jbanes]

"So dude over there," I said pointing to the busy clerk, "says he keeps the kiosk off because it keeps freezing up."

 

"Nope. No it doesn't."

 

"Well, actually, yeah. It does. I've seen it happen myself."

 

"No. It doesn't. We did that on purpose," he said.

 

"You make the entire console lock up on purpose because ... why?"

 

"We do that so that people won't play it all day long," he explained. "Specifically during Motorstorm, we made it freeze up a lot."

 

Later, I was told by a Best Buy employee that they were told the same thing -- the locking up and freezing was intentional. So, if you're sitting at home and your console locks up on you or your Bluetooth controllers aren't performing the way they should be, don't worry about it. It might be on purpose.

 

Full Story: http://www.destructoid.com/playstation-3-k...se--28860.phtml

 

Am I the only one who's going, "Say wha?" at this one?

[Brian R.]

I saw a PS3 do spontaneous restarts in-store. To me, that's understandable. Kind of a subtle hint to the game hogs to give up the controller and let other people give the demo machine a try. That's what it's for - for many to sample, not for one guy to play for half the day.

[Flojomojo]

"It's not a bug, it's a feature!"

 

Spontaneous reboots, sure. Freezing and lagging? That's broken, and the clerk is having some fun with the customer.

 

"News" like this is why I turned off my Destructoid RSS feed. They're a bit too silly, even for me.

[jbanes]

That's broken, and the clerk is having some fun with the customer.

Actually, it was a Sony rep. So I think it's more a case of the local rep trying to cover his rear by making up stories of "intentional" lockups. Or maybe Sony Corp. really is dumb enough to advertise the lockups as a "feature". (I doubt it, but it's hard to put anything past Sony these days.) Either way, it's still pretty funny.

Edited December 27, 2006 by jbanes

[moycon]

That's broken, and the clerk is having some fun with the customer.

Actually, it was a Sony rep. So I think it's more a case of the local rep trying to cover his rear by making up stories of "intentional" lockups. Or maybe Sony Corp. really is dumb enough to advertise the lockups as a "feature". (I doubt it, but it's hard to put anything past Sony these days.) Either way, it's still pretty funny.

 

On a related note. I was in Best Buys yesterday picking up a Nintendo WiFi USB adapter and the PS3 demo there was locked up! Is this happening to people at home or is it just the demo units? I've also seen one locked up at WalMart.

[+remowilliams]

On a related note. I was in Best Buys yesterday picking up a Nintendo WiFi USB adapter and the PS3 demo there was locked up! Is this happening to people at home or is it just the demo units? I've also seen one locked up at WalMart.

I've left mine on for tons of time at a clip, no lock ups. Nobody I know with one has experienced any issues yet.

 

Some of those store kiosks are reboot timed to kick people off, and a lot of the ones around here are turned off to lower the lowlife retention rate.

 

That 'story' sounds like more of the endless bullshit parade.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I have been to all the area Best Buys (3 of them here), both Circuit Cities, and about 2 of our million or so Wal-Marts in the area. Oh..and 2 Targets. In all of those cases I have only seen a PS3 actually being played with twice?! All the other times the display is completely turned off..or it is locked up with same static game being displayed. Usually some motocycle game that I have seen being played.

 

I wonder if the Kiosk units have proper ventilation?

[Cheese007]

Half the time I see a PS3 kiosk, it's frozen. You can't tell me that they completely freeze and not restart just to kick the guy playing off the machine.

I've left mine on for tons of time at a clip, no lock ups.

So because it didn't happen to you or your buddies, it didn't happen at all? My 360 hasn't died from overheating, that must mean the problem doesn't exist!

Edited December 29, 2006 by Cheese007

[+remowilliams]

I wonder if the Kiosk units have proper ventilation?

Taking a guess, I'd say probably not. Most seem not to be for some reason, you think manufacturers would pay more attention to that.

 

So because it didn't happen to you or your buddies, it didn't happen at all? My 360 hasn't died from overheating, that must mean the problem doesn't exist!

Umm... I don't think I was saying that. I thought I was saying that based upon my (and those I know) real world experience, that there hasn't been a problem with the PS3.

 

Did you even read the article? Do you unconditionally trust the word of some blogging ass who clearly has some sort of grudge before he even typed up his 'story'?

 

"and in the middle of it all I spotted a Sony PlayStation retail rep frantically cleaning off the very same kiosk I had mentioned earlier. I wasn't going to let him get away.

 

"Happy Holidays," I said.

 

"Oh, hi! I'll be done here in one second and then I'll turn on the unit so you can get a glimpse of the future."

 

"Oh, I know all about it," I said, trying not to laugh. "I have the future at home. In my closet. Still in the box. Trying to sell it. No takers."

 

He sounds real objective and believable to me

[JB]

I too can confirm that PS3 kiosks crash.

So with people here confirming it left and right, it's a safe bet that the kiosks crashing is NOT bullshit.

 

Except possibly the humorous bit about a specific Sony tech making bad excuses. But your initial response was citing stable home PS3s as evidence, which strongly implies it was calling the crashing kiosks bullshit, not the humorous excuse.

[+remowilliams]

But your initial response was citing stable home PS3s as evidence, which strongly implies it was calling the crashing kiosks bullshit, not the humorous excuse.

 

Is this happening to people at home or is it just the demo units?

My initial response with my observations was to moycons inquiry about 'Is this happening to people at home' ^

 

I'm not going to refute kiosks crashing, as I don't have any long term experience with them. That story smelled of bullshit, and I pointed that out, that's all.

[MegaManFan]

I've left mine on for over 24 hours and it was still good when I came back. Of course I keep mine sitting in an open air spot with no other electronics around it, operating horizontally on a flat wooden surface shelf that should fairly evenly and widely disperse the heat. The downside is it's right next to my cube fridge so if it's running and I go to get a diet soda I can definitely FEEL the heat. Those George Foreman jokes have some credence!

[heavy-sixer]

I was in Gamestop today and they had a 60 gig PS3. I almost bought it but the guy kinda talked me out of it. He said they have a ton of overheating issues. I went up to the EB on the upper floor of the mall and they had 60 gig units too. He said he hasn't had any returns and doesn't know of any overheating issues. So I guess the question I'm asking is, how many people with 60 gig units have had lock ups/overheating related problems? (I've been kind of on the fence about getting a PS3 because there is nothing I am really dying to spend $600 to play, but on the other hand I have $400 in credit at GS/EB). Also the guy at EB told me that PS3s only have a 90 day warranty. Is that correct?

[+remowilliams]

I was in Gamestop today and they had a 60 gig PS3. I almost bought it but the guy kinda talked me out of it. He said they have a ton of overheating issues. I went up to the EB on the upper floor of the mall and they had 60 gig units too. He said he hasn't had any returns and doesn't know of any overheating issues. So I guess the question I'm asking is, how many people with 60 gig units have had lock ups/overheating related problems? (I've been kind of on the fence about getting a PS3 because there is nothing I am really dying to spend $600 to play, but on the other hand I have $400 in credit at GS/EB). Also the guy at EB told me that PS3s only have a 90 day warranty. Is that correct?

A good rule of thumb, is not to listen to anything that the general asshat population that works in GS/EB has to say. Many are just clueless, stupid, or biased. Or a combination of the three.

 

All PS3s are 1 year warranty - http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/PS3/Warranties

 

I have not heard of any 'overheating' issues, nor have I (or those I know directly) had any problems with the PS3. The PS3 throws a lot of hot air when running (it seems to have an excellent cooling system), so give it room to breath wherever its installed.

Edited January 1, 2007 by remowilliams

[CPUWIZ]

Total bollocks, I agree, I have zero problems with mine and I even practically played through Resistance for a second time on hard without turning the machine off.

[moycon]

I have not heard of any 'overheating' issues, nor have I (or those I know directly) had any problems with the PS3. The PS3 throws a lot of hot air when running (it seems to have an excellent cooling system), so give it room to breath wherever its installed.

 

It's almost surely that something is up with the units they use for demo's. Either the hardware, or the housing.

When the 360 was having issues, you couldn't log into a 360 forum without seeing multiple multi-page threads about the problem.

You just don't see that with the PS3 so it's probably safe to say the issue is isolated to the kiosks.

[heavy-sixer]

Thanks guys for all of your help. I'll probaby pick one up within the next month. I haven't seen a PS3 in stores since they launched. Things might be changing because just today they've had them at GS, EB, and Target.