A number of PlayStation 4 owners appear to have non-functional units that all suffer the same problem, a so-called blue light — or blue pulse — of death. We can’t tell how many and assume it’s a small but noteworthy minority.
The problem is being cited in scathing Amazon reviews, a trickle of Twitter complaints and a stack of videos on YouTube — as well as in more than a dozen e-mails and Tweets received by Kotaku since the console’s launch on Friday.
Sony hasn’t offered any official comment to Kotaku on the matter, but a representative on the official PS4 support forums did post a lengthy set of step-by-step troubleshooting tips today. That post, on a thread entitled “[INFO] Blinking Blue Light PS4 Issues,” doesn’t offer any surefire fix.
From what I’ve heard, those with this issue have found that the best solution still involves sending the unit back — either directly to Sony or to the retailer who sold it to them, if an exchange is available.
The problem that these PS4 users are facing is frustratingly simple. When a PS4 is working and is turned on with a press of the power button, the light that runs along the side of the console should first pulse blue and then switch to white. As it does, the console should send a signal to the TV it is hooked up to. Those who have the “blue light/pulse of death” are instead finding that their PS4 pulses blue, never goes to white and never sends a signal to their TV. I first heard about this problem on Wednesday from a Redditor going by the name Arogon. He’d won his PS4 in a Taco Bell contest and received it prior to launch.
You can see many examples of the blue light of death on YouTube. This one, for example:
…and this one…
…and this one…
We’ve presented another one in the GIF atop this post.
Sony’s troubleshooting tips involve holding down the power button for seven seconds, unplugging the console and then powering it back on. The company also recommends checking the seating of the hard drive and ensuring that the firmware of the connected TV is up to date.
While I’ve heard from numerous people who’ve had the pulsing blue light problem, I’ve not heard from any who have been able to fix it through any simple steps.
I have, however, heard from multiple PS4 users whose systems did have problems that they could fix — those users, like us, had PS4s that had lights that went from blue to white. The scattered issues involved things like bent metal in an HDMI port and incompatibility with some non-Sony HDMI cables. The issues vary widely, as do the solutions. Screenwriter and former PC Gamer editor Gary Whitta got his blue-to-white machine working only once he added the PS4’s day-one patch via a USB stick. Whitta’s emotional rollercoaster was captured on Twitter, where he went from “OH SHIT UPS TRUCK” to “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA my PS4 doesn’t work” to “Guys, I got it working! I’m a tech genius!” in about two hours.
The blue-light-only people are posting much angrier accounts.
The console’s Amazon rating — with its more than 600 five-star reviews — has been dragged down by nearly 400 one-star reviews, many of which cite the blue light problem. A sampling:
Several people have contacted me directly after seeing my article about our own formerly-broken PS4. Our problem was simple and unrelated to the blue light thing, but I nevertheless asked for anyone who was having trouble to reach out. They did. They’ve mostly been frustrated by the problem, though one has said that Sony is already sending him a box for him to return his console in. And another shared an emotional rollercoaster of an adventure with me that involved first rescuing his PS4 from being delivered on a neighbour’s doorstep and then, after discovering the console had the blue-light problem, rushing to a retailer that exchanged it for a working one.
On Twitter, one frustrated PS4 owner, a musician named John Beauchamp, Tweeted to me saying he was “currently stuck on blue.” A day later, he Tweeted:
“After a two hour wait, a 10 minute phone conversation mostly involving address and ticket # exchange, Sony is sending me a box to ship… my DOA PS4 and they’re going to ship me a brand new PS4 in return… The customer service rep I talked to was extremely reassuring, confident, and knowledgeable which was extremely nice… Also I should remind everyone with DOA’s that the customer service rep on the other end is a person to who is not the cause of your problem… Well most of them aren’t at least. There’s always that 1%”
One of the more unexpected notes Kotaku got regarding the blue light problems was from adult film actress Alana Evans, whose NSFW Twitter feed provided yet another chronicle of the emotional journey of “blue light of death” PS4 users. Early on launch day, she tweeted “Merry Christmas to me ;)” and this picture:
90 minutes later she was tweeting: “wow! Hey @Kotaku@PlayStation My PS4 DOESN’T WORK!!!!! IT ONLY GIVES ME A BLUE LIGHT AND WONT POWER UP. I AM NOT HAPPY!” She said she checked the HDMI port. There was no bent metal. She had the blue light of death problem.
And then, the next day: “I have now been on hold another 50 mins for my third attempt at calling @Playstation. They could at least give me phone sex while I wait.” Later she said that she expected to be getting a new one on Tuesday, four days after her console failed on her. She then Tweeted: “I’m not assuming anything. I WILL NOT be getting the Xbox 1 on launch. Not going thru this again.”
Some people might conclude that these are the hazards of buying a console at launch. Some machines do break. Sony even told reporters prior to launch that .4% of units that had been distributed to that point had issues — that’s 4 out of 1000, or 1 out of 250. That ratio may have changed. It may not have. We’re only going to be hearing complaints from those whose machines failed, of course, and most of the people whose PS4s are working are unlikely to drop me a e-mails or send Tweets. Kotaku‘s far-flung team now have about six or so PS4s, all of which boot up just fine. We’ve enjoyed many games on the machine and think pretty highly of the unit and its new services. (Read our PS4 review.)
Nevertheless, the reason this issue is being referred to as a “blue light of death” is because people remember Microsoft’s “red ring of death” on the Xbox 360. That hardware problem killed so many original Xbox 360s, that Microsoft eventually had to extend the warranty on the machine for three year. The fiasco cost the company an estimated $US1 billion.
There is no indication that this PS4 issue is that bad, but we’ll keep an eye on it and will let you know whatever important new details we learn.
Comments
93 responses to “PS4 ‘Blue Light Of Death’ Has No Clear Fix Yet”
Owch. That’s got to suck. Especially knowing the odds of getting a replacement anytime soon are slim.
This x100, I know for a fact that my ps4 was one of the first possible pre orderers at my store, if I get a faulty one and then have to wait 4+ months for a replacement the rage will be monumental.
Edited for serious grammatical problems ….
I pity anyone selling these things just as much as the people who get faulty ones. Either they’re not replacing faulty ones for a few months or they’re pushing their next waves of pre-orders back one. The guy whose entire contribution to the process is putting it on a shelf and scanning it at a register is going to get all the hurt from this.
This. Customer service work sucks enough as it is…
Hopefully, Sony has some replacement units on the side in case of problems just like this.
Cheap Chinese junk console (even if it was ‘designed’ in japan). Quality was thrown out the window shamelessly. Better short Sony stocks.
While a lot of you will take my post with a pinch of salt, Sony are the devil reincarnate in terms of customer service and sweeping problems under the rug
My launch PS3 purchased at Toys R Us morley for $999 had drive defection only a month later, I was very much a Sony supporter until it took a 50min phone call and a Sony employee insinuating that I damaged my brand new system and two whole months to get a replacement console sent to me
At least from what I have experienced with the RRoD turn around was 3 weeks and Microsoft accepted full responsibility offering 3yr additional warranty not the scathing assault that Sony gave me for buying their $1000 George Forman blu ray, I’ll be passing on the Wobblestation4 I’m quite happy getting my Day one Xbox One system see you Sony fools on the other side of hell
I just read a tweet from someone that said if you just update it again from usb the blue light of death is fixed.
That would be my first idea at resolving this too, only thing is it won’t boot into safe mode when the system doesn’t load and keeps flashing blue.
There’s a supposed solution posted on reddit which blames corrupted data on the HDD and give step by steps on how to boot into safe mode in order to restore the data: http://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/1ql51v/how_to_fix_the_evident_ps4_brick_after_freeze/
It’s definitely worth a try.
This is why we can’t have nice things… Or day 1 console releases
My friend who imported from Amazon somehow managed to get it on Friday with Int. Express Shipping and Amazon sending it out 2 days early. He got 2 of them, one for him and another for one of his friends. His friend has literally not left the house since friday arvo after PSN connection issues were sorted out and Day 1 patch was downloaded.
My friend however got the Blue Pulse Light of Death and after reading that others had similar issues and that it had to be sent away for – he literally cried at that point. He got in touch with Sony in Australia who were no help at all basically telling him to stuff off because the PS4 is not released in Australia yet and can not provide support and since it was a US console he needed to return it to retailer. He called Sony hotline in America and they will not send out a box. So now he has to send it back to Amazon at his own expense – he thinks might cost him over $30 – possibly even $50 and that he can not get a replacement since amazon has no stock and can only get a refund.
Feel bad for him because i also said to him when first ordered it months ago that this could happen, especially with launch hardware but it was laughed off at the time. So far it is still going to be too soon for a couple of more weeks before i say “I told you so” 😛
Overall, reading the threads on NeoGAF and on the Sony forums is making me seriously reconsider my pre-order here in Aus, especially since everywhere is sold out and the retailer would likely only be able to provide a refund if i get a DOA unit or having to wait 2-3 weeks in the busy christmas rush to get a repair from Sony Support.
While the failure rates have yet to seem to reach anywhere near last gen (although the console has only be released for 48-72 hours i guess) it looks to me that the 0.4% figure Sony pulled out of it’s ass before the console even launched is more like somewhere between 5-10%.
It sucks for your friend but I am entirely unsympathetic. Launch issues are always a risk and international support is a bitch, I didn’t think that was a lesson that people needed to learn from personal experience.
It’s not lesson anyone needs to learn because it’s about the launch of a legally-purchased toy that comes with warranty. It’s not worth learning because the solution is easy and should cost you nothing but a miniscule amount of time. Shut off the arrogance, you aren’t worth a damn thing more than someone who buys a faulty machine because you made a different choice. Furthermore, why do people assume anyone cares about their sympathy over a console?
What? @shepard clearly said it’s going to cost his friend up to $50 to ship it back and will take more than a minuscule amount of time.
It is going to put my friend out of pocket unless he manages to convice amazon to cover shipping (apparently it may depend on the CS rep you get) but regardless there is a lot of frustration and time wasted for him with this.
In regards to why make the post? Well i hope it would add to the story, especially from an Australian perspective since it hasn’t launched here yet and the extra difficulty and uncertainty around importing.
So he rushed to buy something that’ll be released locally much much sooner rather than later. Saved $50 since the US version is cheaper but will lose $50+ on postage.
He couldn’t just spend a week more on the PS3???
He’s not saving $50 buy purchasing from the US, he’s saving $150. In Australia, the PS4 is priced at $550 and the xbox one is $600
Still, $550 is a hell of a lot cheaper than the PS3 was at launch. That behemoth was $1000
I would have a good go at fixing it. but it’s not recommended. That’s really tough luck. Don’t wish it on anyone. 🙁
First run consoles are always riddled with all sorts of QC issues that get ironed out later. Mixing that up with an international retailer with opaque returns? Not a good idea, he shouldn’t have tried to beat the Aussie launch. Once, one of my Kindles borked on me and I sent back the old one in the parcel the replacement came in and Amazon ate both delivery charges to the USA. That said, this was their own product that they had plenty of stock with.
This is why you don’t import unless you cant get it at all locally. If it was local he would not only have support from Sony but also our consumer laws. He went for a double risky attempt (overseas launch console) just to get it slightly early and crapped out.
That sucks, but I have no idea why you’d import to save barely any money and beat a two week wait for local, when you also lose local Bluray and DVD region capability. Sure games aren’t region locked, but other things will be, it’s a part of the BR licencing terms.
Yeah… said the exact same points to him prior to him ordering it.
After seeing new complaints about the PS4’s disc drive now, in addition to the blue pulsing light of death, i have cancelled my pre-order for it. If anyone wants it, it is at EB Joondalup WA but i don’t know if it would just go to the next person.
Still, i am getting the xbox one which i am getting as a gift from my GF (christmas and birthday present for the next few years apparently even though she will play it :P) so i hope MS have learnt a little from the 360.
if a handful of launch consoles having issues is determining which console you go with your priorities are a little messed up. who’s to say the xbone isn’t going to have similar problems?
Agreed @flitty. Doesn’t surprise me 1 bit that 1/250 PS4 launch consoles are faulty good thing I’m waiting a good 3 months before getting a PS4
I’ll definitely be keen to take your pre-oreder if possible?
To be honest, MS has always maintained a failure rate of well over twice it’s competitors for the entire lifetime of the 360, so I wouldn’t hold my breath. Of all the people I know that have a PS4, not a single issue has been reported so far.
With over a million units sold so far I don’t see enough complaints across the forums and social media to backup the claims of a wide spread issue, just the expected amount of failures you would expect from any electronics.
(Amazon seems to have a lot to answer for at the moment, the condition of their units seem to be terrible. It’s like they stored their stock in a freaking lake)
I seem to be misunderstood in my prior post. While i have indeed cancelled my pre-order for the PS4 because it was a personal purchase the X1 is being given as a gift to me for my brithday. This not the case of me choosing the X1 over the PS4 or anything like that. Hell i would not be surprised if the X1 is going to have the same if not more issues then the PS4 at launch with DOA units.
It is just that i have cancelled my personal pre-order for a PS4 and if the XB1 fails then MS have to face my GF’s wrath over the phone which has been entertaining in the past 😛
Oh I got it, it was more for the comment of MS learning from it’s mistakes with the 360 which we can only hope.
The rest is just my take on the whole alarmist media response and your mention of the blue pulse which you did indeed cite.
Personally I will get an xbone too, but not any time soon. I am going to sit back and watch what they do with it
Can’t really feel bad for your friend at all. He purchased it overseas and expects Sony Aus to help and now bummed because has to send it back at his own expense. All could have been solved had he purchased it in oz.
I’m hoping this name catches on:
http://v.cdn.cad-comic.com/comics/cad-20131115-de418.png
Downvoting you for evoking B^Uckley’s loathsome webcomic.
I understand.
I’m supposed to be getting a PS4 in the second 2013 batch from EB Games, but I’m thinking of cancelling and waiting a while instead. At least until this is sorted out or it’s easier to get replacement units. I get that these things happen (there’s bound to be a certain percentage of faulty consoles given the sheer number of them), but knowing my luck…
Just throwing it out there, but if you cancel your preorder because of a slim chance of getting a failed console then your still in the same place you were with a failed console – nops4.
True, but at least I wouldn’t have the hassle of trying to fix it or get a replacement. I’m guessing those with faulty consoles will have to wait longer than normal to get their PS4s replaced due to limited stock. I’d much rather wait until everything is sorted out than get my hopes up and then have them dashed.
Geez! If you get a failed console, you have your receipt and a guarantee you’ll get a working console.
If you compare this with my problem, you have no worries in the world: bought headphones from eBay, eBay seller used worst courier company in Australia who claims they gave it to a complete stranger at my apartment, PayPal sides with seller.
I’m so sorry that I have an opinion that differs to yours and that I would do as I please with my own money. I thought I wasn’t harming anyone in making my own decisions re my pre-order (which, frankly haven’t been made just yet), but clearly I haven’t thought about how my purchase or non-purchase would impact a complete stranger. I’ll be sure to keep you and any other strangers who may have a whinge about me possibly cancelling my pre-order in mind before I do anything.
It’s called the Blue Light of Dismay (BLoD – Coined it myself haha)….. Causing Dismay and despair worldwide.
Hey guys. The fix is to play with the hdmi cord. Flip it around,have it bent in different ways as it exits the console, just try everything with thw hdmi cord even if it seems like it wont help do it anyway. Hope i help some people with this 🙂
Not sure if true but still read. Foxconn intern says he sabotaged the ps4
http://corruptedcartridge.com/ps4-sabotaged-news/
Foxconn, he’s an asshole.
That would be a pretty insane twist on an already weird start to a generation. If they got the failure rate up to 20% of consoles dying in their first 30 days that could cause a pretty major upset. The XBOX 360 managed to be stable enough to get people hooked on XBOX Live before the RRoD kicked in, and they weren’t as stressed for replacement units.
If Sony has spread the PS4’s too thin to replace PS4’s within the next 40 days they’re going to run into a situation where people are getting refunded, and I’d imagine after being burnt a solid chunk of those people are going to hold off on buying another PS4 until it all calms down. It could really knock the wind out of that massive boost Microsoft handed them pre-launch.
I’m not saying I believe that story, but if it’s true and they were successful it could really make this the craziest launch in a long time.
I didn’t think of it like that. By the time the RROD hit me it was a few years into the cycle. The potential of having to wait over a month for a replacement, especially having not been able to enjoy it, is going to leave some epically pissed off customers.
Also, the failure rate of 0.4% seems under-exaggerated considering IGN and Kotaku both got faulty units, though that could be just bad luck.
Fingers crossed my Xbone works straight out of the box. Bit if it doesn’t, I get the impression from the pre-order gossip there’ll be more access to replacement units O_o
0.4% might be a bit of jerk. But given the estimates with 1 million units sold, that is basically 4000 units. Not many I guess, but complaints across the forums and social media don’t seem near that amount yet. (Given that not everyone is taking to those to complain)
Guess we will have to wait for some more reliable figures to pop up in the next quarter
The bottom line is, a figure like 0.4% is BS. It’s a distant estimate at best.
The failure rate seems to be 0.4 of 1% i.e. 0.4% which isn’t horrible even on long standing hardware. The BLOD unit my brother in the US received (he works at a game shop, they have had one failure out of all of their units received) was fixed by updating from USB again. It doesn’t look like a 360 style problem where literally nearly all of them ended up failing.
Isn’t 0.4% just the number Sony were giving out pre-launch?
Again, I’m not saying I’m buying into this sabotage story or even that the failure rate is unreasonably high (20% was just what I figured the goal of such an act would be). I’m just saying that if there was an intentional attempt to make PS4 units fail and they pulled it off it’d throw a whole monkey wrench into the early life/supply chain of the console.
Also is that the same problem these other people are having? Like how the RRoD was actually a handful of errors ranging from ‘you haven’t plugged the AV cables in’ to ‘shit caught fire’ I’d imagine these symptoms could apply to pretty much anything causing the system to fail to boot (thus why Sony isn’t giving out much in the way of specific support). I’m guessing if it were as simple one problem that could be fixed by updating the firmware via USB Sony would be all over it.
People are reporting several hours on tech support and I’m guessing the classic ‘just factory reset it, update the firmware, and pray it goes away’ solution would be resorted to after the first 45 minutes. By the sound of it Sony aren’t half arsing their support so I figure if you’re spending hours on the phone you’re not just getting bounced around between call center workers. All reports seem to indicate if you call them up about this you get a proper response.
Again, to take it back to a RRoD comparison, when it first started happening a lot of urban legends formed about what caused it and how to fix it. There are people out there who still insist fixing the RRoD is just a matter of washing your XBOX 360 in the sink, letting it dry and plugging it back in. =P
Well… I’m glad I’m holding off until a game comes out on it that I want to play.
“The company also recommends… ensuring that the firmware of the connected TV is up to date.”
“The scattered issues involved things like… incompatibility with some non-Sony HDMI cables.”
This sounds like desperate floundering to me, blaming others before confirming whether the problem is of your own making. How could the TV’s firmware prevent the PS4 from working? And if it could, why would you design it like that?! And HDMI is supposed to be a standard that everyone follows, so the only way non-Sony HDMI cables would be a problem is if Sony is designing the PS4 to work with their own non-compliant HDMI cables.
You would be surprised. I brought a Soniq to replace my old TV when it died (It was cheap and I didn’t have the funds for a better one at the time) It didn’t read my computer, my camcorder or my PS3 until I updated the piece of crap.
Not everyone is having the same issues with their units you know, sometimes it can be a number of reasons as implied by “scattered”.
(And sorry, but not all HDMI cables are the same, Amazon sold a whole bunch of HDMI cables that simply didn’t work on many popular brand TV’s)
Just another reason to wait till a bit after launch!
How long is a bit though? You end up missing things or just getting the same console the day one people did but six months later. I’d rather take the chance getting my PS4 on day one. If it comes out of the box dead I’ll spew, and it’ll be a real painful headache to deal with, but at the same time I’ll just be sending it back to be repaired/replaced so I’ll still get a functioning PS4 faster than if I wait for things to appear to be stable. Worst case scenario after two replacements I’ll demand my money back.
Probably around Jan/Feb/March, when there are, yaknow, actually exclusives. To each their own though.
But there is NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL between now and jan-march. You will still get identical consoles you will pay the same price but not have had it as long and you get the “cool games” the same time a launch guy does.
There are no merits to waiting a few months, it actually makes you worse off, if you haven’t waited for a price drop (likely next Christmas given that it is sold out for months). If you cave in say march you will be paying more for your console than the guy who bought at launch.
Because i know someone will disagree i’ll math it out too. Given $100 price drop Nov 29 2014, 1 year post launch.
Launch guy has paid 100/12 = $8.33 per month to effectively “rent” the console until the price drop.
Person who waited 5 months has now paid 100/7 = $14.28 per month to rent until the price drop.
So waiting is ONLY ever worth it if you wait for a price drop. Even if that launch console dies and takes 2 months to repair your still better off, plus you know you get the added bonus of having it for a longer period of time.
IF you REALLY want “different” less defective units, unless there is a fault with manufacturing and isn’t a design flaw which is highly unlikely. Though even then you would need to wait 6 odd months till they both found and fixed the problem after the obvious initial denial. Assuming design flaw you are going to have to wait for an entire new console iteration, like a ps4 slim which could take years.
In summary, if you are going to buy the console anyway, there are zero benefits of waiting but not waiting long enough for a price drop.
What rubbish. There are plenty of reasons to wait that can end up with a financial benefit. The most obvious being bundles/deals. I expect some deals when infamous or watchdogs comes out as long as supply isn’t still limited. Might even find a deal with both of them etc. I’m not stating there will be a financial benefit with certainty but there are plenty of ways that there can be without a price drop. I’m personally waiting as I have a tonne of games to play with ps+ and I’m not really seeing any titles at the moment I would even buy.
Way to miss the entire point of my post,
I didn’t miss the point, you just made a bad one and still dont have a leg to stand on.
You can’t just say i’ll wait for games and think that makes you better off because everyone still gets those games, if you were going to wait 2 years for those games then sure you would have a point. But waiting 4 months is not going to benefit you in anyway as i already stated.
There is also not going to be some super awesome bundle deal that some how saves you $100’s by then either, at best there will be an “infamous” deal with the same console i have and a game. This game will only cost you $60-70 instead of Eb’s $100. But I can just import it for $50 by then anyway.
We aren’t going to see amazing bundles that we have for last gen tech (360/ps3) for a long time.
Your entire post is baseless. If you think there won’t be a jan/feb price drop or JB bundle that changes it’s pricing considerably, I’ve got news for you: there’s already one in the works. But hey, if you’re happy with a day one console and have games to play, more power to you. I don’t need it, and can save some money and headache now.
Haha, no there isn’t.
For a console that is sold out until january what the hell make you think they would start dropping the price or giving a good bundle when everyone is still paying top $?
Its delusional to be honest, and when feb comes around and you still have to pay the same as the rest of us, still get the same console you will see I was right.
I can’t reply to above, but considering there’s already pricing information on the March bundles (roommate is a manager at JB Hi-Fi) I can safely say that you’re wrong.
If that’s how you want to go that’s fair enough, but like @kingpotato says you’ll get the same hardware revision I do at the same price. All it means is that I’ll play my multiplatform games on the PS4 or XBOX One while you play on the PS3 or XBOX 360, and when the exclusives come, which they definitely will for the Wii U, PS4 and XBOX One alike, I won’t have a to choose between the stuff that gets released in March and the stuff that was released in December.
The way I see it I always miss out on games when I buy the console late. I got my PS3 much later and missed pretty much everything pre-Metal Gear Solid 4. Granted it wasn’t a great time for PS3 exclusives before that, but still I missed titles that I was interested in because new games were coming fast enough that I didn’t have time to play them, letalone go back and play near launch titles (that seem to age 10 years in the first 12 months).
Like I said though, if that’s how you want to do it that’s fair enough. Just explaining my stance.
Except there is nothing much being released in regards to PS4 exclusives between now and February: http://au.ign.com/games/upcoming/ps4?sortBy=popularity&sortOrder=desc&time=3m
Considering I’ve got a beast PC which already outperforms both PS4 and X1 in multiplats, the only thing I’m interested in is exclusives, and there just aren’t enough to have to make me ‘choose’ between playing this stuff and Infamous Second Son etc (really, having to choose?) come March. Between now and then, rather than dealing with the potential headaches of a launch console, I can catch up on exclusives from last gen, and play all the new multiplat titles with my DS4 on my PC.
While I may get the same hardware revision, I’ll most certainly have my choice of bundle, and there will be a clear fault / solution for the Blue Light by that time. See cheshirecat above for more reasons. If you don’t have a good PC, then I can thoroughly understand your position.
So basically you just don’t want a ps4 for several months…. cool story.
I agree with potato and Dogman that if you want the console and all it’s benefits there’s no point waiting. But you’re not in that boat, you’re in the “I just want to play exclusives boat”…. and seeing there’s no exclusives you want at launch you’re not rushing to get the console… and that’s fine. But when you DO buy the console in the next 6 months you’ll just be paying the same amount that we paid.
How did the guy in the first video get his PlayStation so dirty?
I feel for that guy in the second video. There’s nothing like getting that shiny new thing you’ve been looking forward to for so long and then it doesn’t work and there’s nothing you can do about right away.
My PS3 was disgusting looking about 10 minutes after taking it out of the box. I kicked up a lot of dust (had some on my hands too) when moving everything in the cabinet to get it in there. Between that and the colour/finish of the console it made it look like I’d found it in an abandoned coal mine.
And that textured finish of the plastic on the PS3 just holds onto dust and won’t let go. Who designs these things? People in labs who never test them in a realistic environment?
To be fair my entertainment unit could stand to be a bit closer to a lab environment. =P
Yeah, black stuff loves dust and dust loves it back.
Don’t all electronics have a small percentage like 1-3% dead on arrival?si if Sony sold say half a million you would expect at least 5 to 10 thousand DOA.
Sucks if its you but I think with all the social media evryone uses this might have been blown out of proportion.
Yeah and I’m sure the same thing will happen when the Xbone launches too, just like PC graphics cards or other components can be duds out of the box.
Yeah but like the PSN network outage, it’ll get more press than anything Xbox does. If Xbox has another red ring situation, you won’t hear the same backlash
Yeah, hardly anyone reported on the RROD. I had to google it because it was so obscure.
And as far as the PSN hack goes, it didn’t deserve all the press it got, it’s not like it was one of the biggest cybercrimes in the history of mankind … wait
I’m pretty sure you would hear some backlash…
Also possibly due to those pre-order numbers. The Wii U could have a 1 in 5 chance of trying to murder you and we wouldn’t hear anything about it about it. Sony gets the most coverage here because they’re the most popular. It’s the one people want to know about and it’s the one whose faults are going to be the most relevant. It’s not the XBOX-wing media trying to sabotage a flawless console.
I dunno, many, many people are betting on PS4 beating Xbone, so any chance to kick the bone where it hurts will be jumped on I bet.
Did I suddenly wake up in a world where people are being super critical to Sony/PS4 and MS/Xbox is the favourite with no critics?
I would like whatever you are smoking 😛 Taking the avid fanboys of both consoles to one side, the community has been for the better part of the last 10 months been heavy leaning towards favoring Sony. While the launch has slightly detracted from this, the majority of the community will be leaping on anything negative from the Xbone launch.
yea… The media is in the MS pocket…
Roll eyes//
The same social media that Sony was planning to capitalise on to make their system seem super popular on Facebook, Twitter, etc? =P
What on earth are you referring to?
I believe I have found an hdmi workaround of get your ps 4 working. http://youtu.be/apypBiCc9-E
What a nightmare for everyone. but its happened for a reason…. im hearing 40% of people around abouts are having trouble! what ever happened to proper contingency plans!
alot of people being ripped of AGAIN
Yeah I’m waiting for Ground Zeroes to come out before i pick one up, hopefully there will be a hardware revision by then.
Me too I guess. Doesn’t look like a PC announcement is coming any time soon so I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet.
Glad I didn’t pre-order.
Mine arrives today. I hope it works 🙁
Blow in the cartridge…
I suspected making a console that powerful in casing that small with an internal PSU could cause problems.
Why is an internal power supply a problem?
heat
They generate a lot of heat.
Only crappy ones to be honest. A good quality correctly spec’ed switchmode won’t make very much heat. And especially if you compare it to CPU’s and GPUs pumping out as much as they do.
This happens with every console launch.
If everyone with a working console jumped onto social media then the bad ones would look pretty insignificant.
It seems like there is a lot of ‘non launch buyer’ shaming on here, which i just don’t get. If someone wants to wait to buy a new console it’s probably got a lot to do with outside factors as well as the usuals like the actual console/games/price etc. It’s perfectly fine to get whatever you want, whenever you want it, buying at launch doesn’t make you ‘better’ or anything.
Who cares how much longer you have a console? Or how much money it costs or if you think it’s only worth it if there’s a price drop? I decide when it’s worth it for me, maybe i’m busy so i won’t get to play it, maybe i have to use the money for xmas stuff, maybe i’ve got plenty of ‘last gen’ games to get through and none of the ‘next gen’ ones are exciting enough for me to bother with just yet. Maybe *gasp* there are things in my life that are more important than buying a console at launch.
Not to mention buying at launch also opens you up to buying a lemon like some of the unfortunate people in this post. The fact is you may be getting the ‘exact same’ (not quite) product if you wait 4-6 months, but if sony take note of this they will put better quality control in place, maybe check which components are causing the problems and check them more thoroughly, or get the same components from a different, more reliable source. Sure it’ll look the same and probably use the same components (ie it won’t be a redesigned console like the PS3 slim), but the way in which it’s made could be changed to better ensure quality control so that these problems that are encountered by launch buyers don’t happen.
Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Is it just me or does the first video look like the unit’s been kicked around on the floor and aged about a thousand times more than it could be??… I get the feeling that there’s a little Xbox rivalry going on in sabotage form… Great way to spook a market.
Can I make a serious suggestion? Can I suggest to cut down on GIFs on Giz, Kotaku and LH (and wherever else they appear on the Allure Media network)?
It’s hard reading the opening lines to an article when there’s a wobbly GIF of a PS4 distracting you. I think the videos are good enough, and if there must be a GIF, have it towards the middle or end so it’s not a feature (e.g. title card) image for the whole article. That one of the PS4 on a white background moving to a top-down view, then back down, was neat-ish, but not when it loops every 2 seconds.
I feel bad for those who got theirs off of Amazon but they’re idiots. Got mine from Walmart it got the Blue Pulse of Death. Talked to Sony they told me to send it overseas. But I took it back to Walmart since I had consumer rights as a Plan B. Got it exchanged and luckily it worked
Let me first start off by saying, I am a gamer and enjoy both Xbox and Playstation. I planned on purchasing both the PS4 and Xboxone. With that said, i received my PS4 on Friday and have run into a host of issues.
1st issue
overheating
My unit seems to be overheating about every 10-15 min. I tried placing the unit in several areas and the only thing that seemed to work was to run a fan on High directly on the side of the unit. Even with the fan, the red light of death would come on every 30 mins or so
Noise – My unit seems awfully loud. Louder than the 1st Gen Xbox360.
Disc run issues- I believe i have a defect with my tray. The disc seems to be jumping around causing the game to freeze up
PSN connection- It took me about 2 hrs to connect to the PSN network which really didnt help me since i couldn’t get more than 15 min of game play at a time.
I decided to return my unit to Gamestop and received a complete refund.
I’m going to wait for the 3rd generation PS4 release. Hopefully most of these issues will be resolved
I suggest many do the same.
Please check this new video out. This might be the actual cause of the BLOD. This guy actually fixed it. Looks like it’s the processor
http://youtu.be/t0ZZvb6q0kM