What are the risks of buying a PS3?

[captaincabbage]

if you dont clean it everyday, it'll brick after less than a year.

Bullshit. (excess doesn't mean better.) (but it does mean more pointless emphasis.)

You must have had a pretty unlucky run with a PS3 if it bricked within the year. Mine's been running for three year as of this year and my older bro's (60gig fat) has been running for about 5. I'll now and then give blow through the intakes, which will clean a fair bit of it, but my brother has never cleaned his.

i sold my console to my uncle. who smokes. he left it on the carpet (i know, moronic) and it was damn near to bricking. meaning that the blue ray drive was about to fry/already fried. but you guys probably never smoke. or do much of anything that causes dust to accumulate in vast quantities. or have cats that shed fur EVERY where.

(right here)

in my experience... the only reason i bought the damn thing was to play god of war 3. i tried some shooters, but the controller sucked ass. even bought (yes, bought) killzone 2.

most asinine control scheme. ever.

so all i ever used it for was games like ratchet and clank. and fat princess.

and what with sony saying that even though you bought the console, it's still theirs... nope. wont do it. so im hoping that KH3 is released for xbox. because if anything... i just rent or borrow a ps3 and play it that way. im never buying that shit again. waste of my time and money...
i should of re-bought a wii...

True that, I don't smoke and my brother doesn't smoke anymore. Plus my cat died about two years ago, tho I still have a dog. Also consoles and carpet just don't mix.

As for your personal preferences*, I didn't ask and I don't care.

dude. everything after the initial paragraph wasn't meant for you. it was back on topic. I've even marked it with: (right here).

just say "OT:" if it's not meant for the quotee.

 

[aaronobst]

what are the drawbacks of owning a PS3 so i don't drop 300 dollars on it for nothing?

If you have an allergy to fun and variety in the exclusive department you may want to think carefully about purchasing a PS3

 

[SalamanderJoe]

Risks? Make it sound like a bomb or something.

Erm, none I believe. I've had it for a while now, and I reckon it has a wider and more diverse range of exlusive titles than the 360, it has a less embarassing motion add-on if you want it and it rarely crashes. If anything, I have noticed since getting it that my mates all seem to own 360s so I do feel a little alone when on Killzone 3, but apart from that the little black box hasn't let me down...yet.

 

[Saltyk]

I once heard that the Blu-Ray player is not meant to be used for long periods of time. You can play games on it all day, but not Blu-rays. Some people would supposedly watch a movie, then pop in a game only to burn out the drive. This was supposedly due to the drive not being designed for long term heavy use. Which is why PS3s download game data. I've never had this issue, but a friend that works at GameStop, told me plenty of people have come through with that issue. Supposedly, even under warranty Sony will charge you $150 to replace the drive.

Once you've bought a PS3, there's a pretty good chance you'll own one, and you really don't want that happening.


Seriously though, just watch out for the controllers. They're delicate as shit, and I've had to replace mine twice already.

/edit
Also, it seems like half the time playing CoD online, the frame rate drops down a heap, but I've never had that happen to me on Xbox.

I had my playstation controlers for three years and the only problem is that i never clean them. Not one problem. It depends on how hard and aggrisle you play with them. Also I use them atlest 3 hours every day. The only reason I got rid of on is that I had too many.

Yeah, I'm wondering what that guy does with his controllers. Crack walnuts with them? Personally, I have had no problems with mine. EVER. Hell, when they say they are low on battery power, you still have a good hour before they die.

 

[NoCure]

Personally speaking. I bought a used PS3 (2nd Generation Fat) from Gamestop for $250.

I have not had one issue with the system in 3 years. I ran on the original HDD (40gb) for about a year and have been running on a new 500gb HDD for the remaining time.

The most common issues I have seen would be HDD Failure, or Blu-Ray Drive Failure. But both of those can be fixed by purchasing a new one online and following a youtube video on replacing the broken piece.

 

[Pearwood]

Well in the console war Sony's main advantage is a strong list of exclusives and reliability. Advantage of a 360 is if a game is going to be multi-platform then 9 times out of 10 the console it's first made for is the 360 then ported to the ps3. But with games that come out of Japan the reverse is usually true so it depends what you're looking for. Buying a console for two games isn't worth it though.

Oh and the controllers are much better for people with smaller hands!

 

[Droppa Deuce]

Your only risk is being too awesome.

I have a 360 too, but got tired of giving my money to Microsoft after my 3rd RROD in 2 years. had a Slim for 2+ years and it's all good.

 

[NeedAUserName]

I've owned a fat model PS3 since release. Never had any maintenance problems. That's about all the help I can give you.

Same here, no problems at all. I think the fat models look better. I like my shiny ps3.

I wished I could agree. Mine YLoD'd yesterday. But before that it was 4 and a half years of clean sailing.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

I've owned a fat model PS3 since release. Never had any maintenance problems. That's about all the help I can give you.

well that's all fine and dandy, but then again there are some people who have had 360s that never failed. i'm looking for more what are the general risks of me dropping my 250-300 dollars on a used system so i know whether or not to just buy more 360 games or use it to help build a gaming PC in the future

First, yellow light of death is MUCH LESS LIKELY than the 360's bricking (in it's plentiful ways). But, as you said be wary about obtaining anything warranty-less, including a ps3.

My suggestion is save it as you will likely have a while before twisted metal. PC gaming is a frugal gaming experience as most games drop from $60 to $50 on pc ports of console games (or visa versa).

the other thing is, i don't have a credit card so... i can't get any of those good deals online. yeah, i'm just getting into my adult life with moving out and all so i don't have much

 

[Palademon]

Well, PS3s can fail, they've failed for some friends, and I'd say the risk is that you can't remove their harddrives when that happens.

 

[moretimethansense]

I've owned a fat model PS3 since release. Never had any maintenance problems. That's about all the help I can give you.

well that's all fine and dandy, but then again there are some people who have had 360s that never failed. i'm looking for more what are the general risks of me dropping my 250-300 dollars on a used system so i know whether or not to just buy more 360 games or use it to help build a gaming PC in the future

The YLoD is very rare, I think about 5% of fat PS3s suffered from it.

If you like the PS3 line up then there's no real reason not to get one, though I wouldn't throw out your PS2 just in case, the first gen PS3s are a little harder to get.

One thing though, the PS3 is a bit of a power hog, when it's off no problem, when it's on you may notice a slight difference in your electric bill.
Frankly the biggest drawback is having to deal with 360 fanboys all the time.

To sum up:

If you like the PS3 line up, go ahead, there's no reson not to.
IF you don't spend the money elsewhere.

 

[icyneesan]

Diarrhea, vomiting, lose of hair, Erectile Dysfunction, lose of scalp, heart attack, spontaneous combustion, and Pregnancy. Consult your physician before buying PS3 to see if it's for you. Sony is not responsible for any of the above side effects.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I bought my PS3 used almost a year ago and it's worked perfectly ever since I got it. I haven't had a single problem with it, but then again I've taken care of mine extremely well. I normally take care of my consoles, but considering that the PS3 was my most expensive I took extra special care of it. If you want the exclusives, I would recommend getting it as soon as possible.

Although, mine is a slim and I've never had a problem with the yellow light of despair. I would recommend getting a PS3 slim and a fat PS2 to play your PS2 games because I've heard that playing PS2 games on your PS3 isn't very good for it and can make it die.

 

[Mallefunction]

Got my fatboy used and I've had no problems. Just make sure you shut it down correctly and that you give it space like you would any other system to keep from overheating and it'll be fine. I would be worried about the warranty thing, but ask to see it in action so that you know it works.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

I've owned a fat model PS3 since release. Never had any maintenance problems. That's about all the help I can give you.

well that's all fine and dandy, but then again there are some people who have had 360s that never failed. i'm looking for more what are the general risks of me dropping my 250-300 dollars on a used system so i know whether or not to just buy more 360 games or use it to help build a gaming PC in the future

The YLoD is very rare, I think about 5% of fat PS3s suffered from it.

If you like the PS3 line up then there's no real reason not to get one, though I wouldn't throw out your PS2 just in case, the first gen PS3s are a little harder to get.

One thing though, the PS3 is a bit of a power hog, when it's off no problem, when it's on you may notice a slight difference in your electric bill.
Frankly the biggest drawback is having to deal with 360 fanboys all the time.

To sum up:

If you like the PS3 line up, go ahead, there's no reson not to.
IF you don't spend the money elsewhere.

i already have 2 360s, so those fanboys can't say anything.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Risks: Sony is a douche and fucks you out of another feature they advertised in the name of curbing piracy and getting some meh games.


I might just take my chances with the unreliable 360 if I were buying a console...

So you'd take the chances with a console with a massive failure rate over a feature that next to nobody used on the PS3?

Well you're priotities are set right.

It's the principle of the thing. I don't care if I used that feature or not, the fact that it was ripped off in the name of curbing something that isn't curbable isn't kosher in my book.


Besides the only game I'd use the 360 for is RDR. I can live without it if the damn thing RRoD's. I'm primarily a PC gamer and that wouldn't change after buying a console.

I can't justify recommending a console that has a 54% failure rate over a console that had a nearly universally unused feature that was removed to make it more secure. I'm actually trying to help the OP out here with his question, not spout things I don't like about the company's actions.

On that subject, I don't get why people give shit to Sony for doing something about piracy. It's like giving hell to a family that falls victim to a Ponzi scheme because Ponzi schemes happen. Yes people realize piracy is incurable. Police presence doesn't cure crime either.