Home Gaming Faulty PlayStation 4’s are “isolated incidents” says Sony

Faulty PlayStation 4’s are “isolated incidents” says Sony

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Storminateacup

Some worrying reports on the eve of the North American launch of the PlayStation 4 have pointed to the possibility of both hardware and software flaws with the system. Sony’’ says they’re nothing you ought to worry about.

Both IGN and Kotaku had problems with their PS4 systems, along with a few random people from the internet, mostly Taco Bell “Play the future”  winners. Sony’s issued an official response, saying that the issue is isolated.

“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,” a representative told IGN. “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 0.4% of shipped units to date, which is within our expectations for a new product introduction.”

Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida took to twitter to calm the masses.

That should hopefully put a lot of people at ease – but there’s also a warning from Reddit and Kotaku, saying that it’s probably best if you inspect your PS4’s HSMI port before using your PS4. They’ve found that for some or other reason, the HDMI port isn’t flush with the unit, and can damage HDMI cables, accounting for reports of inoperable PS4’s,

“A piece of metal in the system’s HDMI port was supposed to have been flush with the bottom of the port but instead had been bent upward, obstructing some of the pins in the port. The Sony employee testing our unit used a pin to push the small piece of metal back down,” says Kotaku.

Is it a hardware fault? Is it human error? nobody seems to know – but we’ll sure as hell find out in the coming days. 

“The slightly bad news is that we’re unable to tell you why this happened,” Kotaku continues.  “It’s certainly possible that we accidentally knocked that piece of metal upward when we first plugged Sony’s HDMI wire into the PS4. We can’t rule out human error on our end. But we’ve been plugging wires into HDMI sockets for a long time, and we’ve never had this issue before. It’s also possible there was something wrong with Sony’s wire and that that’s where the initial fault lies. Or perhaps the jack was indeed badly made. Sony doesn’t know. We don’t know.”

So it’s a small issue, and one that thankfully has an easy and cheap fix – but it’s really one that shouldn’t rightly exist in the first place. The good news though, is that if you are affected, there’s a simple, simple solution.

The PlayStation 4 sees its North American launch today. We’ll be getting it on December 13. 

Last Updated: November 15, 2013

83 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief Duke

    November 15, 2013 at 08:31

    Some say when the PS4 overheats, this happens:

    http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/arpMx15_460sa.gif

    Reply

    • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

      November 15, 2013 at 08:41

      I was kind of half-expecting it to turn into a demon serpent or something.

      Reply

      • RinceandRepeat

        November 15, 2013 at 08:44

        You called?

        Reply

        • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

          November 15, 2013 at 08:47

          I mentioned you in an earlier comment, maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t see it, just now it goes to your head

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 15, 2013 at 08:58

            That’ll teach you to call “or something.”

          • RinceandRepeat

            November 15, 2013 at 09:00

            No link no believe!

          • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

            November 15, 2013 at 09:02

            Previous article doed. Shuhei…

          • RinceandRepeat

            November 15, 2013 at 09:08

            Riiight… Where were you last night. Thought you were going to make it to the launch of the new Indie movie?

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 15, 2013 at 09:08

            He missed my comment on the movies too. He’s not on top form this morning.

          • RinceandRepeat

            November 15, 2013 at 09:09

            Oi! I have 100 emails to go through and have to deal with this pest called Trevor, difficult morning!

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 15, 2013 at 09:09

            Then maybe you shouldn’t play GTA while you’re supposed to be working!

          • RinceandRepeat

            November 15, 2013 at 09:15

            I wasn’t! Actually, was at an Indie game launch last night. Sure I mentioned it to you.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 15, 2013 at 09:19

            Er… what? O_o

          • RinceandRepeat

            November 15, 2013 at 09:23

            This is what happens when you don’t listen and just leave glib remarks! Was awesome! Speaking of awesome, are you keen for another get together before month end and when John is back?

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 15, 2013 at 09:28

            But glib remarks are my forte. What else am I supposed to do? Give thoughtful, measured responses to meaningful issues? Ahaha. You silly person you.

            That sounds good, I’ll get around to installing Skype over the weekend.

    • ToshZA

      November 15, 2013 at 08:45

      What is that thing (before he sets it on fire)?

      Reply

      • RinceandRepeat

        November 15, 2013 at 08:46

        Type of metal, magnesium or something?

        Reply

      • Admiral Chief Duke

        November 15, 2013 at 08:47

        Mercury Thiocyanate

        Reply

        • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

          November 15, 2013 at 08:48

          I read that as Mercury Thiocrcrerecre

          Reply

        • ToshZA

          November 15, 2013 at 08:49

          Mercury with some cyanide. Sounds perfect to add to any meal. That you expect to kill someone with.

          Rince won’t need the cyanide. 😉

          Reply

    • Unavengedavo(aka. IceCreamMan)

      November 15, 2013 at 08:55

      Well you would expect that, you know Sony being a Japanese company and all…

      Reply

      • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

        November 15, 2013 at 08:57

        Makes me think of that video you posted with the Japanese people and the weird-ass face coming out of the girl. Messed up stuff man.

        Reply

        • Unavengedavo(aka. IceCreamMan)

          November 15, 2013 at 08:58

          When did I post that? 😐

          Reply

          • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

            November 15, 2013 at 08:59

            I don’t want to talk about it anymore.

            So i will post this…Cape Town is the coolest place…

          • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

            November 15, 2013 at 09:01

            GTA Cape Town in the hizi

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 15, 2013 at 09:05

            I know I shouldn’t laugh but.. “shame man!”

          • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

            November 15, 2013 at 09:12

            Halloop!

          • oVg

            November 15, 2013 at 09:12

            GTA Cape Town

          • TiMsTeR1033

            November 15, 2013 at 09:39

            I believe the weather is maar kak today! really COOL as in cold and raining!

          • Skyblue

            November 15, 2013 at 09:56

            LOL’ed at “that oke looks like a ninja turtle”

          • Maxiviper117

            November 15, 2013 at 10:02

            Why do people video vertically, Turn the phone 90 degrees

    • TiMsTeR1033

      November 15, 2013 at 09:38

      What is that!?!

      Reply

      • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

        November 15, 2013 at 09:40

        Your stomach after fast food

        Reply

        • TiMsTeR1033

          November 15, 2013 at 09:49

          looks like a octopus tentacle!

          Reply

          • Kensei Seraph

            November 15, 2013 at 09:52

            Looks like the monster from a horror/survival manga I read a while back.
            Nearly everyone was killed by things that looked exactly like that.

    • Sageville

      November 15, 2013 at 10:41

      Demmit!

      Know I need to know what that is!

      Reply

  2. Hammersteyn

    November 15, 2013 at 08:41

    Clearly that unit is broken, it didn’t wobble.

    Reply

  3. Admiral Chief Duke

    November 15, 2013 at 08:44

    Ok fellow Lagz-o-saurs, I’m off today doing a bit of this and that, have fun!

    http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/amXPxB2_460sa.gif

    Reply

  4. RinceandRepeat

    November 15, 2013 at 08:46

    Not sure what to say. One would think the first units being sent out to journalists would be in tip top my flicking clock condition. If SONY is having issues with something as minor as the HDMI cable what will the Xbox One’s Kinect 2.0 do? Laser you in the the eye until you listen to it?

    Reply

  5. oVg

    November 15, 2013 at 08:48

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🙂

    Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      November 15, 2013 at 09:37

      You forgot the streamers and the cake!

      Reply

      • oVg

        November 15, 2013 at 09:41

        Need to save 😛

        Reply

  6. Martin du preez

    November 15, 2013 at 08:56

    When I get my Ps4 I will make it dinner,have some wine by candlelight and then later carefully slip my HDMI cable into her.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      November 15, 2013 at 08:59

      Don’t forget the Barry White 😀

      Reply

      • SaintsRowNigri

        November 15, 2013 at 09:00

        I think he needs a white padded room more than the Barry…

        Reply

      • Martin du preez

        November 15, 2013 at 09:01

        Al green <3

        Reply

      • oVg

        November 15, 2013 at 09:14

        On SONY music store.

        Reply

    • RinceandRepeat

      November 15, 2013 at 09:01

      I, I… 0-O

      Reply

    • oVg

      November 15, 2013 at 09:08

      I do not know why but that kind of turned me on. 50 shades of Blue.

      Reply

      • Umar Moe Moe

        November 15, 2013 at 09:10

        Same here….Gently caressing the touchpad..up…down….up…..ooooooooooooohh

        Reply

        • oVg

          November 15, 2013 at 09:10

          While he slowly inserted the stick while in the upright position for the first time.

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 15, 2013 at 09:12

            Gently, gently… you don’t want to break the HDMI port

          • oVg

            November 15, 2013 at 09:14

            Just wiggle it a little. She is new.

          • oVg

            November 15, 2013 at 09:14

            OK OK OK… back to my coffee.

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      November 15, 2013 at 14:06

      Be gentle, don’t rush it and you’ll be rewarded! Don’t wiggle it, keep it steady and slowly slide it in. #DirtyPS4

      Reply

  7. Guest

    November 15, 2013 at 08:57

  8. Brian Murphy

    November 15, 2013 at 08:58

    “The slightly bad news is that we’re unable to tell you why this happened. It’s certainly possible that we accidentally knocked that piece of metal upward when we first plugged Sony’s HDMI wire into the PS4. We can’t rule out human error on our end. But we’ve been plugging wires into HDMI sockets for a long time, and we’ve never had this issue before. It’s also possible there was something wrong with Sony’s wire and that that’s where the initial fault lies. Or perhaps the jack was indeed badly made. Sony doesn’t know. We don’t know.”

    Also part of the story, and fairly important, I’d think.

    Reply

    • RinceandRepeat

      November 15, 2013 at 09:02

      lol. Dude, PLEASE do me a favour and put a SONY flag up as your avatar! It needs to be done 😉

      Reply

      • Brian Murphy

        November 15, 2013 at 17:08

        LoL, fuck that, if anything, it’d be Ryu. Failing that, it’d be PC related. 🙂

        Reply

    • Umar Moe Moe

      November 15, 2013 at 09:04

      Yup, could’ve been their fault for all we know.

      Reply

  9. InsanityFlea

    November 15, 2013 at 08:59

  10. HvR

    November 15, 2013 at 09:00

    Typical problem with port types like HDMI, USB.

    You get one or two in a batch of 1000 that is faulty.
    The HDMI cable can have a kink on one of its pins from lots of use that can push the socket connector up if only inserted at a slight angle.

    All these OMG!!!! reports for both consoles are from reviewers trying to get some extra hits. If more than 10 units in a 100 consistently fail with the same problem then their is issue and people can start to worry.

    EDIT: Nothing beats a DB connector.

    Reply

    • Corporal Stick

      November 15, 2013 at 09:07

      can’t wait for wireless hdmi

      Reply

  11. TiMsTeR1033

    November 15, 2013 at 09:18

    I would of checked the pins straight off the back if had issue with no picture and made a fix if I could… mind boggling how that is the LAST thing they check.

    Reply

    • Kensei Seraph

      November 15, 2013 at 09:20

      I would have checked the pins straight off the back if I had an issue with no
      picture and I would have made a fix if I could… mind boggling how that is the LAST
      thing they check.

      *Fixed to be english

      Reply

      • TiMsTeR1033

        November 15, 2013 at 09:25

        DUDE!! I haven’t had enough coffee. Please this is not needed right now.

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          November 15, 2013 at 09:30

          Pssst.. Tim, tell the guy who corrected your grammar it’s “straight off the bat.”

          Reply

          • Kensei Seraph

            November 15, 2013 at 09:34

            I don’t know why but that made me laugh.

            And that was a bit more than grammar, that was several words missing from the sentence.
            The grammar itself wasn’t to bad though.

          • TiMsTeR1033

            November 15, 2013 at 09:35

            I am tired forgive a poor man. This is a forum not a English class.

          • Kensei Seraph

            November 15, 2013 at 09:38

            I’m not trying to hassle you I’m just trying to be helpful, sorta.

            I’m nearly always tired and I don’t drink coffee so there’s nothing to forgive, at least in my mind.

          • TiMsTeR1033

            November 15, 2013 at 09:40

            You drink tea then?

          • Kensei Seraph

            November 15, 2013 at 09:44

            Not often.
            Mostly just water.

          • Timpoo1033

            November 15, 2013 at 09:55

            Yes, but it sucks when we have to read it. You educate us on how you will torture us. We educate you on how to use the King’s language.

          • TiMsTeR1033

            November 15, 2013 at 10:05

            Oh go and jump off a bridge… tired of your mockery! Childish using my name.

          • Timpoo1033

            November 15, 2013 at 10:12

            I’d be more than happy to give you some reading classes as well. Since you seem to not be able to. I do not use your name. Very different.
            Or is it dyslexia? I can organise you some of those coloured glasses.
            There there Timmy, no need to get all angry. Timpoo just wants to help you. 🙂

          • TiMsTeR1033

            November 15, 2013 at 10:18

            Maybe I have dyslexia I don’t know! I would like to think it is called “not had enough coffee this morning”

          • Timpoo1033

            November 15, 2013 at 10:42

            I know what you mean. I sometimes wish I had a water dispenser which I can fill with coffee. With a pipe leading straight to my desk 😛

          • Timpoo1033

            November 15, 2013 at 09:57

            * TOO bad 😉 You, are not forgiven either.

          • Kensei Seraph

            November 15, 2013 at 10:07

            I haven’t been able to keep track of which one is which since a week after I was taught about to and too.

          • Timpoo1033

            November 15, 2013 at 09:58

            Also…*there were several…
            Why try and correct someone when you can’t hold your own?

    • Brian Murphy

      November 15, 2013 at 19:44

      Yeah, but I’m often shocked at how bereft of problem solving abilities some people are. Then again, having worked with PC’s, electronics etc… in the past, I’m used to the process of starting at the most likely/common source of failure, testing and clearing it, and moving on to the next possible source of the fault.

      Not everyone’s familiar with that kind of process, which is fine, because they quite often know things about areas that I’m completely ignorant about too 🙂

      Reply

  12. Just Saying

    November 15, 2013 at 09:47

    are you stirring ?

    Reply

  13. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    November 15, 2013 at 14:04

    And yet Good Man Sony rules supreme. A bit funny how the internet erupted over a bent HDMI pin, with tears of RROD-fearmongering, but so it goes. So I guess, much ado about nothing. Fortunately, I merely shrugged when the news first hit, and dreamt of opening my PS4 box and unleashing the magic. Greatness awaits!

    http://i.minus.com/i5HosGmv7H5a7.gif

    Reply

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