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Sony attacks BBC Watchdog's PS3 hardware failure report
Tonight's episode of the BBC consumer advocacy program Watchdog will scrutinize a phenomenon which a few of you might be familiar with -- the PlayStation 3's "Yellow Light of Death." However, before the episode hit the airwaves, Sony UK Managing Director Ray Maguire issued a six-page response to the Watchdog team, picking apart the program's investigative methods and questioning their findings. During the episode, the Watchdog team sends Sony a technical report for three PS3s which had succumbed to hardware failure. This is one of Sony's biggest issues with the report -- Maguire explained, "The testing concerned a sample of only three PS3s, which cannot, on any basis, be deemed to be representative of a UK user base of 2.5 million." According to Maguire, Sony's got some numbers of its own for hardware failure rates. With a quick search of the company's warranty database, Maguire found that, "fewer than one half of one per cent of units have been reported as failing in circumstances where the yellow indicator is illuminated." You should be able to watch the controversial episode on the Watchdog site within the next few days (or after the break) -- but GamesIndustry has the entire transcript of Sony's letter for your immediate perusal.
Digital Foundry examines why 360 and PS3 can't take the heat
You could make the argument that system reliability has been the preeminent conversation of this console generation, but it's one often clouded by speculation and a lack of reliable information. Digital Foundry talked to Darren Thickbroom, an engineer for an independent console workshop, who offered a lot of revealing insight into the issue. Thickbroom explained that the massive amount of heat generated by the HD systems -- exacerbated by high-end technology crammed into a small compartment -- contribute to their eventual demise (and all because you played on them so often). And like many "exclusive" games this generation, this is by no means constrained to one console. Though Xbox 360 failure rates are abysmal, Thickbroom noted that more PS3s have been appearing in his workshop. His gloomy prognosis? "It comes down to how much you play it. People might disagree with us, but this is the way we see it: if you handle the machines day-in, day-out with the issues they've got, I'd expect to change them every year." We have the same rule for our underwear, so that part should be easy to remember.
