Extreme PS3 "stress test" garners praise from Sony

Clearly due to the current heat on Microsoft concerning the Xbox 360 RROD, disk scratching, and overheating scandals, Sony's Dave Karraker is mooning on the company's official blog over a recent PS3 Vault "stress test" called "How to kill a PS3 console" which showed the company's game system to be surprisingly resilient in the face of extreme conditions. "A lot of noise has been made recently about the reliability issues of one of our competitor's systems," Karraker said, then went on to kick some sand in Redmond's eye by adding "Did it fail? Nope. Like the Energizer Bunny, it kept going and going and going." Admittedly, the tests -- which included running games and Blu-ray movies for 108 hours in a typical "living room" environment, placing the console in a freezer van then lowering the temperature from 50 degrees to zero, and powering the PS3 in a sauna where heat increased from 100 degrees to 120 degrees over a nearly three-day session -- were quite extreme. In the end, however, the testers say besides being "extremely hot" after coming out of the sauna, the system is running fine and back in regular use. Microsoft, the ball's in your court.

[Via DailyTech]

[Marc Levy @ Aug 15th 2007 1:26PM]

Then why is it, the demo units at EB/ Gamestop keep freezing?

[Dave @ Aug 15th 2007 1:29PM]

so you can get a life.

[Joe @ Aug 15th 2007 1:33PM]

I've had mine lock up 4 times in 4 months. Twice while saving game progress and twice while playing the game. All 4 times it was the same title (Godfather: Don's Edition) so I'm not sure if it's the game or the console.

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Aug 15th 2007 1:53PM]

"so you can get a life."

Practice what you preach, idiot.

[Andy @ Aug 15th 2007 2:18PM]

They freeze but are not crashed like RRoD 360s Mine has frozen maybe once or twice since November but I have always been able to reboot it just fine. The only reason they stay frozen in the demo stations is because the stores don't care enough to go reboot the system.

[telepheedian @ Aug 15th 2007 5:26PM]

Sometimes, my PS2 freezes up, should I call Sony for repair?

[Larz @ Aug 15th 2007 6:17PM]

These 7th gen systems are very very complicated machines. It's
surprising that they don't fail more often. The real question the
stress test was answering is: "will it survive?" not "will I be able
to play games in my sauna or walk-in freezer with no problems?"

Anyways, you're talking about the demo model... Expecting a demo to work perfectly after sitting in an enclosed space and/or being used non-stop, 7 days a week, is ridiculous. Ever noticed what kind of shape other demo's are in? Furniture with scuffs all over it, broken knobs, and so on.

[Hikanae66 @ Aug 15th 2007 11:50PM]

If you look in the lower right hand corner of the screen theres a faded subliminal message that loads whenever it freezes and it reads "Buy your own dammit!"

[mongoos150 @ Aug 20th 2007 6:49PM]

Never had an issue with mine. The 360 is another story. For the part, the PS3 is a very solid (and powerful) machine. Great news.

[js @ Aug 15th 2007 1:28PM]

But will it blend?

[Jonathan Keim @ Aug 15th 2007 1:31PM]

When are comments going to start getting old?

[Chuckles McGee @ Aug 15th 2007 1:54PM]

I think, in light of the PS3 stress testing, the better question is "Will it not blend?"

[tehpwnmstr @ Aug 15th 2007 2:06PM]

oh man, you beat me to it. its too bad they didnt do the ultimate test!

[Tony C @ Aug 15th 2007 2:37PM]

When you can put a whole game console into a Blendtec blender, then they can try it. In the meantime, about the only thing that'll fit in the carafe is a Wiimote and nunchuck. 360 and PS3 controllers can probably reach the blades of death at the bottom, too. But hey, maybe you can talk them into a DS or PSP?

So how about "Wii It Blend?" ;)

[Rick @ Aug 15th 2007 3:24PM]

When will you blend. Dork.

[Tim Goldsmith @ Aug 15th 2007 1:28PM]

PS3 FTW!!!!!11

[alexhrose71 @ Aug 15th 2007 1:33PM]

Funny stuff, very good Sony. Now get back to work making some decent games.

[Tim Goldsmith @ Aug 15th 2007 2:12PM]

agreed.

[Eric @ Aug 15th 2007 2:39PM]

I have all three systems, and the PS3 is by far the highest quality piece of hardware. Now that I am done with Elder Scrolls, though, I don't play games on any of them - I just play WoW on my mac.

From now on, though, I will only buy 360 exclusives for the Xbox, anything that is out on both the Xbox and PS3 will be a PS3 buy (I bought Elder Scrolls before the PS3 came out). I know that my PS3 will last forever, and my xbox will eventually die (probably sooner than later) - plus the PS3 is just a much nicer system anyway.

[Tim Goldsmith @ Aug 15th 2007 2:45PM]

Eric, i agree with you %100, well said. although i have heard PS4 is already in the works and due to come out in 2010... i hate to think i spent $600 on a system that's going to be replaced in 3 years, i can't afford $1000 for the next system

[Eric @ Aug 15th 2007 3:44PM]

It is unlikely that the PS4 will come out before 2012 - the game industry runs on a 6 year product cycle. For one thing, PS3 consoles are sold at a loss, and I don't think that they will make a profit at all if they replace the consoles that soon (they need the hardware to drop in price, and they need a certain number of games sold per console).

If any system is replaced in 3 years it will be the Wii - which is fine because it is half price, so you end up paying the same replacing it twice as often.

[o29 @ Aug 15th 2007 5:10PM]

Sure the PS3 is more reliable, but if you buy all multiplatform titles for the PS3 on that basis alone then you might end up with some inferior versions of games. I'm not saying it will always be that way, as it's very possible that developers are still struggling to learn how to code for it, but lately it's been that way, and personally I'd rather enjoy Madden 08 at 60fps instead of 30fps.

[JJ @ Aug 15th 2007 5:42PM]

My friends own a Wii, a 360, and a PS3.

Of all three systems, they have replaced the 360 system a total of three times in 2006 to 2007 because of hardware failure. The 360 system they own now is about to be replaced again soon. Apparently it's refusing to recognize a fully charged wireless controller on-and-off. It is also starting to freeze and lock-up again after one hour of use.

Their PS3 which they bought at launch is still working. After the numerous updates, no problems whatsoever. It's managed to read slightly scratched and old PS2 disks without problems, and play DVD movies without a hitch. Their only two wishes right now that they want: 1, better DVD playback interface and 2, more games.

[rickane58 @ Aug 15th 2007 1:33PM]

because you touch yourself at night ;)

[fistpittingnork @ Aug 15th 2007 3:14PM]

I'm sorry, what?

[rickane58 @ Aug 15th 2007 3:16PM]

sorry, the post system screwed up, this was supposed to be a reply to the first post

[alexhrose71 @ Aug 15th 2007 1:35PM]

Very comic Sony, very comic. We collectively LOL'd at the the snarkyness of your antics. Now get back to work making some decent games !!! :P

[alexhrose71 @ Aug 15th 2007 1:36PM]

oohh noooz teh double post !!! XO

[Jon Graft @ Aug 15th 2007 1:38PM]

I love how all the XBOT fanboys come in here and get all defensive about it..."Yeah, but...you still have bad games! haha!!11!!one" After Halo 3 what does XBOX have coming...nothing. XBOX is done...PS3 FTW!

[MD @ Aug 15th 2007 2:02PM]

Check out the sales before you make assumptions little boy.

Of course Sony would do their own "stress tests." Blow me Sony. Make some games already !

[james @ Aug 15th 2007 2:02PM]

wait, what games does the PS3 have? there are NONE!!!!!! Christ, there's no "spin" or "bright-side" here, the fact is simple:

The PS3 has no good exclusive games. The 360 has several. simple.

[deezy @ Aug 15th 2007 2:11PM]

man i don't even own or favor the xbox at all in any way. I just had to tell you, that you are the first person on here to mention xbox on this page beyond the article(and you came off doing it in a pretty infantile way).

I have a friend that owns a ps3 and has said to me "Its dope man, it really looks awesome.. i just wish there were more games out".. not to mention it can run linux(err sorta). I also have a friend with an xbox360 who said "I love all the games and the online community pwns but Oblivion keeps locking up on me"(I believe he was having psu issues). So my point.. just because someone wants more games it doesn't mean they are a fanboy for the competitor, it's just a legitimate request. I don't personally plan on buying a hd console(i own a wii) for a while still.. but in all honesty, im gonna buy the one that has the games i want to play, regardless of whats other bells and whistles it may have. I don't want a kitchen sink box, I want a gaming console.

[stephenbratz2 @ Aug 15th 2007 3:08PM]

I love these types of posts.

- Waaaaaa! Why do you have to be mean to my PS3?
- Waaaaaa! Why do you have to hate on the iPhone?
- Waaaaaa! But the Apple TV is not in the same market as media center, so don't compare them.

But then, in every article about anything from Microsoft, we see dozens of posts containing made up, anecdotal, numbers like 33%, or comments like "you mean two people actually bought that turd brown zune?", etc. etc. etc. Hell, even this article is baiting 360 owners. Why did it need to mention anything about the 360 at all? Let the PS3 stand on its own merits.

In other words, if you don't like it, tough. If you want it to stop, then try getting your fellow PS3 fanboys to do the same.

[fobunited @ Aug 15th 2007 1:44PM]

The temperatures in a sauna are not hot enough compared to the temperature levels that cause errors in the xbox 360 console. Furthermore, the comments regarding games is correct. For example, the Sega Dreamcast was an extremely well built console and very technologically advanced in its day, yet it ultimately failed largely in part to a poor game catalog. Whether or not the PS3 is more technologically advanced and durable to stress is irrelevant in the eyes of the market and consumers if there are no games for people to feel a need to buy the system.

[mr nimblewick @ Aug 15th 2007 1:56PM]

Dreamcast had a poor game catalog? That is just plain wrong. Go learn about the dreamcast before comparing it to the PS3.

[Andy S. @ Aug 15th 2007 2:14PM]

I don't think the claim is that the sauna temperatures are as hot as the internals of a running 360. Rather, in hotter conditions, the cooling system of a machine is less effective. Clearly, drawing cold air into a hot machine will cool things down, but drawing hot air in will be far less efficient at cooling, possibly even not enough to keep the machine at an operable temperature.

We have seen (many of us personally) that the pre-cooling-upgrade 360 has a tough time keeping things cool enough even in typical living room conditions. The point stands that, if a machine can work for three straight days in sauna conditions, it can certainly handle running for a few hours at a time in a 75-degree F living room.

[Andrew Jones @ Aug 15th 2007 2:05PM]

I would hardly say that durability is irrelevant - unless the backlash from the ring of death issues constitutes user apathy. True, a strong software catalog is a very important part of a good system, but many still argue that dreamcast had superior software to the N64. Sega had a long history of comparative failures from a strict profitability standpoint - the SMS made less than the NES. The Game Gear never caught on like the GameBoy Color. The Genesis never did as well as the SNES, and so forth. The one consistent point on all of those failures was that they reached the market first, and I don't think anybody wants to take that analogy too far.

As for myself, neither system has anything in their catalog that I'm remotely interested in. UT3 is the only game that might possibly convince me to pick up a PS3, and that all depends on how much it will be to upgrade my PC to a comparable level at release. If it's a close enough price I might get the PS3 for the included BluRay.

[telepheedian @ Aug 15th 2007 2:44PM]

The dreamcast didn't die due to a bad game catalog, the prelaunch-hype of the PS2, combined with the PS2s dvd player, killed it.

[Aaron @ Aug 15th 2007 8:04PM]

What are you smoking, dude? The Dreamcast had lots of awesome games. The PS2 killed the Dreamcast, pure and simple. And it's unfortunate, because I still like that system. I think it died before its time.

[Jeff @ Aug 15th 2007 1:49PM]

But is it fun?

[RoundeyeSamura @ Aug 15th 2007 1:52PM]

I love how every PS3 fan is all "After Halo 3 XBOX will have nothing"... but GTAIV, Assassin's Creed, Gears of War, etc....

and need we bring up the framerate issues with Madden 2008 on the PS3 and how smoothly it runs on the 360.

Anyways, I am extremely impressed with the survival of the PS3. Sony is a hardware company, that is what they do, MS is a software company, that is what they do... if only MS did the software for the PS3. Then we would have a reliable system with worthwhile games.

[gian @ Aug 15th 2007 2:04PM]

Hmm....how reliable would the PS3 be with Microsoft software?...hmmm....not sure I want the BSOD on my game console...

If a company could be a person, Microsoft would be labeled a douchebag.

Some people think you really can do anything you want if you have enough money. The world just doesn't work that way all the time. Often times, it takes brains to accomplish a given task. Poor Microsoft; all that money, but mediocre to the end.

:-)

Gian

[JD @ Aug 15th 2007 2:08PM]

Don't forget Bioshock even before Halo 3..... That's gonna pwn.

[Andrew @ Aug 15th 2007 2:24PM]

Okaayy... so now MS is a douchebag... so in comparison Sony is a lying douchebag... with a stutter... WTH dude?

[Kedyn @ Aug 15th 2007 2:10PM]

Assassin's Creed and GTA4 are both coming out on the PS3, also, so all the 360 has is Gears of War....

[Zeus the God @ Aug 15th 2007 5:35PM]

BioShock, Mass Effect, Alan Wake, Halo 3, Ace Combat 06, TimeShift, Fable 2, Project Gotham Racing 4, Stuntman: Ignition, Sega Rally Evo, and Halo Wars (not really looking forward to it, but its going to be solid non-the-less).

Not to mention the games we already have (even before the release of the PS3 versions if there are any) DiRT, Forza Motorsport 2 (rapes GTHD, GT5, and GT in general in every way possible), Gears of War, Test Drive Unlimited (may be old, and may be on multiple systems, but it isn't on the PS3, and has the best online community of all the platforms, not to mention the most downloads and is a very original and fun driving game), Command and Conquer 3, Crackdown, Dead Rising, Quake 4, the better versions of CoD3 and Oblivion, Call of Duty 2 (the best version, too), Prey, and the shitloads of amazing arcade games. When Quake 3 Arena is released on XBLA, the shit has hit the fan for the PS3- Hell, in all practical views, it already has.

[Phil @ Aug 15th 2007 8:08PM]

@ Zeus ^ ^

Oh dear oh dear oh dear......that post of yours has totally blown you away.

You are indeed the biggest fanboy that posts on this site.

Let's face it, both Playstation 3 and XBox360 have amazing exclusives. Granted, XBox 360 has more at the moment due to it being out longer (is'nt that obvious?), but both have fantastic games in the pipeline. If you can't accept that then I feel sorry for you.....actually, no I don't. :-)

[Max Fun @ Aug 15th 2007 9:16PM]

I think people are forgetting how sad the 360's launch titles were at first, so let's not be too hasty to judge the PS3 yet, especially since it was only officially launched in some countries not too long ago. The PS2 has like the largest catalogue of games, and you can expect the same with the PS3.

There may not be that many blockbuster PS3 exclusives announced now, but I actually prefer the lower profile exclusives that creep in to surprise us all, like Okami and Ico/Shadow of the Colossus. Sony also has more Japanese developers making quirky games for the local market that might sometimes make its way to the US, like Shin Megami Tensei. This is why I'm not losing sleep over the PS3 right now, because it's only a matter of time before the avalanche comes. And once developers get the hang of developing for the Cell, the graphics and gameplay will improve dramatically, ala the PS2 and the Emotion Engine.

[Zeus the God @ Aug 15th 2007 10:24PM]

Sorry Phil, but I'm not a fanboy, and the fact that the 360 has been out longer is really Sony's fault. Had they gotten on the ball and played it smart (conventional and more powerful hardware) they would have had a competitive machine, and wouldn't be having nearly as many issues with moving consoles (conventional hardware is cheaper) or having quality games. Its all Sony's fault- they screwed themselves over, and its hurting. Thats not saying its a bad system- its a good system, its just that if it wasn't so hard to program for, you would be seeing better games. This is another point where conventional hardware shines... Its NOT a bitch to program for. Its more the hardware thats leading the horrible lineup of games, not the amount of time the consoles have been out.

The fact still remains, the 360's lineup is killing the PS3's.

@ Max Fun:

-Call of Duty 2
-Condemned: Criminal Origins
-GUN
-Quake 4
-Need For Speed: Most Wanted
-Project Gotham Racing 3

Thats hardly a "sad," especially when new games where quickly put out on the market 1-2 months afterwards... Oh, and lets not forget all the major sports titles that were released.

Oh, and that launch lineup is much more than you can say for the PS3 even 10 MONTHS after the launch, and the upcoming games don't look very good other than Rachet and Clank (loved that game).

[ShortFuse @ Aug 15th 2007 10:43PM]

@Zeus
How can you defend Microsoft rushing of the Xbox360 to the market and say Sony should have released the PS3 sooner. Isn't 33% enough to see that it was a bad idea to rush the hardware production. Trust me, I'm upset I had to slap down another $$$ on an out of warranty Xbox360. Then I bought a cooling fan because of fear of it RROD'ing again. The 360 came out more expensive than the PS3 because of failures. It hurt Sony to wait to release the PS3 in terms of release of games but I can sit and wait a few more months for the Japanese developers to roll in the good games.