I've probably been gaming for nearly 20 years now (considering my first system was in 1993...) and I've always had good luck with my gaming consoles. Even at an early age, I've always taken good care of them and then never really broke down. I still have a working SNES and PS1 lying around somewhere as well as a functioning PS2 (that one's not so impressive though). But recently, that all changed. I was playing a shoddily released game (which I won't name) that many people have complained about having lots of bugs and issues with freezing... but I didn't have too much trouble with it until it suddenly shut off in the middle of playing. Naturally, the first thing one does in this situation is try and turn it back on. No dice. Instead, it just gave me the dreaded yellow light, shut back off, and the red light blinked indefinitely until I finally unplugged the damn thing.

Needless to say, my PS3 is now dead after only 6 years of owning it. I've never had a system die before or even really start to give problems that fast (my other Sony systems eventually gave me trouble but still technically run). What's worse is I'll probably lose all of my save data that was on there and my damn game disc is still stuck in the system! >.<

This is probably my worst ever video game related experience and I've been spending the entire day up to this point trying to figure out how to get my disc out or my data off the hard drive... but neither one of those things seems possible. Probably only Sony can get the disc out now and as for my data... well, I read that Sony wipes your HDD when they do repairs, so that's probably gone for good. That pisses me off so much because I had more than one game in-progress that I wanted to go back to and starting from the beginning/losing progress drives me absolutely insane.

It might take me a long time to get over this, but I guess I'm just trying to vent a little bit to see if it helps me feel any better. So far, it doesn't :/

How long do consoles usually last for everyone else?

I've only ever has one console die on me. The Microsoft XBOX. (Original)

Sucks about your PS3.... very very few have died compared to the Wii and 360 in my area. In fact... yours is only tge 4th or 5th i've even heard of dying.

I've been gaming since I was 3.... so about 17 years for me.

sonicmcmuffin : Yes, the issue is most likely overheating. I read that the initial launch PS3s didn't have proper thermal paste applied to them which increased their likelihood of overheating and causing a YLOD.

I'm not sure if there's any repair shop in town that can do much about it. PC techs don't necessarily know how to fix consoles. Gamestop said they can't even take them to refurbish them at their factory at this point and say that really only Sony can reliably fix this (and by "fix" they send you a new one while they work on your old one and erase all the data to give to the next person who has an issue).

Game was WWE '13... not sure why that matters though.

Crazy Li : it didn't really matter I just wanted to know because my friends had a few games that caused there PS3's to break down... Though they tended to be of the Over-rated FPS category ... 

I didn't know you was into wrestling lol...

Crazy Li : Well, I can relate to you when it come to systems failing on you like poof...Having a four year old brother kind of makes all your systems die immediately....Like Uhh...Good example, Pennies are stuck in my wii right now. As for how long I've been gaming ( post cause leggy did) I've been gaming since I was one year old almost being 15 now that would be pretty close to 14 years, as always enjoy your time on Vizzed.com and have a great day.

Honestly depending on how much use it got 6 years is a pretty long lifespan for a Console these days. I mean longer than most Xbox 360's have lasted and really smaller electronics like that aren't built as sturdy as they used to be.

They Yellow Light of death is usually = bad news but have you tried everything?

This video looked interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ic1_TY-GU

Also, have you tried swapping the HDD?

I got mine on launch day, 60gb original.
It broke 2 years in.
But i bought the extended warranty so I sent it off to the insurer who repaired it.
Then a while later, broke again.
Sent it off, no news for 2 weeks.
Finally got them to talk to me (unhelpfull gits) and it couldnt be repaired.
Under these circumstances they are meant to replace it, however 3 weeks previous they stopped making 60gb originals, and launched 120gb slim ps3.
They gave me about 65% of my original purchase cost, the ps3 was much cheaper now so i bought the slim(much quieter), double hdd space, 2 free games, with enough left to buy another extended warranty, and another game.
Honest truth here:
If your ps3 breaks, and is repaired, it is liable to break again, and again, and again. Shorter periods each time.
Commonly the issue was heat, the solder connections melting. Theyd solder it again, and turn the fan up. Eventualy it sounds like a hoover.
Idealy you would want to clean the old solder and do it fresh but apparently that still isnt flawless, heating the solder means the chips and boards take half the heat themselves, amongst other things.
Half the time sonny just send you a new one. Over here at least, if you have no warranty, theyl give you a discounted one if you send in the old one.
If you care that much, I recomend you get it repaired,back up the data and then get it replaced when it dies again.
If you open it up and it is a solder problem you can fix it yourself with a solder iron.
Getting the disk back shouldnt be hard either, just take it apart then piece it back together, youtube probably has a tutorial.
I remember telling my highschool teacher all this. He got it fixed, took it to a shop, traded it, and bought a new one.
Theyre probably wise to that by now, if i was a store I wouldnt accept a console that had been repaired (obvious hints like louder fan).
Incidentaly, if you subscribe to ps+ you can backup your data online.
For an original ps3, 6 years is good.
The more you use them the greater the risk. The slims took those things into account though.

My theory is that "back in the day" everything was build to last. That is why people still play with the NES in many households but now, the companies expect that since you are going to buy the latest console or a version of it ever since it comes out and you throw the old one away, they dont bother to make them so that you could still be playing ten years from now.

This does not only apply to game consoles though. Its the same with every product you can think of. Why make forexample boots your kid could wear when he or she shares your shoesize? You have bought ten new boots between that period just becausce we need the money and we told you you need new boots each year.

Get it?

The only time one of my systems broke was my GameCube when i was 6. My brother told me that if you touch the sensor inside the GameCube it would break it. So being the idiot child i was i decided to open it when nobody was looking and touch it. So it broke and nobody knew that s how i broke it. Everybody thought i broke it because i used to whip it around when i would lose in super smash bros.melee.lol

Brigand :
Actualy, I think its because they were so basic. They had little in the means of delicate pieces in them and it wasnt cluttered.
Modern consoles have so much tech rammed in them, its so much more likely something will break.

thenumberone :
You might be right there. I really think you do. But.

But I also remember how the first generation of PS2 almost always broke down and the flat ones who came later seemed to even play ps1 games better. Also, wasnt there something wrong with the first ps3 consoles they let out?

No matter what, I think the company policies in gaming have really been changed to the worse since the eighties in many ways. But I cant really argue with you there as in even some calculator is more complex these days than an NES but it was build around this box that could really take a beating. Unlike, I guess, these modern ones.

Crazy Li :

WWE 13?

Oddly enough... that game freezes more for me than any other game especially in Attitude Era mode.

Oh, man that sucks. My consoles usually last forever, but my PS2 is finally breaking down. I think the laser reader thing is broken-it just randomly decides there's not a disc in there sometimes, even when it darn well should know there is one. Course, it waited until they're not making them anymore to die, huh?

As to getting your disc out, you're probably out of luck. The hard drive thing though-I heard that you can download your hard drive, but I don't know how to do it. You can maybe buy a new one and swap them out? Can you still buy new hard drives for your PS3? I know you could, at one point. Might be an option to look into.

Jordanv78 :
thudricdholee :

Swapping hard drives won't do anything because if they send me a new PS3, it won't read my old HDD. Sony designs the PS3 so that each model puts its own unique code on the HDD and it won't accept any other HDD without formatting it with that special code. So if I put a different HDD in there, it'll ask me to format and that'll wipe all my data. There is NO way to get the data off of it without using the same exact PS3 that originally put the data there.

legacyme3 : I've heard that a lot... but I honestly never had that problem. It froze maybe one time ever and never had any problems in Attitude Era. It just randomly shut off during a Universe mode match and suddenly it was dead without warning.

Crazy Li :

Depending on whst you did in Universe, it could have been a partial fault with the game.

Universe has a lot of bugs, especially when it comes to custom characters, shows, arenas, and titles. Its a pretty taxing game on the PS3, and I get the feeling it was rushed without the usual playtesting it gets.

Its also possible your issue came from a lack of proper ventilation. I'm sure someone else probably said this by now, but some PS3s had a real poor soldering job, and can be faulty unless you use ventilation extremely well. Luckily for me, I have great ventilation (which is why despite hours of leaving it on in a row, it performs well)

legacyme3 : I have pretty good ventilation which may be why it was fine for 6 years of fairly extensive play... but I think WWE '13 was just too much stress on a PS3 with shoddy soldering. My universe was 100% custom. Only using CAWs with custom entrances (and custom entrance themes and videos) in a custom promotion with its own logo... the arenas fought in were custom with some custom logos placed in them... so every match, it basically had to load everything from my created data rather than reference what was pre-built.

This may be a lot of work for the system... but it's kind of the only reason I wanted the game in the first place. I never expected them to make it improperly so it cost me my system :/

I wish I could get Yukes (or would it be THQ's hypothetical responsibility for it not being tested enough?) to reimburse me for the damage to the console but that's clearly a pipe dream.

Brigand :
I found ps2 quite reliable.
Yes the ps3 first gen controllers commonly broke after a year or so, and they didnt support rumble.
A ness or a gameboy are kind of beautifull, because they are so absurdly simple and durable.
Its like mobiles, the older ones are more sturdy.

@crazy
You could never prove it was there games fault.
And I doubt it was singularly that. The console heating then cooling gradualy fatigues it. Like if you repeatedly stretch a rubber band. The game probably just finished it off. Its not that the soldering was poorly done per say.
As I said though, if it was the solder you can fix it. I never bothered because I had a warranty, my friend followed a youtube tutorial and re soldered his. It worked like a charm.

Crazy Li : Sounds like the infamous Yellow Light of Death. One of my PS3’s did that to me about two years ago. I ended up having to get a slim model after taking my phat model to get serviced so I could get what was on my HDD.

It’s irritating and really annoying because you’d think given the amount of money they charge for these consoles that they’d make it more durable etc. My slim model still works but I have to buy a new HDD because my 320 GB is corrupted. It got corrupted after a firmware update. Coincidentally the day after the firmware update that botched my HDD they released the new superslim model. I did some reading up on it and it turns out a lot of people had the same problem.

Although PS3 (Newer model) is supposedly improved over the first two incarnations and even though it’s cheaper now I am convinced that the firmware update was deliberately suppose to cause problems because the newer model was being released. I would rather buy a new HDD and install it myself, (which should be interesting) rather than spending $265 to $300 for a new superslim model. I’ve been a loyal Sony gamer since the first PS1 was released. The inconsistency of these consoles has me a bit annoyed and as I said I think that the firmware update was deliberate to push the newer model, I think Sony needed to do something to boost their holiday sales.

It doesn’t make it right but it is what it is. I’ve been playing video games my whole life, almost 30 years and the PS3 is the only console I’ve seen that’s had problems. I think my NES, SNES, Sega Genesis and my PS1 all still worked when I gave it to relatives after I upgraded. My PS2 I had to send to Sony once for a new laser but beyond that I never had a problem with any of them.

Yes the technology of video games today is in some ways better then it was 25 years ago but sometimes better technology doesn’t necessarily make things all that much better. They do have a responsibility to the consumer to make sure that these consoles are working and durable for the price charged to that consumer. Just my opinion as a video game fanatic, conspiracy theorist and writer.

I feel your frustration.

Crazy Li :

Yukes wouls be your best hope (in that hypothetical situation), as THQ went bankrupt, and is selling off all their assets in a week or so (22nd) and it's likely that EA will pick up the WWE license.

If it's the YLOD like speculated above, you are probably out of luck. Sony never reimburses people from my experience.