Warning concerning FFXIII and your console.

[Pirian]

So glad I got a slim. Just started hearing rumors about the problems coming up with the fatties and knew shit was probably going to hit the fan around the time I started looking into getting one and decided not to risk it and just get a slim. This was around Christmas when all the slims were sold out everywhere -- glad I waited, lol.

[Xno Kappa]

66hrs in I had my first freeze. Broke my reader. Apparently this happens on old ps3s, new slims as well as 360s.

Would a software fix sony could send out be able to repair the issue (meaning I should just await said update), or am I shit out of luck, seeing as my warranty is over?

Waiting on getting a laser at the moment to replace the one in my PS3. I plan on doing it myself and I'm in no way experienced with the work involved. Took it apart once to blow dust out of it and that's as much as I've ever done. If you want you can wait and see how my situation turns out if that's what you're scared of.

[Edgie]

So does this mean that if you have a fatty you run the risk of your laser goin out on future releases... FFversus comes to mind if it comes on the same type of disc.

I have a 120 that came with motostorm, way old, over 100 hours but since I heard about this I went back to White knight chronicles

[Xno Kappa]

The way I'm understanding it from what I've read, it seems it's pretty much inevitable with the nature of future releases. Take care of it now or take care of it later. How long will the old fatties laser last is anyones guess.

[Draylo]

What is going on with this? Can't play ff13 on fat ps3? I have 80 GB one.

[Trocian]

Got ~100 hours on FFXIII in total, never had a freeze. 40GB fat PS3, guess I'm lucky.

[Madeline]

What is going on with this? Can't play ff13 on fat ps3? I have 80 GB one.

You definitely can, but it's at risk of your console giving out entirely as far as reading discs go. Read up for information, but the tl;dr is, when FFXIII freezes, your console goes kaput. People have had it happen at 20 hours into the game, some (like myself) have put in 100+ hours and haven't had a problem. Its random.

[Plow]

It's not just FFXI, either, it's something with the way they're making the discs now.

In other words, you're shit's probably going bad before too long anyway if you're playing new games. When you buy a new one, buy it from someplace that offers a good extended warranty.

Target is where I got my new slim, and seemed to have the best warranty deal, $25 for 2 years, starts *after* the factory warranty runs out, so I have 3 years of free repair/replacement.


It's also the best place to buy stuff like rock band, they offer a deal for $7 that puts you at 4 years straight up replacement if anything goes wrong, even if it's like... you decided using a hammer instead of drumsticks was a good idea.


Personally, if I had an old fattie that played ps2 stuff, I'd keep it exclusively for ps2 games and older ps3 games, and grab a new one to use for new games, with a good warranty, if you can afford that. Of course this is coming from someone who couldn't afford one at all for the first 4 years ;p

[Khelek]

Waiting on getting a laser at the moment to replace the one in my PS3. I plan on doing it myself and I'm in no way experienced with the work involved. Took it apart once to blow dust out of it and that's as much as I've ever done. If you want you can wait and see how my situation turns out if that's what you're scared of.

Nah, I just don't have any money to pay for repairs <_< So if there won't be a software patch to fix it (I heard it was a software issue somewhere, can't remember where) I would be without a ps3 for quite some time.

[Draylo]

Oh wtf, that doesn't seem right at all. Yeah I have 13 now, fat ps3 80 GB but that isn't nice to hear that I spent like 200+ dollars on something that will crap out within the year or so, especially if I wanna play 14 on it.

[Khelek]

So glad I got a slim. Just started hearing rumors about the problems coming up with the fatties and knew shit was probably going to hit the fan around the time I started looking into getting one and decided not to risk it and just get a slim. This was around Christmas when all the slims were sold out everywhere -- glad I waited, lol.

Just as many slims are getting ruined as fatties. and 360s. You're still in the risk zone, as is everyone else.

[Sign]

I don't want to downplay the issue because it clearly is an issue, I just think the scope of the issue is getting a little blown out of proportion. People are making it seem like, "if you have a fat PS3 this WILL happen to you". There are millions of PS3s out there and if it was affecting a large number of them I am sure we would see more posts/complaints about it. Again, I want to state that I am not saying this won't/can't happen or that it isn't a problem with the systems because there is clearly something going on, but there are also a large number of people playing with no issue at all.

[Ragnus]

Is it safe to assume I'm alright if I have FF13 installed to my hard drive?

[Null]

I stopped playing FFXIII for a bit. Went back to play it today and noticed my ps3 was on. I had FFXIII running for the past couple days. About shit myself but still no issue. This thread scared me to death.

[MoogleAura]

Damn... So the problem is with the way new discs are created and they're damaging the laser? Won't be back home for another 4 months so I hope this issue is resolved soon, I want to play FFXIII when I get back. I have had the 60GB (Backwards Compatible) PS3 for about 3 years or so now.

[DJvGalen]

I had something similar happen about a year ago or so but the cause was GTA IV. At first it would not always recognise Blue Ray discs then after a bit it wouldn't play BR's at all anymore.

I had it sent back and Sony gave me a brand new fat 80 GB. Now I have about 130 hours on my first game and last week I made a new game which has about 35 hours on it and I don't have any problems yet...

I read about this issue on Gamefaqs and the people there all seem to have this freeze at the start of the game, in the hanging edge.

[Sign]

Just wanted to post my times to give some people a little re-assurance that it won't wreck all consoles.

Just finished my second playthrough.

Playthrough 1: 52:50:10
Playthrough 2: 82:17:38

I have logged a lot of hours on my PS3 (60GB Fat; bought when they did the very first $100 price cut) with nary(sp?) a hiccup.

[Jefe]

Not the game, the actual laser is what's the problem. Think about it like a car; you drive the shit out of it, so why does it shock you when it breaks down when you're on your way to Vegas? Furthermore, the reason why 60 gigs are more prone to breaking down it's because they have one laser. Thus one can conclude it is normal wear and tear. Last, the newer systems have two lasers to increase the lifespan of the laser.

[Kaisha]

I don't want to downplay the issue because it clearly is an issue, I just think the scope of the issue is getting a little blown out of proportion. People are making it seem like, "if you have a fat PS3 this WILL happen to you". There are millions of PS3s out there and if it was affecting a large number of them I am sure we would see more posts/complaints about it. Again, I want to state that I am not saying this won't/can't happen or that it isn't a problem with the systems because there is clearly something going on, but there are also a large number of people playing with no issue at all.

Same thoughts here. Of that thread only 83 people reported problems. Granted, not many people who bought the game know about posting online, but still, given how many copies of the game sold, it's a very small minority (so far) having their lasers burn out on them, and if it were not the case we'd be hearing a lot more about it from larger news sources.

All I'm curious about though is it there's something in particular the game does that stresses the laser out more normal, or that it's just a coincidence that this game so happened to be the one that's killing PS3's and not some other big name title such as God of War 3 (which has a shitload more GBs of actual game content to read from, unlike FFXIII which could very likely fit on a single dual-layered DVD if you stripped all the 1080p FMVs).

[Minions]

Cleared the game fine with no issues, honestly seems like its a hardware problem some consoles have, that is just accelerated by playing the game.

TLDR, the laser was probably on its way out anyway.