So About My PS3

Posted on July 27 2012 by Roy

The fate’s have been cruel to me since last we spoke.  Not long after losing my 9 to 5, my 80 GB Playstation 3 (with backwards compatibility and 4 USB slots) gave me the dreaded yellow light of death.  I was playing I Am Alive when the system simply turned off, refusing to do anything but make angry beeping sounds.

I like to believe I’m a strong person — one who can get by without the distractions material things bring with them — but being without my PS3 while having so much free time was very difficult.  Being cooped up in a boiling hot apartment certainly didn’t help either.

At my lowest point, I recall sitting on my kitchen floor in my boxers just staring into the machine’s innards.  I don’t know what I was looking for, as any number of things can cause this error to occur.  I think I was secretly hoping I would jostle something back into place and the machine would spring to life — but it didn’t.

Despite my earlier post on keeping my PS3 tuned up, I failed to back up as much data from it as I would have liked.  I know the information is most likely not lost for good — there is a chance that I can eventually revive the beast and perform a full data transfer – or so I hope.

I’ve since acquired a new system, a slim 320 GB model which promises to not have the same issues as their more obese predecessors.  While I’m saddened to have lost an old friend (and at an extremely inopportune time) it is comforting to have finally made the upgrade to a system which promises to be more stable.  To anyone else wondering when their fat PS3 will kick the bucket, I encourage you to back up as much as you can while you still have the chance.  Don’t make my mistake!

3 Responses to So About My PS3

1. takenoko says:

   Ah, you have my sympathies. My PS3 broke down a few months ago too and I was able to grab some saves before it died for good (but not all of them).

   I was kind of naive about the whole matter and sent it in to Sony. They sent me a refurb. so even though I had the harddrive from the old unit, if I had put it in my new unit, it would have formatted it. I've since picked up Plus just so that my save games are put in the cloud. I don't think it works for PS1 and PSP games though, so you'll still have to back that up manually, but it's like buying insurance against your machine breaking down again.

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2. Dave says:

   My condolences. Mine got the YLOD a few months ago too. Was playing Sonic 4 Episode 2 and I was actually enjoying myself. I still have it in a box and still am not sure what I'm going to do. I still have some PS2 games I'd like to finish. Been going through PS3 withdraw. I have a Wii and 360, but I have to force myself on the Wii and the 360, I just finished Bayonetta, the rest of my library are Japanese shmups. Miss playing meaty games. To add insult to injury, I got e-mailed a beta code for Little Big Planet Karting too! ^_^

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3. Amanda Rodrigues says:

   Sorry to hear about the loss of your PS3. The same thing happened to my backwards compatible 60gb PS3. I was playing Oblivion and the PS3 shut off, made a few beeps and refused to turn on again.
   They're a pain/expensive to get fixed. I read somewhere that it was to do with the glue they use, it becomes cracked and if you reheat the base of the your PS3 it will work for a while. Needless to say, I've tried it and it does work for all of an hour or so…

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