Yep, it signifies a general hardware failure and basically renders your system useless. It is usually caused by either a bad power supply, which isn't quite as frequent, or a chip being separated from the motherboard due to excessive heat built up in the system which requires the chip to be reflowed to the board. I know that quite a few of the victims are 60gb models but there are also 40gb and 80 models failing due to this. Mine happened to me in the middle of a game. Some people have had it happen within 10 minutes of turning their system on (not for the first time). The problem is the design of the system and the heat sing as well as I suspect the cheap parts that Sony uses. I know they tout it as an expensive system but I have to wonder if they're really using the quality parts to really make the system an expensive one or shouting high and dealing the consumer low.

If your system breaks down be prepared to pay Sony 150 plus for a refurbished unit and a lowly 90 warranty on that refurb. Your best bet is to look elsewhere for the fix at around a hundred dollars or less and guaranteeing your system returned with data intact which Sony will NOT do for you. Sorry for the long rant about this but feel that Sony is shafting their loyal customers here but showing in their commercials that the PS3 is durable but not accepting fault when it is proven that in fact it is not.

I still love the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player and a gaming system but wonder how long Sony will turn their back on their customers when the systems they built continue to fail. I sure hope they either redesign the system or change the terms on their warranty to cover the system for a longer period of time.

This seems to be a theme. Fixes are out there, but playing games online shouldn't require the level of knowledge it requires to sort this out.

As for "YLOD", I'm sure some PS3s are failing, but I don't think it's nearly as widespread as some folks seem to. I'm just not hearing about it with the kind of frequency we did with RROD.

Give it time. Also, if it happens to you then that is enough. There is quite a long thread over on the official PS3 boards for users that have had it. It may not be the majority but it does say that there is an existing problem.

The number of complaints on the official forums are on the rise, but I agree it isn't as widespread as RROD by a long shot. Of course there also weren't nearly the number of 60GB PS3s out there compared to original Xbox 360s and those seem to be the biggest offender now that they are over 2 years old.

It will suck if my PS3 gets this, but to be fair my PS3 has 1000+ hours of use on movies and games so I can hardly argue my system wasn't durable. That is a very rough estimate and I may be over 2000 hours. I have used my PS3 extensively since buying it in early 2007 and it is my home media center. I run BDs, DVDs, games and all my media files on it most of the time and it has had many days were it has run 10-12 hours straight. I keep it on an open TV stand so maybe that has helped it not overheat or maybe I'm just lucky, but I know someone this happened to and it definitely sucks when it ends up being your console. As someone that had 3 PS2s die I know how bad that can suck.

Yeah, the issue with the PS3 seems to occur over time. You won't have any issue with a new PS3 like some people used to have with the Xbox 360.

Then again I've never had any issue with either console, Xbox 360 or PS3.

looks like a Best Buy bundle is coming
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/26/be...will-cost-399/

similar to Target's Motorstorm/Resistance bundle

if I had to guess I would say LBP/R&C: FTOD is a good bet

Has anyone else had any trouble lately backing up their PS3 hard drive? I have tried several times lately to backup my PS3 hard drive so I can swap a bigger one in but have yet been able to back up the data. Every time I select backup it starts preparing and stays there forever (over half and hour or more) before I decide to cancel. Only once has it gone past preparing to counting and then it "counted" for awhile (at least 15 minutes) to then tell me that it couldn't copy to my External HDD (with over 300gbs of free space in FAT32 format). I have used that external HDD several times with this PS3 so that shouldn't be a problem. Someone on another board mentioned to me that some videos are copy protected and will interfere with this backup process. How am I supposed to know what videos can't be copied? I never had a problem copying any of the over 50 videos on my old PS3. Could it be the BD Live files that is interfering with the backup? Has anyone else backed up their PS3 with BD Live files? Please let me know. Thanks!!!

Afrika Coming to North American PlayStations

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58795

Of course.

Well, I'm sure it'll be more than $30. Plus I got Aquanaut's as well, which isn't being released here (that I know of).

I still haven't received them yet. I'm guessing they'll be here within the next couple of days.

I'm waiting as well. As a matter of fact I forgot about this until you reminded me. Hopefully they are here any day. Thanks!

Ditto

Yeah, I don't think Afrika will be lower than $30, it should be a $60 game.

BTW, I'm liking Afrika very much. I already have a new camera, the Alpha camera from Sony, so I'm taking better pictures now. Of course now I'm dying for some some telephoto lenses.

Gee, that guy might be on to something.

Yeah, I don't think it would take much of a marketing push to move a few of copies. I think it might even be the sort of game that would move a few PS3s with the right ad campaign (which Sony sucks at lately).

What, you don't think this is a massively effective way to sell a $500 console?


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No way to tell for sure, but someone can head down to the unemployment line and ask the guy that came up with that campaign to see if he thought it worked.

Yes, I backed mine up with BD Live files. It might be the video files. You can back those up separately and then delete them and see if that works better. I had no issues with the back up, but I did have issues with the restore. I ended up needing to manually restart my external HDD when the PS3 restarted or it wouldn't detect it.

My PS3 arrives tomorrow. It comes with Uncharted, which I'm looking forward to. I had a Wii but lost interest with the controller "gimic" and just wanted a system for games and graphics. I like the Blu-ray as well and didn't want to pay for online since I'd probably not use it, but who knows....

Anyway, I wanted to play Fallout 3 (never played any of the other ones) but I heard there are issues. I don't want to play it on PC, but would consider it if it's that bad. Maybe there are patches....

Also, I'm looking for some other game recommendations. For the Wii, I really liked Excite Truck.....especially since I could load a SD card with mp3s and it would use that as the game music. Are there any racing games (good for multiplayer) that have that customizable soundtrack? Since it has a 160gb hard drive, I figure it is likely even set up to play music off that. Anyway, the motorstorm games look cool, but not sure....

Also, I'd be looking for good games for 2 people. Stuff where you play at the same time (co-op). That Ghostbusters game looks like a trip and 2 player would be nice....

Anyway, games I've enjoyed:

xbox
Halo (both)
Ninja Gaiden
SSX3
LotR: The Third Age
Knights of Ye olde Republic
Battlefront
Jade Empire
GTA: San Andreas (took too long to enter in the cheat codes....I hope they fixed this in the new one)

wii:
Metroid Prime
Paper Mario (and n64 version)
Mario Kart
Excite Truck


Thanks.


EDIT to add:

I thought of some more games:

Tiger Woods (xbox)
Age of Empires 3 (PC)
Call of Doodoo World at war (PC)
Elder Scrolls 4 (PC) - got bored, lost interest
Civilization 4 (PC) - couldn't get into it
Orange Box (PC) not all that comfortable with keyboard play....only played a bit

I just started Pure on the 360 and am really digging it. I like it more than Motorstorm. I'm not sure if it supports custom soundtracks though.

Burnout Paradise seems to fit the bill as well.

saw this....

I strongly agree with these two recommendations, but I'd go in the opposite order. Burnout is an absolute MUST OWN...especially at $20. Pure is basically what Excite Truck should have been, and will absolutely fit with your taste for SSX. Both have demos, and Pure's demo is spot-on...Burnout's demo doesn't do the game justice at all.

If you liked San Andreas, you'll like GTA IV...Burnout will scratch this itch better, if you like the driving, and inFAMOUS will scratch it better if you like the on-foot stuff. InFAMOUS demo = recommended.

Uncharted is probably the most polished game on the system and should fit just about anybody's taste...so you'll enjoy that. Plus 2 is around the corner and looks RIDICULOUS!!!

It sounds like you dig FPS games, but aren't necessarily looking to play online. It's a bit buggy on PS3, but I strongly recommend the Orange Box if you're more comfortable with console controls. Retail is $20...worth $100. There are a ton of other worthwhile FPS games (Resistance, Far Cry, Killzone, etc.), but they really aren't my bag, so I'm not the expert.

LittleBIGPlanet is amazing, but it's not really comparable to anything on your list...and I'm not sure how much you like platformers.

Download the demo for Valkyria Chronicles...bet you'll like it.

Rock Band. Period.

Tons of unique stuff of PSN...starting with the spectacular Flower.

Finally, you need to join us for Warhawk Tuesdays! We generally have a great time and it's nothing like playing random d-bags online. Shooting, Climbing, Flying, Tanks, Jeeps...just crazy fun. My favorite game on the system...and there is a demo, though I've never been able to try it.

great stuff! thanks a lot!

LittleBigPlanet looks like a lot of fun. I'll probably try that at some point.

I'll likely get/play:

Pure or Burnout (or both)
Fallout 3
GTA: IV
Ninga Gaiden Simga
Tiger Woods '10

I've heard good things about Valkyria Chronicles and Killzone (esp. since you can do a custom soundtrack). Infamous got great reviews, but I don't know much about it. Same with MGS:4 (never played one, but it looks a little slow aka too much creeping up on people) I don't care for games with too much sneaking.... I assume that's what those Tom Clancy games are. Doom for xbox was fun.

I tried to play RE:4 (on wii, I think it was 4) and it was pretty good, although saving at a typewriter was a pain. Also, horror games where you have to defend a space while zombies or whatever keep coming at you from all directions.....I don't care for that. I also whig out trying to play those horror games, so I'll probably skip those....

I had Unreal Tournament 4 for xbox, but sucked too much to enjoy it. Those types of shooters or whatever they are don't really do it for me (again, online doesn't interest me).

I'll have to check Warhawk.

I've never played a guitar hero or rock band type of game. I do play drums, but I'm worried that Rock Band drums might mess with my playing or develop bad habits or something....

If you have to choose between Pure and Burnout, I think Burnout has to be the one.

The production values and story of GTA IV are truly amazing, but I'm not sure it does anything all that well in terms of gameplay (shooting and driving are both mediocre at best). For open-world driving, Burnout just destroys it.

I'd recommend the demo for Sigma before committing...and I'm not positive, but isn't it just the original Ninja Gaiden remade for PS3?

If you play drums in real life, you will love the drums on Rock Band, and I don't think it will give you bad habits (guitar might, but not drums).

RE5 controls are terrible compared to RE4 on Wii...but there is a demo, so you can proceed with caution.

Demos are probably my favorite thing about this generation of games. Definitely check out the demos for: inFAMOUS, Pure, Warhawk, Burnout Paradise, Pixeljunk Monsters and Eden, Ninja Gaiden, Wolverine (bet you'll like it), Valkyria Chronicles, Mirror's Edge, RE5...tons of others I'm not thinking of...all free!

I'd get Tiger Woods 10 for Wii with Wiimotion Plus.

LittleBigPlanet is okay, the core gameplay is nothing new (unless you count the level editor) but the style is phenomenal and the online database of user generated levels is a nice touch (the levels included with the game are fantastic but few in numbers).

If you aren't into online play, stay away from Warhawk (I personally wouldn't recommend it even if you were into online play, but I know a few people around here love it. There really isn't a single player mode, though.) Rock Band won't mess you up and cause you to develop bad habits on the drums, since the notes are spaced and timed properly, it's like playing with a mandatory metronome at worst (on Expert you're playing a decent representation of the real song, at least, the best you're going to get on a 4 drum plus pedal setup.)

Pure is fun but gets repetitive, as such, I'd recommend Burnout: Paradise over it. Both GTA IV and InFamous suffer from the typical Sandbox game gameplay (ie - open world, weak/repetitive missions). Sigma is awesome, but yeah there is a demo available and I'd recommend trying that first to be sure it's up your alley (it's basically the first level up to the boss battle.)