In what’s becoming a bit of a strange story, reports are coming in that the Sony PS4 may be landed with a bit of a major bug that will break the console even before the next generation gaming machine has had its official release.
The console is due to be released first in the US tomorrow, with millions of gamers eagerly awaiting the release, but with less than 48 hours to go until the console goes live, a report of a lucky competition winner in the US known as Arogon (his Reddit username) who won a PS4 in a “Play the Future First” competition has hinted at teething problems. The lucky gamer received his new console and when he installed the device and set up the PS4, the console was bricked.
A report on IGN states that the console he received would turn on, accompanied by a pulsing blue light (it should glow white) but it would not output a signal to the television.
Upon testing the device the gamer did what every fan would do and called Sony tech support, only to be told that there was nothing the company could do till Friday when the console officially launched. The story reads that due to a few extra factors (Arogon lives in a remote area of the US so cannot swap the console out easily), he will now have to wait for a replacement console which will arrive after release day. However, where things get interesting is that IGN itself has admitted that one of its early test units also had the same issue, but unlike Arogon who had no access to the console at all, the issue only appeared on the IGN test PS4 when it was updated to a new software version (version 1.50) this week.
IGN were able to pull strings (mainly due to their massive influence on the gaming market) and get Sony to replace the console ASAP which will also allow Sony to investigate the fault. IGN also reports they tried “a wide variety of methods to correct the issue: new HDMI cables, new inputs, new TV, putting a disc into the system, connecting it to and from the Internet, and, of course, holding down the power button during boot-up for seven seconds to try to reset things”
IGN does also report that the screen briefly flickered a few active home menu images on the television when they tried adding light pressure to the top of console.
See also: Sony PS4 CD Playback, MP3 and 3D Blu-Ray support to be added in later updates
In the time since the story went live Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida has tweeted to say that the company is investigating reports of broken consoles and reiterated that it isn’t thought this is a widespread issue.
“Be assured we are investigating reported PS4 issues. The number is very small compared to shipped, we believe they are isolated incidents.”
There are so few PS4 pre sale units are available it’s hard to see if this is a small batch issue or even just a double anomaly, but Sony will need to keep a close eye out to see if this issue is a one (or two)-off or a major headache in the making!
The PS4 is launched tomorrow in the US and will be landing on UK and European shores on Friday the 29th of November.