Now that the PlayStation 4 is here, it seems Sony has released a batch of consoles rocking a critical error.
Consumers across North America have reported, by way of YouTube, Twitter, forums and retailers like Amazon, PlayStation 4s coming in dead on arrival.
They boot their systems and encounter pulsing blue lights and a no signal sign from their TVs. Maybe it happens right away, maybe it comes over the course of three hours or maybe overnight.
Sony’s acknowledged the failures, and they even released a statement saying that their current count of failing consoles shipped to retailers puts them at 0.4% of the total hardware population. Here’s the quote straight from IGN:
A handful of people have reported issues with their PlayStation 4 systems. This is within our expectations for a new product introduction, and the vast majority of PS4 feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We are closely monitoring for additional reports, but we think these are isolated incidents and are on track for a great launch.
There have been several problems reported, which leads us to believe there isn’t a singular problem that could impact a broader percentage of systems. The number of affected systems represents less than .4% of shipped units to date, which is within our expectations for a new product introduction.
For every 1,000 sold, 4 are bricks. Those four consumers, rightly so, have taken to the internet to be let the world know.
Here’s the thing about online reviews.
Typically, the folks that flood reviews during the initial period of any good’s launch are those who sit on polar opposites of the scoring spectrum. They drop 1s, 0s or 10s based on their own experience and preference.
The folks dropping low scores are, rightfully so, warning others. The gamers who are enjoying their PlayStation 4 might not have even considered writing a review. As of the moment of drafting this story, Amazon has over 1,500 user reviews for the PS4. 973 are 5 stars, 488 are 1 star. The 2, 3 and 4 star categories haven’t even broken 80 votes yet.
I’m not suggesting that the 1 star users are wrong for reporting their broken system. I believe most of them are genuinely frustrated and seeking an opportunity to warn others about their DOA system.
However, you can bet Amazon sold a whole lot more than 1,500 PlayStation 4s. Heck, I got my PS4 from Amazon, and I haven’t left a review. Have you?
Online reviews represent a very, very, very small slice of the consumer base. Especially at launch for a console or game, user reviews don’t necessarily represent the opinions of the majority.
But…should we be concerned?
Yes and no, really.
It’s exceptionally hard to put a finger on exactly how broken a new console is this close to launch. The Xbox 360, for instance, was given a 3-5% failure rate by Microsoft when it launched. That figure was ridiculously low, and some estimates later placed the failure rate of the original 360 at nearly 50%. I went through three of those consoles, and I know several other gamers who had to replace multiple units as well.
Sony threw out this number that only .4% of the consoles shipped to retailers, as far as they know, have been affected by whatever is happening here. That 99.6% success rate for a brand new console is actually really good. The statement, however, came from November 14th, the day before the PS4’s launch.
If Sony ever does decide to give consumers a more genuine and up-to-date number, we won’t really understand the magnitude of this console’s initial failure rate until several months from now.
What to do?
Early adopter or not, it’s really hard to come up with a good reason to buy any console at launch. You effectively sign up to pay top dollar to become part of a big group of beta testers.
Video game consoles used to work right out of the box. The moving parts were limited, and failure rates were tiny. Think back to the SNES, Nintendo 64, PlayStation One and, yes, even the original Xbox. These machines worked fine, typically.
Today? There’s so much going on inside that it’s hard to produce a completely perfect effort on the first go around. So, if you can stave off the desire to own one straight away, the best thing you can do as a consumer is wait a few more months.
Sony will figure this problem out, if it’s a big one, and they’ll address it with a patch or new batch of machines.
If you absolutely need a PlayStation 4 (or even an Xbox One) at launch, be ready to receive a broken console. Statistics currently suggest that getting a DOA machine requires very bad luck, but, hey, it could happen to you.
