Hobbies And Interests
Yellow Light of Death
Signaled by a flashing yellow light, a steady red light and an inoperable console, the yellow light of death (YLOD) has led to debate over whether there is an inherent flaw in the PS3. The exact cause of the YLOD is unclear, and Sony has only said the light is a "non-specific fault indicator that can be triggered in a range of different circumstances." However, according to one third-party shop which repairs PS3s, the YLOD malfunction results from either rapid heating and cooling of the motherboard (causing cracks in the solder that holds the motherboard together), or from a faulty power supply.
Sending your console to Sony for repairs will cost you $150 if your one year warranty has expired. Third-party repair shops are willing to make repairs for less, and you will get your own console back rather than a refurbished one, but prices vary by shop.
Game Development
Developers have complained about the difficulty involved in programming games for the PS3, due to the console's six CPU cores. In order to use more than one of these cores, developers must design software using multiple threads of execution which are governed by "locks" that ensure each thread has exclusive access to memory, thus making the program thread-safe, or stable.
While the Xbox 360 also has multiple cores, that console uses DirectX as its application programming interface (API) rather than OpenGL, which is used by the PS3. Developers tend to be more familiar with DirectX, due to its pervasiveness in Windows games, and thus find it easier to work with.
Backward Compatibility
Fans of PS2 games may be disappointed by the unevenness of backward compatibility across the various PS3 models. While all models are compatible with original PS games, some models are completely incompatible with PS2 games, while others are fully compatible and still more are only partially compatible, working with only certain titles.
The trend since launch (when all PS3 models released had some form of backward compatibility) has been a decrease in the level of backward compatibility with PS2 titles in subsequent models, with the slim models released in 2009 having none at all.
Firmware Updates
After updating to the 3.01 firmware, many users have complained that their Blu-Ray drives now fail to read Blu-Ray discs, a problem which seems to affect users with older, "fat" models more so than users with slim models. The 3.01 update was originally meant to remedy problems that the 3.0 update caused for many gamers playing "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune."
Other Issues
Users have also reported being unable to play BlueRay discs due to laser failure, a problem which also mainly seems to affect earlier model PS3s. The remaining issues are largely related to audio and video, with users reporting garbled audio (possibly resulting from bad HDMI cables or connectors), distorted video and audio and horizontal bars and a buzzing noise caused by a ground loop, which occurs when both your PS3 and TV are grounded--your PS3 by the third prong on its power cord and your TV by either a third prong or coaxial cable. The ground loop issue can be resolved by unplugging your TV's coaxial cable, which is the recommended method.