PS3/X360/Wii- how healthy are your systems?

[Gamemoose]

I gotta say, I've been having some rotten luck with my current gaming tech (and tech in general) as of late:

 

Two Wii controllers have died

 

One Gamecube controller has also died with another pretty much unusable.

 

Retron 5 and Sony 42" LCD TV blew out

 

PS3 controller died

 

Wii system has a strange rattle on the inside-works but sometimes it tends to hang or seems to go slower than usual

 

Speak and Spell no longer speaks

 

I have been attributing these problems to my new wife's properties as I lived in one of her apartments and now her house, stating technology goes to her house to die. We have a lot of kids between her last marriage and mine but they are pretty respectful and they don't get to play them all the time. My gaming stuff gets stored away after play as the 2nd youngest (18 months) LOVES things with buttons and feeding crayons to the VCR.

 

Of course, joking aside, this could just be coincidence and that this newer tech may not be lasting as long as devices from past generations. My Atari VCS is still going strong as is my NES. My DS's still work great.

 

So how have your modern systems stood up to the test of time?

[Flojomojo]

Some of this is age, certainly a lot of it is bad luck, but modern stuff that plugs into the wall, like your Retron and your TV? Maybe you've got bad power. I would consider surge suppressors at the least, and maybe voltage regulators to protect your stuff.

[dj_convoy]

My PS3 sees WAY too much use (we use it primarily for media streaming); I've had it for three or four years and seems to be holding up okay. COntrollers are fine; but Rock Band Blitz definitely killed one of my controllers. I ended up buying an okay wired one for that game alone. kind of accept that I'll kill it due to overuse someday; I'll just slug the HD in a new one.

 

My Wii and 360 seem fine, but they don't see nearly the use my PS3 does.

 

My first Retron had the weak Famicom slot and it eventually broke. My second is much better build quality wise, but sudden;y I can't play Master System games on it (with perfectly functioning stuff). I assume a firmware update borked the SMS compatibility. My actual SMS is fine, and I have another, just in case.

 

Still on my original Saturn, Dreamcast, gamecube, N64, etc. I've had a couple Atari 5200s (I killed one somehow with Zone Raider). Have a functioning ColecoVision and Intellivision. My GBA, two DS Lites and 3DS are all in good shape (I did break as DS hinge, which sucked). Genesis and it's peripherals are fine. SNES is fine. My Vectrex is fine (knock on wood).

[HoshiChiri]

So far, the worst casualites of my newer stuff are the rechargeable batteries in the Xbox controllers, which don't really hold a charge anymore. It's something I am paranoid about, though- I mean, my Xbox's never red-ringed even. Sooner or later something's gonna die!

 

My PS2 succumbed to laser death, but luckily did so during the court-ordered free repair period, so I could get it fixed. It's been good since.

 

Otherwise, I'd had an NES and a Sega CD both die on me. The NES didn't deserve it- the previous owner had covered it in black acrylic paint and used a mismatched AC with too high voltage. It never had a chance.

Edited April 22, 2016 by HoshiChiri

[goldenegg]

All my game systems are in fully working order, with the exception of my Coleco Adam which needs a new Digital Data Pack Drive.

[MotoRacer]

Bad luck for me.

 

First white Wii had a disc drive issue. Replacement Wii I got a couple years back now is getting very loud. Controllers are fine.

 

First 360 rrod. Second rrod. Arcade sold before I had an issue. Got an r2-d2 model. So far so good. I've been through over 10 controllers now. All have the drifting joystick problem 360 sticks are known for. Now I just buy a new 360 controller, gut it, put it in my own shell, and return the "new" one to Best Buy. I have to do this every six months. No rubber wear. I hold my pads like a baby. They're just rubbish. And Microsoft can pay for that crap and shove their 30 day warranty up their arse. Speaking of shady build quality, two bad hard drives and three bad wifi adapters for the old non-slim systems. Let's not forget the roughly five Microsoft brand headsets that all broke without a month of light use. And two chat pads that burned out for no reason. I love my xbox one controller for PC, much much better, but as far as a system I'll never buy Xbox again. Utter crap.

 

Backwards compatible PS3 died. PS3 slim fine but sold it. PS3 super slim, little pos...nothing but drive issues. Back to slim, running fine. Controllers, like Nintendo's, all fine. All accessories are also fine.

 

Verdict. Burn them with fire. All of them. Miserable generation quality wise on the whole.

Edited April 23, 2016 by MotoRacer

[MotoRacer]

Oh and not age related obviously. SMS, nes, Genesis, Saturn, dc, gc, ps1, all game boys, nomad, n64, etc. Never had problems. Only some disc based systems from the 90s ever had major issues, along with ps2s.

 

Older systems were just made better and had less moving parts. At the very least the old pads were light years more durable.

[Yar_2084]

I have an original model Wii and it's ran fine for the last year I've owned it. I did buy a Wii laser cleaner for it, which has been used twice. I back my games up and play them off a hard drive so the laser doesn't much use.

 

I'm friendly with my local game shop and it's them I purchased my PS3 Slim from and I'm told the laser is still in great condition. I've had no issues with it at all, and it came from a care home too.

[Gabriel]

I'm on my third PS3. I've been through a 60G phat, a 120G slim, and am currently on a 500G superslim. I have a 500G superslim in reserve.

 

I've destroyed one PS3 controller, but that was all on me, not the controller. All the others are fine, but the batteries are sometimes irregular.

 

I'm also on my third 360. All of them have been original models. I haven't had the last 360 hooked up for about two years. I never bothered with a reserve system.

 

I don't know how many 360 controllers I've gone through. I know all the ones that have failed have been wireless. They reach a point where they just won't work/won't resync with the system. The rechargable batteries also become useless after a while, refusing to hold a charge at all. That's why I prefer to use wired controllers for the system.

 

The Wii operates fine. But I put it in the closet some time ago and there it has stayed. I never bothered with a reserve system.

 

The controllers eat batteries like crazy. This was one of the reasons I retired the system. I was tired of replacing batteries literally every time I turned the system on. Other than that, I still have the same two controllers I started with.

[cybercylon]

Generally, I have had good luck, especially when I have bought systems new and they haven't died within the first year.

 

But I agree... the controllers eat batteries like crazy, even with the rechargeable ones. They also are expensive. Last year, when I had to replace a PS3 controller, I ended up getting a PSTV bundled with it. Nearly the same amount.

[+save2600]

I too generally have had good luck, but don't really play my modern systems so much. Sold the PS3 fat I had to a buddy that's uses it quite frequently, but he's got one of those fancy stands for it with fans built right in to keep it nice and cool. Hasn't had a lick of trouble with the old girl yet!

 

I also try to stay away from using the lasers as much in this newer stuff either. PS2 for example, have a HD in it that I've dumped most all of my games to. CD32 I rarely ever play, but bought a spare laser for it years ago, just in case. Same with the JagCD.

[cybercylon]

I have have a fat PS3 as well and it is on a metal stand that acts more like a heat sink. When you face the console's front, it's the right side that seems to get much hotter, so best to have plenty of air space and flow.

[Austin]

Fortunately I haven't had many issues. No controllers outright dying on me that I can think of and no known hardware issues (for modern stuff, I have a PS3, Wii, Wii U, 360 Slim, Xbone and a LG LED TV).

 

It may or may not help, but I try to keep my stuff clean (keeping vents unclogged for good airflow, for instance). I also don't enable the standby mode options (apparently this was an issue with the Wii and could kill a system after a time).

[Yellow355F1]

I bought a 360 not long after release from a co-worker who lost interest. And other than one RROD issue a reseating of the heatsinks, and thermal paste it is still working. I have had issues with the controller that came with it though. The right shoulder button stopped working. Been all through it no idea what happened? Picked up a spare controller, and has been okay since.

PS3 I still have the first phat model I bought new, but the HDMI is fried on it. Only outputs to the Composite cable luckily that is all that happened to it. I took it to work for the GTA V updates last year as the internet connection was faster there. A malfunctioning exhaust fan sent a huge surge taking out the TV, but the PS3 soldiered on as it appeared to still be running. Got home to find it wasn't completely spared. I bought another phat 80gig nearly identical for the HD TV it spazzed out, and shut down. Now it powers up just to shut back down with the power led flashing once off. I bought a God of war Red super slim version to replace it the controller worked about 3-4 months before dying. The battery is fine I moved it over to one of my older controllers. Got a Last of us edition super slim, been a year and a half without issue.

I have 3 PS2's 2 are the original phatty's, one a slim. Bought one weeks after launch it is still working good. Got the other dirt cheap as a back up. I bought a slim model, impulse buy. It works good, but the stupid CD lid don't latch shut. Started that a few months after getting it.

Had great luck with the PS1 era stuff as well, still have my original, and a spare. As for beyond that only a Model 1 Genesis with a bad rf signal, and a 5200 that eats power supplies. I try my best to keep them all clean, and in a well ventilated area. Seems to have done the trick so far.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Yellow355F1

[cimerians]

Never had an issue with systems that I bought brand new except for the launch 360 and PS3. Red/Yellow lights.

 

Buying used is a whole other story.

[Unbeliever]

So far, so good with my new 3DS. I really don't expect any problems (knock copious amounts of all nearby wood products), and my Gamecube is working fine except once in awhile it won't read a disc. I have cleaned the lens but the problem repeats itself. I expect it at some point to stop working entirely.

 

My Atari 2600 and all controllers work great. The Intellivision I have worked last time I knew (controllers, too), and the PS2 slim I have worked like a charm at last power up. My Xbox 360 I ditched at the beginning of the year was completely fine, controllers as well. It was one of the latest E models and had no issues.

[Dweepper]

I've never run into a problem that couldn't be fixed with a gaming console.I have a PS3 and a 3DS. The PS3 I've only had about 3 years, and I've had to reball it as well as replace the laser. It was a lot cheaper then getting a new one. The 3DS has worked well since I got it, but I've only had it for a month or so. My older consoles hold up a lot better!!

[Shawn]

My launch day Wii is still running like a champ.

[+Cafeman]

X360 still works fine, although fan is loud. I had to solder fix the guitar hero drum pedal recently. Wireless x box controller resets a lot.

[Professor Gull]

Well i have a ps3 slim which is working great still as well as 3 Xbox 360's all black versions recent ones maybe 3 years in age. I have gone through 2 ps3 controllers one just dies the other went for a swim in 4 inches of rain water (thank you flooded basement).

 

My only real horror story was my Original Wii bought on release date. It ran smooth for about 2 months then the disk drive failed with a game in it ( Mario Galaxy I think). So I sent it into Nintendo for repairs sometime in November I think or early December. It took 6 weeks to get back to me plugged it in and still the drive would not work. This time though it just wanted to eject the disk all the time. Nintendo also pulled my Mario disk and it was trashed ( they never replaced this saying they were unsure it was the Wii or being mishandled Ugh Politics.). So it went in a second time got it back in another 6 weeks at the end of January after doing Christmas buying games we could not play. That was a very sad and upsetting holiday. After 3 more years the drive died again and now it sits on my shelf until I decide what to do with it.

[BydoEmpire]

• Haven't used my (launch day) Wii in a year or two. I went to plug it in on Sunday and got the blinking red power light. Googling says it's probably the power supply, but I'm not sure, I'm going to poke around with a few things.

My year-after-launch 360 died for the second time 5-6 years ago but I never bothered to replace it.

Never owned a PS3.

My year-after-launch PS2 was still running fine the last time I checked, which was maybe 9 months ago.

[Unbeliever]

Funny short story: A few years back, my wife got me an Xbox 360 console which I forgot about, being in the living room and hidden behind a cabinet. Lo and behold, I'm moving this little 4 gb beauty downstairs to the man cave with it's stack of games. Not sure if this thing still works, but I'm betting, since it's a "newer" model, that everything's fine and it just needs a good cleaning.

 

It hasn't been used perhaps more than a half a dozen times, so it's "like new". There are many games with it as well, so I guess I'm not totally out of the Xbox 360 scene.

[Video]

Never a problem with my Wwii but it gets very little play. Been through 3 xbox 360's but they get used a hella lot. The latest one just gets used as a video streaming box now. Never got a PS3 but they must be really unreliable as the ones that are brought into my store never work (and no I don't buy them)

[F1MidBoss]

I've had a few issues here and there.

 

My original 40GB fat PS3 went through quite a few issues in 2011. The bluray drive died and a month after getting that repaired, the console got its first YLoD. Maybe a year later or so, the YLoD happened again, but luckily I learned that a co-worker of mine is able to fix those issues and he was very generous to fix my console for free. I bought a slim PS3 after that and limited the use of the fat model. I actually rarely use it these days.

 

My Wii hasn't had any issues, but I use it the least.

 

My 360 had a RRoD once and I haven't had an issue again after fixing it.

Edited June 17, 2016 by F1MidBoss

[atarifanboi]

On my second 360, first one had some random error that meant it would sometimes work, sometimes not. It's possible that too much Halo killed it.

 

Later one had the cooler running chipset plus HDMI out, and is still running fine, despite the 2 controllers I have looking a bit dog eared.

 

I still have my original Xbox and controller and it all runs fine