Reports of PS4 "Red Line of Death" Appear Online

[Lightknight]

We live in a somewhat interesting era where we have so much information that problems impacting just 500 or so people can end up looking like the norm.

It's odd how that claim only seems to work for bad news. When Diablo III launched, I'm sure over 500 people managed to play the game without a single Error 37. But they certainly weren't portrayed as "the norm" in the media.

Well, it does only work for bad news because bad experiences are what people take the time to report. Want to know how many of my previous 100 Amazon orders I've actually reviewed? 2. They were both bad experiences. I'm by no means unique in that practice.

That being said, Sony said they expected a .4% failure rate at launch (which they claim the numbers fall within). With 1,000,000 units selling that'd be 4,000 failures.

Which stories do you think get focused on? 996,000 successes or the more interesting 4,000 failures?

So that's why I advocate waiting a few months. Actual agreggate numbers paint the story, not reactionary stories. I'm nothing but a numbers man. I'm not going to take negatives hook line and sinker and I'm also not going to take Sony's PR lines hook line and sinker. So my stance is that I look forward to seeing the actual numbers away from the "fog of war".

 

[Darmy647]

I'm really glad i bought that year warranty now. The one time I told myself to do it. I feel much safer.

 

[dalek sec]

And this, kids, is why I never buy into electronics before they've had a chance to be tested by the masses.

Pretty much this. I don't want to sound like some smug punk but I honestly just wait a bit when a new console comes out, I'm sure plenty of the consoles are working just fine but there's sometimes a few hiccups that slip past or whatever.

Well I got plenty of PS3 games to keep me well busy till they work out the bugs and what not.

 

[Best of the 3]

That red line makes it look like the PS4 is about to go on an 80's cyborg killing spree. Unfortunately the only thing it ends up killing is itself.

just make sure you never set any of your sony account user names to sarah or john conner and you should be right

Well, with any luck it'll just turn into this red line...

snip

I was more hoping the red line would turn into this instead

 

[Someone Depressing]

In reality, this is the PS3 gathering its power to turn into a mecha and overtake humanity.

Sadly, its power is so weak that it merely turns off from the straing.

That is soon going to change.

*du-du-dun-dun-dun/stock tension punchline here*

 

[COMaestro]

I was intending to wait until sometime next year to pick up a PS4, but I'm one of the lucky people to win one through the Taco Bell giveaway. So far, no issues, though I do notice the top of the unit does get a bit warm, but nothing that doesn't seem normal for electronics. Haven't noticed if the fans are working or not, but if they are, they are very quiet.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

I hear if you leave this red line on long enough, George Clooney shows up.

 

[carnex]

For now this issue seems like its bad but not that bad. Few thousand consoles afflicted it seems. And accusations and stories are flying around wildly. From Amazon's packaging (which is really bad, I would return the shipment if something came that badly packaged), through Sony's penny pinching to sabotage by students working in FoxCon plant...

But really we have to wait for a while for dust to settle to know anything.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

This is why I don't early adopt a console, I waited a year for the 360 and still got issues with it. I hope it's sorted for those that are affected, but this is a risk with any new tech for early adopters. You sorta pay to be a beta tester.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

If this is true and some people are having issues that's unfortunate. At first I was surprised that a console that draws so little power could have heat issues, but then it mentioned the fans not turning on. That would certainly do it.

Doesn't help that the thing is freaking tiny and can't have much in the way of heatsinks.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

PS4 the Rainbow box of fail. Im joking of course but what colour will it be next? They still got to release in Europe etc

 

[CrazyRah]

This obviously suck and i do feel for the people that have PS4's that suffer from this issue. I'm absolutely sticking with my idea of waiting at least a year before getting my console. Should be a decent amount of time for issues to appear and hopefully be resolved and enough time for at least a few interesting titles

 

[Vivi22]

If this is true and some people are having issues that's unfortunate. At first I was surprised that a console that draws so little power could have heat issues, but then it mentioned the fans not turning on. That would certainly do it.

Doesn't help that the thing is freaking tiny and can't have much in the way of heatsinks.

Actually, from the video of them disassembling one which Sony released, the heat sink is relatively large and there was a lot more space than I expected to allow for reasonable air flow. Certainly a lot more than there was in the original PS3's (I disassembled one of the fat PS3's before and the thing was a god damn heat trap it was so cramped in there). But all of the heat sinks and open air in the world won't do squat if you're not circulating in cool air and blowing the warm stuff out.

 

[Greymanelor]

This obviously suck and i do feel for the people that have PS4's that suffer from this issue. I'm absolutely sticking with my idea of waiting at least a year before getting my console. Should be a decent amount of time for issues to appear and hopefully be resolved and enough time for at least a few interesting titles

Ditto. I'd really like a PS4, because I've had a Playstation for the last three console generations and enjoyed the hell out of them, but between the hardware issues and the day-one patches (day-one patches to make most of the features on the machine even work, on a console of all bloody things. PS4 and Xbox are both doing this, apparently just to be sure we know how rushed out for the holiday they were) they're doing a really good job convincing me to hold off awhile. Even if the 0.4% pulled-straight-from-ass number is actually true, I don't make enough to afford risking being part of that 0.4%.

It's a sad we as consumers are reduced to this. Imagine if someone going out to buy a new car had to say "I'll just wait a year before I get the new model, just to make sure the brakes don't lock up and the engine doesn't catch on fire like the last one did."

 

[balladbird]

The hidden downside to an extremely successful first wave launch is an increased number of hardware complaints, sadly. even with a 10% error ratio, that'd still be 100,000 customers who bought a product that crapped out on them.

From what I've seen, the PS4's heat control hardware is fairly competent, at least to my layman's eyes. Perhaps there's a flaw with the fans? Hopefully Sony's response will be prompt and efficient.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I think people are a little too eager to jump on any PS4 problems as the next red ring of death. Over a million people own these things, so we can expect that even if the failure rate is really low, there's still going to be a large number of defective units, and the people who get defective units are a lot more likely to talk about it online than the people with systems that work just fine. We really don't know what the failure rate of these systems is going to be for a couple of months at least.

Don't get me wrong, it really sucks for the people that do have defective systems, especially because they're probably not going to be able to get another one for several months. And it is certainly possible that there is some major issue with the PS4. But until we know for sure, let's just calm down and wait to see how this plays out.

 

[carnex]

Only ones who have any idea of how widespread the problem is, is SONY and the are not going to tell us anything that would endanger their sales...

 

[RicoADF]

Wow, that sucks. I mean, it's not good for Sony certainly, but it really sucks for everyone who bought a PS4 early and had it die on them. You'd think they'd have the foresight to work these things out before the system launched. Did their test models not have this problem or something? Well whatever, I'm sure they'll get it fixed eventually.

I'm thankful that I currently own a next-gen console which hasn't had any overheating problems, and for which there haven't been any widespread reports of any technical issues, so I don't have to worry about it breaking down on me.

If the reported 0.4% is correct then they have tested it. Reality is no matter how much effort you put into quality control there will always be some faulty units, weather a manufacturing fault, damage during transport or whatever. The problem is that with the net every single one that fails is reported and a big deal made out of it. At 1 million sales in 1 day there's no surprise there are some faulty units, lets wait to see if the failure rate goes up before people panic.

 

[Saltyk]

We live in a somewhat interesting era where we have so much information that problems impacting just 500 or so people can end up looking like the norm.

It's odd how that claim only seems to work for bad news. When Diablo III launched, I'm sure over 500 people managed to play the game without a single Error 37. But they certainly weren't portrayed as "the norm" in the media.

Well, it does only work for bad news because bad experiences are what people take the time to report. Want to know how many of my previous 100 Amazon orders I've actually reviewed? 2. They were both bad experiences. I'm by no means unique in that practice.

That being said, Sony said they expected a .4% failure rate at launch (which they claim the numbers fall within). With 1,000,000 units selling that'd be 4,000 failures.

Which stories do you think get focused on? 996,000 successes or the more interesting 4,000 failures?

So that's why I advocate waiting a few months. Actual agreggate numbers paint the story, not reactionary stories. I'm nothing but a numbers man. I'm not going to take negatives hook line and sinker and I'm also not going to take Sony's PR lines hook line and sinker. So my stance is that I look forward to seeing the actual numbers away from the "fog of war".

You hit the nail on the head here. There's an old saying I've heard.

"If you like something, you will tell 10 friends or family members. If you dislike something, you will tell 10 strangers."

That is so very true. I know that I've done it.

While my own PS4 died pretty early, I was able to get it replaced by going back to Gamestop (I was at the midnight release and went back as soon as they opened, so I wasn't without one for long). I've now put a good 40 hours or so into playing the new one and have had zero problems.

Sony was even really good about resetting my primary console for me, too. And I've heard they are shipping out replacements before the people even ship their systems in. So they are doing everything they can to make that process as painless as possible.

Admittedly, I am curious about the actual numbers of defects. I'm inclined to believe it's much lower than people think, but I'm not 100% sure I believe it's just .4%. Though, from all indications, Sony was well aware of the potential problems and even warned retailers about it. So I do sort of accept that it is within expected parameters.

I'm really glad i bought that year warranty now. The one time I told myself to do it. I feel much safer.

Actually, Sony is offering to extend the warranty by three years for about $50 or $60. I actually did take them up on the offer. Y'know since my first one did die on me. If something happens within the next four years, I should be covered.

 

[Saltyk]

I think people are a little too eager to jump on any PS4 problems as the next red ring of death. Over a million people own these things, so we can expect that even if the failure rate is really low, there's still going to be a large number of defective units, and the people who get defective units are a lot more likely to talk about it online than the people with systems that work just fine. We really don't know what the failure rate of these systems is going to be for a couple of months at least.

Don't get me wrong, it really sucks for the people that do have defective systems, especially because they're probably not going to be able to get another one for several months. And it is certainly possible that there is some major issue with the PS4. But until we know for sure, let's just calm down and wait to see how this plays out.

Yeah, mine died on me within an hour. I don't know what happened, but it froze and felt really hot. Not sure if the fan was working correctly or not.

But I got one the next morning by going back to the store. And I've heard Sony is shipping out replacements before the buyer even sends back the defective unit. Something which is not common practice in any business. So, it doesn't seem that there is that much of a problem in getting new ones. I've heard they held back some for the holiday sales. Which could explain them having extra in stock.