Yellow Light of Death: Sony and Consumers Scramble for Solution

Sony has ruled the console landscape with its previous PlayStation home consoles, and was hoping that PlayStation 3 (PS3) would be another blockbuster. Unfortunately, “the Yellow Light of Death” (YLoD) is interfering with its plan.

The"yellow light of death" refers to a fatal error that occurs when a PS3 overheats. The yellow light indicates a nonspecific hardware failure that renders the system totally unusable. And making matters worse, consumers are experiencing this failure just after a year of use and the warranty expires.

As the number of reported PS3 failures grows daily, Sony and consumers are scrambling to find solutions. Sony has offered out-of-warranty PlayStation 3 owners a refurbished console for a cost of $150 in about a six-week turnaround. Consumers are questioning the logic in paying the stiff cost, the inconvenience of the wait period, and have started sharing, “do it yourself” repair ideas via blogs and forums.

What to do?

If you’re like most people, you believed Sony’s marketing statements claiming PS3 is exceptionally durable when they showed commercials of PS3's running for many hours in freezing temperatures or in a hot sauna. And you listened while early PS3 reviews praised the new system.

  • In September 2009, IGN named the PlayStation 3 the 15th best gaming console of all time, behind both of its competitors: the Wii (10th) and Xbox 360 (6th).
  • CNET United Kingdom praised the system saying, "the PS3 is a versatile and impressive piece of home-entertainment equipment that lives up to the hype.”

If you have or had a Sony PlayStation 3 and it suffered from the “yellow light of death” failure, please fill out this Seeger Weiss free case evaluation form. Seeger Weiss is investigating claims for a potential class-action lawsuit and can keep you posted on its status.

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