Sony, why hast thou foresaken me?

[Grand Design]

No, this isn't an EQ2 rant.

So, I was on my way home from work and listening to the news.  Warner has decided to go with blu-ray as their HD choice.  I smiled in smug satisfaction that my PS3 would not be Sony's next Betamax.  I am so fucking smart.  I arrived home, ate some lasagna for dinner and popped in Rock Band for a quick go before watching Zodiac later tonight.  Man, that will be awesome - Fincher's Zodiac playing on my never-to-be-obsolete Playstation 3 blu-motherfucking-ray player. 

I kicked things off with Maps, moved on to Hand That Feeds, and rocked on with Creep.  I actually nailed the first three 100% - hey, I need some glory even if I do still play medium.  A quick smoke break and a beer later, its time for Epic.  I completely screw up the intro, but no big deal - this isn't Guitar Hero where I feel fucking obligated to hit every damned note.  So I tell myself.  About three quarters through, the disc goes into a spastic hiccup rendering my soulful singer locked in a constant ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.  I actually laughed briefly at the comedy of the situation.

Oh well.  I reset the system, pull the disc out and clean it with gentleness.  After all, paying for another copy of Rock Band would suck.  Should I play Epic again or move on to the next tier?  I pop the disc back in and my heart flutters as the gentle orchestra of a waking Playstation 3 warms my soul.  Instead of Rock Band, I get the jarring Ratchet and Clank music from the demo that I downloaded.  Navigating the menus reveals no disc.  Nowhere.  I try Guitar Hero 3.  Nothing.  I try NCAA 07.  Nothing.  I try Moving Pictures - it should recognize a simple, if not badass, CD.  I try Full Metal Jacket.  I need R. Lee Ermey to whip this grabastic piece of amphibian shit into shape.  Nothing.

If I were a slightly younger man, I would probably have worked myself into a frothing rage at this point, but I have to think of things like my heart.

Google tells me that this is not uncommon.  Google suggests that I call Sony and ship this mother back.  Google also tells me that this insane German can perform miracles to revive a PS3.  But short of putting my Rock Band career on hold for a few weeks or trying to mimic a German electrocleric, are there any suggestions on a home remedy that doesn't involve voiding my warranty?

I'm thinking of laying it flat with all of the cables unplugged and lighting candles around it overnight.

Guess I'll be watching Zodiac on the PS2.

You will never foresake me, PS2.  Right?

[stray]

Damn, that sucks. I guess it wouldn't hurt to reset all system settings maybe? Get everything back to the default. See how it goes. Or at the very least, fudge around with the automatic "Play Disc at Startup" setting hidden in there somewhere.

[Grand Design]

Agreed - I am still in the 'wait to see if it unfucks itself' phase*, but a restore is my next option.

I was hopeful until Google calmly explained that this is not uncommon, but I will still try!

*Denial

[Tairnyn]

That's no fun at all. It may be a heat expansion problem, so I would probably try putting it in the freezer for a little bit to see if it helps.

[rattran]

Yeah, reset everything, and if all else fails call Sony's fine personnel for an rma. Expect 

Or, sacrifice a goat. It couldn't hurt.

[Margalis]

Did you have it standing up? That's bad. leads to misaligned lasers.

[Azazel]

I wish these fuckwit manufacturers would stop creating vertical-standing consoles if they're going to lead to fucked-up consoles and damaged discs.

I was reading on a different forum a couple of days ago someone's advice to another guy to keep his 360 vertical and not horizontal to help it lose heat.


I have my 360 supported on 4 corners about 1 1/2" off the bench of the TV unit by minature paint pots - I also have a desk fan nearby aimed at the console which I turn on when the 360 is on. Talk about a ridiculous way to feel you have to treat a piece of consumer electronics!

Any advice on the Wii? Should that be horizontal as well?

[schild]

Any advice on the Wii? Should that be horizontal as well?

Mine stays pretty cool in the "unplugged" position.

OH GOD, I SLAY ME.

Seriously though, what are you still playing on the Wii? Everybody votes?

[Grand Design]

Did you have it standing up? That's bad. leads to misaligned lasers.

I've wondered about that but I've had my PS2 vertical for five years now and it works fine.

This seems like a manufacturing problem since I've only had the thing for about three months and play it maybe an hour a day.

[Azazel]

Any advice on the Wii? Should that be horizontal as well?

Mine stays pretty cool in the "unplugged" position.

OH GOD, I SLAY ME.

Seriously though, what are you still playing on the Wii? Everybody votes?

Mine has been plugged in but inactive for the past most-of-a-year. We had some games of Fake Bowlng the other day on the new very-large HDTV, and the big TV did indeed make Fake Bowling more funner.

Remember 2 or 3 weeks ago when I mentioned I just added 50% to my Wii library with Mario Party and Big Brain Academy (because it came with a Wiimote)? Well, it looks like tomorrow we'll finally be loading them for the first time!

Although, I cleaned up the entertainment area the other day and removed the Gamecube entirely. I did run through most of my small GC library on the Wii to make sure they worked okay (and to see again which games are worth playing). I guess that counts in a halfarsed way.

But still, I'd hate for my Fake Bowling disc to get ringed like the 360 discs seem to. Or worse yet, one of my Rogue Squadron GC discs. (anyone notice how much it sucks that you have to load GameCube gaves via Wiimote pointing?)

And I do want to get that crossbow training thing soonish.

[HaemishM]

I've had my Wii vertical since release, in a dusty house. The only troubles I've ever had were with EA Sports games, but since the Wii EA Sports team is made of hydroencephaliac crack whores, that's to be expected. Since the Wii is mostly Gamecube hardware souped up, it's had many years of burn-in and QA to ensure it doesn't shit itself at the drop of a hat.

[Yegolev]

My Cube is going like a motherfucker, while the drive motor in my Wii is tits-up.  My SCPH-30000 PS2 is also going fine as long as you don't put a blue or black disc in it, while my PS3 had some sort of breakdown of the graphics subsystem.  All of these new consoles are garbage.  You know who's not forsaking me?  My not-overclocked PC that I built with my own two hands.

[Strazos]

360?

[Samwise]

You know who's not forsaking me?  My not-overclocked PC that I built with my own two hands.

 

[Yegolev]

360?

My 360 is running like a motherfucker and I'd appreciate you not jinxing it.

[Grand Design]

UPDATE:

I waited until today to call Sony since my warranty is fresh.  After all, there were the few people who had this problem and it magically unfucked itself overnight.

I am not one of those people.

I called Sony and went through the five minute recording with such helpful advice as 'make sure the disc is inserted label side up.'  After navigating the phone system I was promptly disconnected because of call volumes.  Having worked in telemarketing, I knew the correct thing to do is not to take their advice and call back later, but rather to repeatedly call back immediately and yell loudly at the robot answering the phone.

I got through on the second try, was told to wait fifteen minutes and listened to the soothing sounds of Seal on the hold muzak.  Kiss from a rose, baby.  A gentleman picked up after about ten minutes.  I knew the steps we would go through, so I had already backed up my save files and updated the system.  Here is what we did:

- Disconnect from any Media servers (I have three but only use one, so this advice actually gave me hope.)
- Reset the system settings (you have to disconnect the Media servers again after doing so.)
- Restore the system to it's default state.

Each step did nothing to help my PS3.  The service rep actually stopped me before the system restore and asked if I wanted to just do the RMA.  I got the feeling that he knew this would end in a return.  We did the restore anyway.  We had some small talk and I learned a few things:

- He personally had not heard of this happening with Rock Band
- He said that almost all of the calls with this problem concerned Call of Duty 4 and that there is a problem with CoD in some manner (be warned, although I suspect its still a PS3 problem since I wasn't playing CoD.)
- The return is (as of now) fully paid for by Sony (apparently with the PSP you now pay for shipping yourself.)
- The PS3 must be signed for at arrival (obviously.)
- In 10 to 14 days.
- The remainder of my warranty (like 10 months??!?) is still in effect.

All in all, he was very helpful, anything but patronizing and nothing what I expected from customer service. 

Thank you, James from SCEA.




(Oh, and Zodiac was fucking great - go now to a place that rents or sells videotapes or DVDs and rent it or buy it and watch it.)