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Sony says PS3 is like Energizer Bunny

Sony Computer Entertainment America’s communication’s chief Dave Karraker was proud to note on the official PlayStation blog an independent PlayStation 3 “stress test” that put the console through triple-digit hours of operation in various adverse conditions that no gamer would endure.

The test, as conducted by PS3 Vault, is titled, “How to kill a Ps3 Console” and sends the machine into zero degree temperatures and sauna-level heat for over four days at a time.

The first test environment was the typical family room – the place nearly all gamers will be using their PlayStation 3 consoles – where the machine ran for a continuous 108 hours with a mix of Blu-ray Disc movie playback and videogaming. The only recorded anomaly was a “slight vibration coming from the tray area which lasted approximately 20 seconds.”

The second test environment moved the PlayStation 3 into the back of freezer van, where temperatures started at 50 degrees Fahrenheit and progressively dipped down to zero. “We noticed a slight sluggishness in playback once the temperature reached 0 degrees,” the test notes. “This was maintained for the last 24 hours, with 12 hours to go we thought we were going to crash with a sudden blackout to the screen, [but] this was tracked down to condensation on the cord for the screen.”

The final testing area was inside a sauna, where temperatures started at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and went up to 120 degrees over the last 24 hours. “Strangely enough we thought this would prove to be the ultimate area to kill the console, and to our surprise the only incident we noticed was a slight burning smell that came in around 64hours at 110F,” read the test report. “The console was extremely hot when we finished the overall test but had come thru all environments with flying colours.”

According to the test notes, the test console is now back in a normal environment and is exhibiting no abnormal operation.

“A lot of noise has been made recently about the reliability issues of one of our competitor’s systems. So, not surprisingly, some of our more ambitious PlayStation faithful decided to run their own stress test on the PlayStation 3,” wrote Karraker of SCEA. “They put it in a freezer at zero degrees for up to 108 hours and they put it in a sauna at 120 degrees for up to 64 hours — all the while running games and Blu-ray Disc movies on it. Did it fail? Nope. Like the Energizer Bunny, it kept going and going and going.”

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Xbox360
By PlasmaBomb on 8/15/2007 8:54:37 AM , Rating: 5
So when are they going to try that out on an xbox 360?




RE: Xbox360
By Eurasianman on 8/15/2007 9:03:18 AM , Rating: 3
HAHA!

XBOX 360 in a enclosed area with 3 inch clearing on all sides. Ambient temperature, 70F. 4 hours later... RRoD.


RE: Xbox360
By StevoLincolnite on 8/15/2007 9:11:55 AM , Rating: 3
Nothing can beat the durability of the old consoles in the snes era, or even the N64, I forgot how many times I chewed on my snes controllers cord, or kicked the console across the room by accident, even getting agro at a game and slamming the controller as hard as I could into the ground couldn't break the machine, and the other bonus? It had no fans, it was silent! and there was no heat! (None that could be noticed anyway) Its a shame consoles aren't made as durable as the golden console days, I doubt even the PS3 or Wii are as durable as the older Nintendo and Sega consoles.
This just seems as if sony are trying to gain some fans by saying "Our console is better than yours".


RE: Xbox360
By GeeSussFreeK on 8/15/2007 9:24:49 AM , Rating: 5
Hello rose color glasses man :)

Someone seems to have forgotten the most time consuming element of the old console systems...just getting the thing to start! To start a game with the SNES and NES (more so the NES) one had to expend many many lungs worth of air and the most careful of cartage insertion.

I would say they were less audible, but not any less fidgety. And I have thrown my PS2 controllers around and they still function. I got an SNES control to explode once when I threw it down. I would say that all the accessories are just as suseptable to being destroyed if they are hit right.


RE: Xbox360
By Flunk on 8/15/2007 9:46:18 AM , Rating: 2
My SNES still works (My parents bought it for me on launch day in 1991) and it has been used extensively since. It may not be a stress test, but endurance wise that's stellar.

Also, you don't have issues with startup if you keep the cartridges clean. Dirty cartridges vs scratched up DVDs, at least the cartridges will play sometimes.

As for recent consoles, the Gamecube is built like a brick and I have never heard of anyone having issues with one.

XBox 360 is an anomoly in console systems. Other systems have had problems in the past (PS2 and blue discs) but this whole RROD thing is completely unacceptible. If I buy a console system I expect it to work properly for 10 years as long as I take care of it (and I will).


RE: Xbox360
By Wolfpup on 8/15/2007 10:05:15 AM , Rating: 2
I totally agree. I expect my consoles to last indefinitely-I want (and sometimes do) pull out systems 10, 15, 20 years later, and expect them to work.

The NES and Genesis era consoles did NOT have any serious reliability issues. The above poster sounds like he/she abused his/her systems. They did NOT require "blowing" on the games to work. I have never done that, and in fact I think Nintendo back in the day said not to do that.

There is NO reason for cartridge games to get dirty (or discs to get scratched for that matter) unless you're doing something wrong (or in the later case...you have a 360 that chews discs...)


RE: Xbox360
By omnicronx on 8/15/2007 10:13:57 AM , Rating: 2
have you ever heard of dust? i remember having to blow my NES games off all the time, regardless of what nintendo says was right or wrong, they would not work until i blew the dust out to uncover the contacts. I think they just said not to blow because people would spit on the games through blowing, then would put them directly into their console.

On the other hand i knew stupid people who would blow directly into their console, thats a no no.


RE: Xbox360
By Kefner on 8/15/2007 10:36:28 AM , Rating: 2
Whether you had to blow on yours or not doesn't mean it didn't work for many others. I had to do that almost all the time. Now I recently pulled out my NES for some old school gaming, and it took me quite awhile to get the cartridge in the right spot for the NES to actually play it, blowing air on it or not. What I did was went to totalconsole.com, and ordered a new cartridge reader. Basically open up your NES and replace the old reader with the new reader. Works great every time now, and now I no longer have to blow on them. :)


RE: Xbox360
By GeeSussFreeK on 8/15/2007 2:07:43 PM , Rating: 2
right, I was just saying that there were still issues you had to deal with back in the "golden days" is all. I have can still use my original NES and my PS1. Both have had to be cleaned of dust from time to time. Then again, you wouldn't have issues if you stuck a SNES in a closed in space and couldn't vent properly, so there is an extra dynamic, but they weren't without issues for sure.

And no, I didn't misuse my Nintendo...well, not more than any other kid did I presume. On that note though, I did have a sega master system blow a power transducer (I think that is what it is, I'm not an electrician). So even they early consoles could blow up under the right conditions (no, it wasn't abused either). I think it was just age.


RE: Xbox360
By StevoLincolnite on 8/16/2007 10:41:04 AM , Rating: 2
You still cant say that the older consoles were MORE prone to fault than the Xbox 360, at least if it was an issue where a game doesnt work, cleaning the console or the cart would fix it.
When your xbox 360 starts screaming "I'm a teapot" and starts throwing around red rings of death, then its time to get it fixed, at least with the golden days you can be assured your console would last, and such issues didn't arise till the Playstation 1/2 and on a larger scale the Xbox 360 happened.


RE: Xbox360
By dflynchimp on 8/15/2007 11:39:53 AM , Rating: 2
mother dearest once threw my N64 out of the back door, where it landed, bounced and skidded across solid concrete. Twas a good five feet drop...

Thing still runs like a charm...


RE: Xbox360
By roadhog74 on 8/15/2007 9:34:55 PM , Rating: 2
did you not clean you room again?


RE: Xbox360
By FITCamaro on 8/15/2007 10:38:10 AM , Rating: 2
Our original NES still works. :)


RE: Xbox360
By Omega215D on 8/15/2007 12:05:55 PM , Rating: 2
Thank god for cans of compressed air to do that for us =D.

I remember having to slide the reset button when a game had frozen due to maybe dust or a little jiggle of the cartridge.


RE: Xbox360
By sprockkets on 8/15/2007 4:29:58 PM , Rating: 2
You are referring to the stupid chip in the NES that plagued the system for anti piracy reasons.

Seeing as how the old consoles were solid state with putting out very little heat, yeah, of course they are going to be more reliable. The XBOX 360? How many damn heat pipes do you need?


RE: Xbox360
By otispunkmeyer on 8/16/2007 3:39:30 AM , Rating: 2
i have to expend many lung fulls of air jsut to get my 360 working. i have no idea why blowing in the DVD drive works either. but it does.

its like theres a negative pressure inside that just sucks all the dust into the disc drive :/


RE: Xbox360
By darkpaw on 8/15/2007 9:38:16 AM , Rating: 4
The price for progress is complexity. You didn't need complex cooling for a 286 either, but people don't complain about needing a HSF for their new processors.

Sure the new systems are more complex, but unless you really still want to play in an 8-bit mode with no graphics/net/media support you could still have simple. Hell, the current PS2 probably matches the old systems in simplicity now, but thats due to many years of refinement and shrinkage.


RE: Xbox360
By omnicronx on 8/15/2007 9:41:30 AM , Rating: 2
ya very true, passive cooling/ no moving parts is fun and all,
but i think we are just a weee bit past that stage now ;)
Even the wii is not cooled passively i dont think.(or GC for that matter)


RE: Xbox360
By webdawg77 on 8/15/2007 9:53:18 AM , Rating: 2
Couldn't we go back to no moving parts? How much does 4 GB of flash memory cost now? It's maybe $20, but that's only if you buy 1. If you bought in bulk, you could cut it in half or more? If you need more space for a game, then just increase the size.

Then, you'd never have to worry anymore about load times, about your disc being scratched, about how much "space" was available, and the power consumption would be cut. Why don't they do this already? I think games on flash based media would be a very good thing.