Firmware 3.61 causing PS3s to overheat?

By Fred Dutton Published 18 May, 2011

UPDATED: Sony responds.

UPDATE: A spokesperson for Sony told Eurogamer "We don't comment on rumours or speculation about our products."

ORIGINAL STORY: PlayStation 3's recent 3.61 firmware update is causing some consoles to overheat and shutdown, according to Rockstar Games.

A post on the developer's support site points the finger at Sony's recent firmware tweak after a number of L.A. Noire users reported their machines were turning off mid-game.

"We have received some reports of PS3s overheating while playing L.A. Noire or beeping three times before shutting down/turning themselves off, mostly on older 60GB and 80GB fat models," it read.

"Primary reports seem to be that updating to firmware 3.61 will cause PlayStations to overheat. There have been various reports of this on a few different games now, all reporting their PS3s turning off or 'Red Lighting' after having installed 3.61.

"This can range from games randomly freezing to PS3s turning off anywhere between 30 mins use to two hours. We have confirmed locally that multiple games (Rockstar and non-Rockstar) overheat or freeze only when 3.61 is installed."

Rockstar instructed users to get in touch with Sony, but promised to look into the matter further internally as well.

"At this time we are recommending contacting Sony directly to report the overheating issue. However, this is not the end of our support; we are continuing to test L.A. Noire on all firmware versions and hardware models to isolate the issues and see what can be done. As always, we will update this article as soon as we have updates."

We've contacted Sony for comment and will update when we get a response.

Update 3.61 was released earlier this week to prepare consoles for the return of PlayStation Network services following last month's massive security breach.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (130) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • harzo #1 1 year ago

    Poor Sony, they haven't got a break at all!

    :(

  • BlinkeredAxis #2 1 year ago

    At least MS has problems too. The misery is spread around :(

  • Spuzzell #3 1 year ago

    Oh for fu... what the hell have Sony done to deserve this run?

    Beaten a ladder storage room full of black cats to death with mirrors?

  • TheTrueSpin #4 1 year ago

    This must be a joke... Everytime they fix something, they break something else!

  • mackingtosh #5 1 year ago

    Latest headline: "Sony commits suicide"

  • drew327 #6 1 year ago

    That is interesting, this happened to me while the PSN was offline last week, before the firmware. 3 beeps, shut down, turn back on, wont stay on. Already replaced though since I'm dependent

  • coolbritannia #7 1 year ago

    They say bad things come in 3's. Of course, for Sony that was 876 ago.

  • Ranger_Ryu #8 1 year ago

    question, how can a firmware update cause a console to overheat?
    Edited by Ranger_Ryu at 18/05/11 @ 22:42

  • kentmonkey #9 1 year ago

    I played God of War for seven hours straight after the update. Mine was fine.

  • Farzlepot #10 1 year ago

    I find it a bit odd that a firmware update to prepare a console for the new network would cause an overheating issue. So far as I could tell from the documentation they released alongside the update, all it really did was force users to change their password, add some kind of controller power saving mode, and put in place some security. How could any of that cause the machine to overheat?

    Fair enough if they had been tinkering with fan settings or something like that, but the documentation didn't really mention any changes related to that sort of thing and we all know the update was primarily meant to address the PSN restoration, so I can't see how the problem could be related.
    Edited by Farzlepot at 18/05/11 @ 22:45

  • SeesThroughAll #11 1 year ago

    Ok, I'll wait for the next firmware that doesn't burn my PS3...

    How can an update for network security end up affecting hardware like this? WTF?

  • silversun #12 1 year ago

    Can someone explain how a firmware update can do this to a console?
    The xbox issue also is worrying.

    At least the wii isnt having issues lol

  • Niall #13 1 year ago

    FFXIII add at the bottom made me have to check the date in case I had dreamed it was now 2011

  • the_sas_man #14 1 year ago

    You gotta laugh when you fall off a sofa...

    Bloody sofa.

    (stick two fingers up at sofa)

  • Farzlepot #15 1 year ago

    Looks like a few of us all had the same thought at the same time!

  • longklaw #16 1 year ago

    L.A. Noire keeps freezing up on my 360. I was thinking about getting the PS3 version. I guess I won't be doing that.

  • Zozzilla #17 1 year ago

    People are just scapegoating now. "Our game crashes! It's not cos of bugs in the code or the fact people's consoles are old, it's all Sony's firmware's fault!"

    edit: Good grief, just been reading the comments on the link m0thr4 posted...it's obviously the game. But since the PS3 is an easy target at the moment what with all the other problems, people jump to conclusions and spout more shite before they get the facts. While the firmware does have a bug in it that affects some people's displays, it doesn't render games unplayable.
    Edited by Zozzilla at 18/05/11 @ 23:18

  • Widge #18 1 year ago

    Free new consoles \o/

  • Widge #19 1 year ago

    Maybe

  • anotherrobharvey #20 1 year ago

    My console (60Gb model) overheated and wouldn't turn back on after the install of 3.61. I was surprised when I was given the option to have a new console instead of replacing my version... too many times have I had to replace the 60Gb, now I'm hoping the Slim will be better (fingers crossed)!

  • Farzlepot #21 1 year ago

    @20

    You'll be fine! My 120GB Slim's not let me down yet*!





    * I am not a good indicator of console reliability**. My Xbox 360 hasn't let me down yet either. Your mileage may vary. Please see side of pack for details.

    ** Or anything else, for that matter.
    Edited by Farzlepot at 18/05/11 @ 22:55

  • SG #22 1 year ago

    I'm a bit lost - isn't the firmware released by Sony? Isn't this therefore their fault? Shouldn't they have done further testing with it? Or am I missing something?
    Edited by SG at 18/05/11 @ 23:20

  • Beano #23 1 year ago

    This story sounds like BS.

  • arcam #24 1 year ago

    question, how can a firmware update cause a console to overheat?

    There could be a bug that affects the fan speed settings, or causes the CPU to run at 100% for an extended period of time.

  • NicolasVH #25 1 year ago

    @SG: I guess they felt a little pressured to release it, since their network was down for over 20 days. Just a quick quess.

  • timewarp87 #26 1 year ago

    And this can be proved because LA Noire was out before the 3.61 update on Saturday morning right?
    When I got my original phat ps3 back in 2007 I got GTA4 the next year and played it for 3 days before my ps3 died. They guy at Sony said there had been numerous reports of GTA affecting machines and I think that Rockstar even had to patch the game to play in 720 or 1080i mode only as apparently playing in 1080p was breaking ps3.s

    You play a police game, your machine gets busted!

  • 32768Colours #27 1 year ago

    Is there any chance we can have a day of articles that don't revolve around firmware upgrades, game patches, and trash talking from loquacious industry suits? Probably not.

    Does anyone else remember when consoles were just, y'know, fun? Bah! None of this ever happened back in my day... jumpers for goalposts, etc, etc...!

  • NicolasVH #28 1 year ago

    It only does fail.

  • IronGiant #29 1 year ago

    More likely there are bugs in the game!! Blaming firmware for causing PS3s to overheat is a funny one from Rockstar.

  • Farzlepot #30 1 year ago

    @22

    L.A. Noire is the latest big game to be released, and it was immediately after the update. It stands to reason that quite a large number of PS3 owners have been playing it heavily since its NA release (obviously exacerbating any overheating problem that may exist), so when a number of people playing the same game experience the same problem, they all blame the game and go and bother Rockstar. So Rockstar then believe it's the firmware at fault, and release an announcement blaming Sony.

    Yeah, Sony should have tested the update first. But that's assuming it's the update that's at fault at all.

  • Dave52 #31 1 year ago

    FFS... enough already. Stop reporting everything as fact the moment you hear it.... There's nothing wrong with the Firmware. What are the chances that the Firmware is fucked yet it only affects LA Noir...? My son has been playing BFBC2 for a good few hours this evening with no problems, and my daughter has been playing New Vegas on her PS3 since about 5:00pm.

    Quick - a chance to bash Sony, let's jump on that........

  • Deckard1 #32 1 year ago

    Sonys head of software development was unavailable for comment as he was chasing a squirrel around the carpark.

  • MARKIV #33 1 year ago

    Blimey, the rate Sony are going they'll be giving away their entire back catalogue of games soon...! :)

  • m0thr4 #34 1 year ago

    @Ranger Ryu: question, how can a firmware update cause a console to overheat?

    Answer: when your support department is suddenly flooded with complaints and you're looking for a quick scapegoat.

    Either that, or some idiot confused a correlation with causality again (idiots are always doing that).

    The posting referred to in this article seems to have been deleted from the Rockstar website.... presumably after a phone call from Sony's lawyers. They now have this support article which seems to acknowledge that the issue affects both Xbox 360 and PS3 players.

  • tejo.hr #35 1 year ago

    SONY MENADGEMENT ACHIEVEMENT:
    Screw up 3 things in a row

  • BuckRogers #36 1 year ago

    didn't a previous PS3 update also cause crashes about 12 months back. You'd think they get better trained chimpanzees.

  • m0thr4 #37 1 year ago

    @Dave52

    Quite... and as you'll see, their support website no longer makes this outrageous claim and acknowledges that the problem is affecting Xbox 360 users.

  • Hunam #38 1 year ago

    I've been getting crashed on Uncharted 2 lately where I never did before. I thought it was just the game but I guess it was actually this. Lame.

  • Dave52 #39 1 year ago

    @M0thr4

    Oh, I'm sure Eurogamer will correct this immediately... oh wait... news just in - no they won't.

  • bad09 #40 1 year ago

    Poor Sony can't cut a break recently but they're not the only ones to have this problem, if I remember correctly Nvidia had the same problem with one their driver upates a while back which caused cards to overheat because of a fan speed bug or something.

  • arcam #41 1 year ago

    @dave52, m0thr4

    If you read that new support article there's a Rockstar employee again saying: "The issues of PS3s overheating appears to be due to the latest Sony firmware update. We recommend contacting Sony if your console is shutting off during play."
    Edited by arcam at 18/05/11 @ 23:20

  • Mkwone #42 1 year ago

    I thought the update was mandatory, so isn't it obvious that all the consoles that have overheated had the latest firmware?

  • LarryinExile #43 1 year ago

    This is off-topic but I was reading about the UK Welcome Back package on the Sony site and in the small print it says something about access to all free games and services finishing at the end of that thirty day period. Does that mean those 2 games of the 5 we can download are only "Free" for that month? Or that we can only download them during that month?

  • arcam #44 1 year ago

    I thought the update was mandatory, so isn't it obvious that all the consoles that have overheated had the latest firmware?

    Sony can't force an ethernet cable into the back of your PS3. Games will still work on the old firmware.

  • joelstinton #45 1 year ago

    So what tomorrow Eurogamer? PS3 CAUSES CANCER? PS3 STARTS WORLD WAR 3? PS3 KILLED JADE GOODY?

  • Rodster #46 1 year ago

    Blame it on Mr. Bean

  • coolbritannia #47 1 year ago

    "L.A. Noire keeps freezing up on my 360. I was thinking about getting the PS3 version. I guess I won't be doing that." - You should, PS3 version is superior.

    "FFS... enough already. Stop reporting everything as fact the moment you hear it.... There's nothing wrong with the Firmware." - Please stop reporting everything as fact, and accept my personal opinion as fact forthwith.

  • makeamazing #48 1 year ago

    L.A. Noire keeps freezing up on my 360

    Yeah Sony's update caused that ;)

    Seriously though, I've had this problem a few times on a number of games in the past (Fallout being one of those games), as Coolb says above me, its probably 99% got nothing to do with the patch, and by the sounds of things there are problems on both consoles with regards to LA.N.. It's unfortunate that this is being titled as a Sony problem, rather than what should be a Rockstar game problem.

  • Dave52 #49 1 year ago

    Hey Coolbritania, can you explain how the PS3 firmware update is affecting the Xbox version of LA Noir? Should I worry about my PS3 reading game disks after the Xbox dashboard update?

  • ballshock #50 1 year ago

    I don't think its the firmware, its the consoles, my Fat fuck PS3 was playing Fight Night Champion (before hack), the same thing happened and after a few times the blu ray drive stopped working

  • m0thr4 #51 1 year ago

    @arcam. I did read what Rockstar Support said about the firmware... then I read the other points they made and decided whoever represents them has wandered off the path of rational thought.

    Seriously, explaining that it's ok for the game to crash when accessing the PSN store because they couldn't have foreseen that it would be down? Are they not aware of the scheduled maintenance windows that occur on both XBL and PSN?

    Read on through the rest of the comments... this seems to be an LA Noire Issue.

  • vizzini #52 1 year ago

    Maybe Sony's new welcome back developer programme is to allow all major publishers one large pork pie at Sony's expense in the first month and this is Rockstar's.

    It certainly isn't an impossibility that a firmware could cause instability problems; particularly in the Cell processor's case, that quite uniquely supports advanced frequency scaling options in a large sub menu when roll your own kernel from source(kernel.org) in PS3 Linux. But why anyone in firmware development would still be tweaking these options late into a generation makes very little sense, against the backdrop of all back catalogue games potentially becoming unstable.

  • Grayvern #53 1 year ago

    Wonder if those ps3's were horizontal or vertical.

  • eltonpr0n #54 1 year ago

    Honestly this is becoming farcical now.

    Today I was tossing the coin on which version to buy. I think I will get the 360 version. I don't have an old PS3 anymore since I recently upgraded to a 320 slim but I really can't be arsed with this apparent incompetence anymore.

  • Progguitarist #55 1 year ago

    The problem occurs on both consoles. Read the links provided by other posters.

  • Joao_2011 #56 1 year ago

    MY PS3 DIED LAST NIGHT WHILE I WAS PLAYING MW2 IT APPEARED A YELLOW LIGHT THEN RED LIGHT FLASHING NOW I MY PS3 IS FUCKED UP BECAUSE OF SONY NOW I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO THIS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME OMG

  • Dannyboy1100 #57 1 year ago

    Wtf ive had my ps3 from about 1 to 11 and it's working fine. Gotta be the game.

  • RESIDENT_nEVILe #58 1 year ago

    Probably the only time I've been glad of a delayed European release.

  • Snake_2011 #59 1 year ago

    there are reports of 360s crashing as well now. if it was the firmware how come it is only L.A. Noire that it is happening on rockstar passing the buck?http://support.rockstargames.com/entries...http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/xbox_...
    Edited by Snake_2011 at 19/05/11 @ 03:55

  • BonzoBanana #60 1 year ago

    I think I might wait before upgrading my ps3s. Sounds like the firmware is a bit rushed and perhaps the fan control isn't working correctly for all models.

  • king26 #61 1 year ago

    Played Motorstorm and BFBC2 earlier, crashed 3 times berween them both

  • Kami #62 1 year ago

    "Can someone explain how a firmware update can do this to a console?"

    I'll give it a go with my limited knowledge.

    Each console runs its own firmware, which includes its own BIOS. Now, in the BIOS you have things like power management and fan speeds and even overclocking processors, fans and the like. However, increasing the power to overclock or compensate for something else brings with it another issue - heat. The more power you put through something for it to work harder, the hotter it gets (and the less time it lasts too). Anyone who has even slightly overclocked a PC will tell you this - increasing power consumption and/or overclocking often requires again, increasing fan speed to compensate for the heat (thereby further increasing power consumption) or a better cooling system overall.

    Now, let's say that in theory Sony have fiddled a bit under the bonnet and tweaked the BIOS and firmware to run something a little faster for the benefit of their consumers. They download the firmware and find out that the changes are such that their PS3s cannot cope with it. Things overheat and the systems shut down.

    The odd thing is I'm sure this sort of thing is going on all the time on PS3 and 360. The benefit of the online connectivity and firmware updates is, as they squeeze more from the system, they can then change the settings for all their users as well. The downside to this is when it goes wrong - we already have knowledge of the Wii and 360, after firmware updates, being "Bricked" and non-functional. The question is - what can be done about it?

    And IF this is the issue - because I'm only talking theory here - I suspect that Sony may release a firmware patch soon to tone it down.

    Or we can go and choose mystery option C, and that is Rockstar released a buggy game and are scapegoating Sony. Who knows?

  • Progguitarist #63 1 year ago

    Hey EG...why aren't you doing an article on the LAG problems in Brink?

    Anyway, read this http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/xbox_...

  • geox30 #64 1 year ago

    So much for console trouble-free gameplay.My PC is solid as a rock!
    Edited by geox30 at 19/05/11 @ 01:41

  • azic #65 1 year ago

    After having taken both a slim and phat apart I can see that the slim is cooled in a better fashion. I put a mod case on them if you want to know why.
    My guess is that if it is the firmware to blame then I would bet that the fan control part of the software is probably to blame in that the phat gets hotter quicker but the software is for the slim, so not reacting as quickly.
    Just my thoughts.

  • Collymilad #66 1 year ago

    @Spuzzell

    £425

  • Wolranker #67 1 year ago

    A bit of a coincidence, updated to 3.61 and had my console 4 years and first ever crash in game playing MAG! Poor, poor Sony. At least it was only 1 crash after a good full day of playing.

  • ruddiger7 #68 1 year ago

    jesus christ sony.

  • Biker_Bob_1971 #69 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 16:59:10 06-02-2012

  • phil_75 #70 1 year ago

    Every summertime this happens, its just old consoles that are full of 3,4,5 years worth of dust overheat.

    EG, it seems you enjoy Sony bashing, it affects 360 too but why only PS3 in the headline???

    Btw you sure you want 360 version? http://www.lensoftruth.com/head2head-l-a...
    Edited by phil_75 at 19/05/11 @ 03:25

  • Lawrens #71 1 year ago

    Wasn't there problems with GTAIV where the game freezes on certain consoles, and they had no idea why but it was console specific? (think it was the 60gigs)?

    This generation is really weird.

  • malmstriani #72 1 year ago

    I thought I was just imagining things. I have been playing read dead redemption (RDR) for three weeks and just applied the 3.61 patch last week. I have noticed that ps3 gets hotter in the last few days (you can hear the fan sounding louder just after 10-20 min of playing). Luckily, my ps3 has not freezed yet. RDR is also from Rockstar Games, but I haven´t really played other games these days. Coincidence?

  • Bander #73 1 year ago

    An official firmware update that overclocks the processors or reduces the speed of the fans?

    Is it just me, or is that really far-fetched? Both things are just asking for trouble. Maybe there's a chance that some extra speed is needed for new data encryption, but isn't there already an SPU reserved for such tasks?

  • chessboxer #74 1 year ago

    Erm...

    Every year around spring and summer time, people always complain that their consoles are getting louder or are heating up quicker yet haven't done anything to counteract or even acknowledge the increased temperature in places where their console is stored due to the warmer weather.

    The storage spaces may be fine during autumn/winter but room temperatures can get above 30C without decent air conditioning (the type you tend to find in modern office buildings, not a typical home), so people need to investigate if their console is in a suitable place for the warmer months, or is that just crazy talk?

  • RobotRocker #75 1 year ago

    This article isn't true EG, as lots of 360 owners also report having issues with LA Noire. Look for yourself on Rockstar Blog: it's full of dreaded scenarios on BOTH 360 and PS3

    You also need to remember that older 360's can crash and/or RROD at the suggestion of a slight breeze. Any new game pushing the system will always cause problems on older consoles and LA Noire is not the first (Neither will it be the last)

    Fanboys screaming "ITS NOT SONY'S FAULT. MEAN OLD ROCKSTAR ARE PICKING ON THEM WHEN THEY ARE DOWN. LEAVE SONY ALONE QQ" are funny to me though.

  • ronuds #76 1 year ago

    Given the whole thing going on with MS today, and the fact that updates have caused consoles to brick in the past (for both Sony and MS), I'm not sure why people are finding this so hard to believe. I'm skeptical, but no sense ranting and raving at EG for reporting the news... they are a news-reporting website, afterall.

  • Bander #77 1 year ago

    Maybe the PS3s are overheating because some of them have been gathering dust for a month? Not necessarily settling inside the machines, but immediately sucked in from the surrounding area in one go when turned on for the first time in a while.

    Bit of a long-shot, but in combination with what chessboxer said about it also being warmer, it's more plausible than a firmware update causing heating issues.

  • Raconteur #78 1 year ago

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dib2-HBsF...

  • deez #79 1 year ago

    Well, la noire has locked up on my xbox twice in about 8 hours.

    A case of people in glass houses?

  • Tyronne #80 1 year ago

    Rate this is all going, I honestly expect to turn my PS3 on and have it blow all the sides off of itself and then play a clowns cars horn before exploding in a cloud of confetti.

  • _Supra_ #81 1 year ago

    Been playing L.A Noire for 2 days (old 80gb model), no freezes or console shutdown for me..

  • Beano #82 1 year ago

    I thought Rockstar pulled back their claim?

    This hysteria and poor journalism has to stop.

  • rottingyoda #83 1 year ago

    I imagine this was caused by some poorly written code.

    Fan speeds are dynamic so i assume somewhere in the code some kind of 'check temperature' function was outside a loop? Im just guessing but i can see how an overlook in the code can cause hardware issues.

    'dot' your i's and cross your t's

  • Nath_monn #84 1 year ago

    Hey there's one thing the playstation's done right this year, least it didn't think it's February 29th again.

  • Killerbee #85 1 year ago

    My 80 GB PS3 has been on for a good few hours for the past couple of nights and I've had zero issues across a number of different games. Hopefully my LA Noire pre-order will arrive soon so it'll be interesting to see if that causes any freezing.

    With 360 owners also reporting issues I'm more inclined to believe it's Rockstar's game that's causing this.

  • Ferral #86 1 year ago

    Its been happening to me also on my 250Gb Slim. When you press the PS button and quit a game its been beeping 3 times and restarting since the newest firmware.

    Also it seems to be upscaling or resizing everything now, image is resizing when you start up a BR or Game even though my settings havnt changed, changes a few times before it settles. Really weird.

  • xero521 #87 1 year ago

    my fat 80g is fine and has been since the update been playing on it every mornig since psn bk up so imo a bullshit story! talk about kicking a man when he is down!!!!
    Edited by xero521 at 19/05/11 @ 08:31

  • marshaal5 #88 1 year ago

    Are xbox 360 not having the same problem ? i believe that they are accpording to the rockstar website anyway
    is this ANOTHER game that is better on the ps3 that you appear to be trying to hamstring so that we can have ANOTHER banner saying how many more copies it sold on the 360 than the ps3 ?

  • M_of_the_sys #89 1 year ago

    EG comments sections are as bad as The Wright Stuff.

  • m0thr4 #90 1 year ago

    UPDATE: A spokesperson for Sony told Eurogamer "We don't comment on rumours or speculation about our products."

    Lovely... but how about updating what is now a dead link in the main article? You know, the one that is the primary source for this story? Perhaps you could also acknowledge that the original support post has been taken down... and ok, I may be asking too much here: recognising that Xbox 360 owners are reporting the same problems with this game?

    Otherwise your story comes off as a cheap hustle to get page hits.

  • MrWonderstuff #91 1 year ago

    Hmm....my PS3 slim, for the first time, crashed whilst watching iplayer yesterday. Hmmmm...

  • lennon #92 1 year ago

    Something has definately changed with the fan at the very least. Been watching a lot of dvd's on the ps3 recently and since the update the fan is much louder than it was before.

    Not had a problem with it overheating yet but I am a little concerned. 60gb Original PS3.

  • kosigan #93 1 year ago

    I was on my 60GB BC PS3 for 2.5 hours last playing NFS Hot Pursuit with firmware 3.61 with no issues at all.

  • Daddy-Doom-Bar #94 1 year ago

    I think the consensus is that everyone, even some of the trolling xbox fanboys, are really starting to feel sorry for you PS3 owners. This is just really shit. Sony are bastards, but they don't deserve this much bad publicity. And PS3 owners don't deserve it, either. (even if they did choose the wrong platform! ;) - joke)
    I just thank fuck MS (even though they're a worse company) haven't had anything this bad.

    We all just want to play games, FFS!

  • Meh #95 1 year ago

    well after 4 hours of soul grinding on demon souls mine was fine, although about 4-6 months back my first year 40GB model ( now replaced) came up with a message saying the ' PS3 is over heating' and switched itself off, all i did was put a disc in?? after 30 mins it was fine, just cleaned out all the dust and crap from inside it and all was good.

    but ever since this update nothing like that has happened to my 320GB slim. could just be older models reaching their limit or something?? although you could buy some USB fans to put on the side of your PS3, that might help

  • SimonM7 #96 1 year ago

    I frankly don't care about the issues marring the PS3 until the effing second InFamous 2 is released. As long as shit is sorted then, I'm good.

  • kangarootoo #97 1 year ago

    "PS3s turning off or 'Red Lighting'"

    Red Lighting? We have a scary term for being in standby mode now do we?

  • Goodfella #98 1 year ago

    UPDATE 2: Eurogamer fail to update article with all the facts.

  • kirankara #99 1 year ago

    I've heard r* are backtracking lol , as it's happening on both systems. Wonder if they will publicly take back back what they said though, and in process make it known that they kinda cocked up on both( knows answer)

    http://support.rockstargames.com/entries...

    original
    http://i.imgur.com/zKjVR.jpg

    edited
    http://i.imgur.com/SJ3cj.jpg

  • telboy007 #100 1 year ago

    It was all so much easier back in the Saturn / PS1 days!

  • kirankara #101 1 year ago

    telboy007
    19/05/11 @ 09:41
    Ignore poster | #108
    +1
    It was all so much easier back in the Saturn / PS1 days!


    I'm
    Telling ya!!!

    The snes I had took the beating of lifetime and kept ticking, these things break just through playing games, let alone getting kicked when angry at dying repeatedly in a game

  • jarek98 #102 1 year ago

    Give Sony a break - I had similar problem with Red Dead Redemption LAST YEAR, so it is much more likely problem with Rockstar's engine, not PS3 firmware.
    After about ten minutes with Red Dead Redemption my PS3 fans were spinning with maximum speed.

  • Iora #103 1 year ago

    I updated in the wee hours of Sunday night. When I came back from work on Monday my machine restarted a few times mid play and now refuses to even start. It was the firmware update that caused this... What pisses me off more than anything else is those that are lucky enough to be spared any hassle who comment on how smooth their update went, but then take the time to tell you that your wrong based solely on their own little bubble of experience.

    Posting on Sony's support forum would be hilarious if it weren't so depressing. Between people asking why we were posting on support forums. How it was suspicious that we had never posted before. That we were noobs. So must either be trolling, from the microsoft forums, from microsfot itself or just plain stupid.

    From reading some of the comments here I can see its not much different. Stupidity on the internet who would have thought.
    Take a look out there at the amount of stories based around, hard resets, bricking, flickering and freezing. Magically these stories all seem to begin around the 17th May.

  • Chevinator #104 1 year ago

    (Update) HAHAHAHHA PWNED

  • Killerbee #105 1 year ago

    @Iora:

    "What pisses me off more than anything else is those that are lucky enough to be spared any hassle who comment on how smooth their update went, but then take the time to tell you that your wrong based solely on their own little bubble of experience."

    I understand the frustration and I sympathise if your console broke, but this story gets repeated over and over again...

    1. Big new game or new firmware gets released.

    2. A few consoles break.

    3. Cue lots of internet chatter along the lines of "OMFG! My console's broken! It must be the firmware / latest game I played!"

    The reality, more often than not, is that it's just coincidence. Consoles break. Sometimes it's just age or a build up of dust or something. It just so happens that lots of gamers were playing a particular game or had recently downloaded a piece of firmware at the time.

    I fully admit I might be wrong and there may yet be more to this story - maybe LA Noire is pushing the PS3 hardware particularly hard and is making vulnerable systems overheat whereas other games wouldn't? Maybe the firmware did change the fan settings?

    But until we see an official announcement, all this is just speculation.
    Edited by Killerbee at 19/05/11 @ 10:11

  • Morph4471 #106 1 year ago

    "We don't comment on rumours or speculation about our products." They dont comment until about 3 weeks after its too late by memory.

  • StanleyPointLarge #107 1 year ago

    This happened to me and I wasn't even playing a game, just listening to music.

  • arcam #108 1 year ago

    @Killerbee

    That's true, but the difference this time is that Rockstar had done some testing and come to this conclusion, it wasn't just anecdotes. That's much more evidence than is normally available in these situations.

    However kirankara's post shows they're backtracking on that point of view, so maybe they aren't as sure as they first appeared to be.

  • coolbritannia #109 1 year ago

    "I just thank fuck MS (even though they're a worse company) haven't had anything this bad. "

    Worse than Sony? I don't think so.

  • DavoTheDiv #110 1 year ago

    Sony ate my hampster!!! The bastards.

  • steagz #111 1 year ago

    this has happened to me since doing the firmware update while playing the saboteur and mafia 2 on a slim ps3 120gb the console just froze and the discs were extremely hot when i took them out

  • orangpelupa #112 1 year ago

    why i suspect 3.61 is not making overheat but maybe :

    - The temperature range for Force Shutdown is changed too low, or
    - There a memory leak

  • Atropos #113 1 year ago

    Yeah, since the same thing is happening on 360's when L.A. Noire is running it's OBVIOUSLY the PS3 firmware update. Sounds more like Rockstar are at fault for this one - oh wait, they never make mistakes that force them to shell out millions of pounds, right...?

  • Bigglesworth #114 1 year ago

    The reality, more often than not, is that it's just coincidence. Consoles break. Sometimes it's just age or a build up of dust or something. It just so happens that lots of gamers were playing a particular game or had recently downloaded a piece of firmware at the time.

    I fully admit I might be wrong and there may yet be more to this story - maybe LA Noire is pushing the PS3 hardware particularly hard and is making vulnerable systems overheat whereas other games wouldn't? Maybe the firmware did change the fan settings?

    But until we see an official announcement, all this is just speculation.

    @Killerbee: Quoted For muthafuckin Truth

    Not sure why this misleading story is even still here, never mind un-updated. The sole reference it was based on (a forum post, ffs!) has long since been redacted.

  • PixelPirate #115 1 year ago

    I've got a classic 60GB phat.

    Played for hours since release in long periods. No overheating problems at all.

    Although my Ps3 is properly ventilated and devoid of a 2" layer of dust most people seem to enjoy.

  • jonbwfc #116 1 year ago

    "So what tomorrow Eurogamer? ... PS3 KILLED JADE GOODY?"
    If that were true, I'd actually buy one because of it.

    (yes, I know this is in poor taste. I don't care).

  • Machetazo #117 1 year ago

    You Have Got To Be Fucking Joking! D: Please, tell me you are, because this is beyond farcical now.

  • steagz #118 1 year ago

    i love some peoples attitudes in these comments OH ITS NOT HAPPENED TO ME SO IT CANNOT BE TRUE well i can assure you its true its happened to me twice since doing the update. the saboteur froze so did mafia 2. i have a slim 120gb i have had it since october 2009 and never had 1 problem untill doing this latest update

  • Widge #119 1 year ago

    Ah, the flip side "its happened to me so it MUST be true" viewpoint.

  • GreyBeard #120 1 year ago

    @Steagz

    The problem is that if only a relatively small percentage of people have issues, its hard to argue reasonably that its the fault of a firmware that everyone has installed.

    Noone's disputing you have had problems, just that coming to the conclusion that it must be the firmware's fault because you recently installed it is not proof of a causal connection.

  • M_of_the_sys #121 1 year ago

    My PS3 froze twice on LBP2 since the update. It's also frozen during other games before the update. What could this possibly mean?!

  • oupe #122 1 year ago

    Rate this is all going, I honestly expect to turn my PS3 on and have it blow all the sides off of itself and then play a clowns cars horn before exploding in a cloud of confetti.

    SONY WHAHAHAHAHAHAA :D

    (I think I'll buy the 360 version, with a bit of luck it will damage my fat elite so I can buy the slim version. No sense in overheating my fat PS3 because it will not be replaced. I'll just wait for firmware release #463473638)

  • Goodfella #123 1 year ago

    So are you going to remove this false article, EG?

    Nah, didn't think so.

  • Mchief22 #124 1 year ago

    Sensationalist crap if you ask me. these sites just like picking on sony to get the hits.

  • Joao_2011 #125 1 year ago

    MY PS3 DIED LAST NIGHT WHILE I WAS PLAYING MW2 IT APPEARED A YELLOW LIGHT THEN RED LIGHT FLASHING NOW I MY PS3 IS FUCKED UP BECAUSE OF SONY NOW I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO THIS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME OMG

  • Bonders99 #126 1 year ago

    The hypocrites that EG are is evident. Just saw Bertie edit the Xbox 360 article " I've made a little edit - decided to remove the disc read error stuff. It's a distraction."..... Yet no such actions on Sony related stories.

  • EuroStalker #127 1 year ago

    Eurogamer's anti-Sony rhetoric coming through again. Gutter journalism!

  • justwondering #128 1 year ago

    my ps3 is one of the original models with ps2 compatability.....its not gone wonky yet , so i hope the latest update will not make it happen .......... number plate maker

  • xMG #129 1 year ago

    My PS3 is bricked after the update. I'm very grumpy

    Its a day 1 launch PS3 60gig fat with BC and card readers. It was working fine just before, hence being able to download and install the update.

    It doesn't even start.
    It just goes from Red light -> Green light -> Odd sounding mechanical noise -> Yellow light -> beep beep beep -> Flashing red light

    Reasons for anoyance;
    1) This sort of thing doesn't happen to me. My launch PS2 is still working. Plus it doesn't seem to be happening to too many other people. I'm like the innocent passer by that takes a stray bullet from a drive by.
    2) Sony want £134 for a like for like replacement with all my data lost. (seriously they can't recover my data, is it really that hard?) and only 3 months warranty.
    3) The cheaper non Sony fix it merchants option sounds a bit dodgy, 70 notes and 1 months warranty. Possibly not going to fix it if its a firmware3.61+60gig issue as appears to be the case if this article is to be believed
    4) I can't finish Portal 2 until this is sorted.
    5) If it is 3.61+60gig then its Sony's fault and I shouldn't have to pay. But its gonna take from an age to never before the next update and any kind of 'sorry we'll fix it for nothing offer' so I'm stuck with the options above.
    6) I can't get my free stuff on PSN
    7) This sort of thing doesn't happen to me. I know I've mentioned it already but this is mainly why I'm anoyed. Plus the fact I spent £425 quid on a launch m/c partialy justified because I expected it to last for ever
    8) I'm a grown up with a job and a kid and no time to be spend faffing about getting stuff fixed that shouldn't break. I've got enough other bloody things to be getting on with.

    Yours wanting to get back online, finish Portal 2 and proceed to other games where I can shoot you in the face.

    Now feeling a bit better after this rant

  • captain-future #130 1 year ago

    A spokesperson for Sony told Eurogamer "We don't comment on rumours or speculation about our products."

    classy statement, so the DO comment on rumours or speculation when it's not about THEIR products?