Things weren't looking so good for Sony at the Tokyo Games Show in September 2006. Sony was showing off their eagerly anticipated new Play Station 3 consoles, and the demo machines dial up internet providers sputtering and dying left and right. This was especially bad news considering the recent recall of Sony's lithium ion batteries.
The problem was that the machines were overheating. A representative from an equities company was the first to report it and pretty soon, everybody in the gaming world was talking about the new PS3s' overheating problem.
Actually, there were a few reasons why the consoles were overheating, that have nothing to do with the design of the machines themselves. First off, the Tokyo Game Show was hot. Anyone that's ever been in Japan in September knows that it's a brutal time of year, and the venue had no air-conditioning. There were 200 PS3s all operating close to one another, which may have been poor planning on the part of the organizers. And, perhaps worst of all, Broadband Tv Package consoles were in sealed cases so nobody could peek into the machine. This means that there was no way for the exhaust fans, which were reportedly working cable internet service fine, to get rid of all that heat.
It's obvious that 200 machines in sealed cases in a sweltering nightmare will overheat. Still, it looked very bad. Sony reps were all over the place in October denying that there were any overheating problems and gamers were skeptical.
What made things worse for Sony was the recent recall of their lithium ion batteries, webmail tm net mostly in laptops like the Sony Vaio. The batteries were overheating and bursting into flames! There was a massive recall where 7 million batteries were sent back, and it was a huge financial blow to Sony. Critics say that Sony was aware of the problem but didn't act quickly enough, and if they had, they recall could have been avoided. This hurt Sony's reputation pretty badly, and the overheating demos at the Tokyo Game Show looked even worse. With exploding batteries and the new PS3s choking and dying, lots of investors pulled out. Sony's share price dropped 2.75%.
So, since the release of Play Station 3, how many machines have been overheating? The good news is that nobody has reported their machines overheating. It seems that it was just a fluke. There were several reasons why the machines were overheating at the Tokyo Game Show, none of which had to do with the machines themselves, and all the bad press and lack of consumer confidence blew it way out of proportion.
Some friends and I put it to a test. In the name of journalism, we spent 48 hours straight (more or less), playing different games on my PS3. It was hard work, but somebody had to do it. And, I can report that there was no trouble at all. The fans ran quietly, there was warm air coming out of the back, it got hot but not too hot, and we had no overheating trouble. The only problem was with our eyes, backs and thumbs, and delirium due to lack of sleep and video game overdose.
Finally, if you don't believe me, check out the gaming forums. I guarantee you won't hear anything about PS3 overheating problems.
Marcus Creyton writes on game console systems. He is a PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii enthusiast. For information, guides, cheats on PS3, Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 go here: http://gameconsolekingdom.com
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