Playstation 3... a story

[Alucard1191]

So I have a tale to tell about the PS3. The Tl;DR of this is it stopped reading discs suddenly. I've performed the system reset and nothing, still won't read them. It was reading discs last monday when I patched Portal 2.


Long Version:

A PS3 came into my wife's thrift store awhile ago so I took it home to add to my collection. Once I actually get around to setting it up it won't let me play anything without updating. Now the internal wi-fi card is so weak it won't get a solid connection to my old router. Fast forward a few steps, I've replaced the router and behold! I can download updates and things. So I spent time letting the system update and then 4 separate downloads just for Portal 2.

This is really annoying.

Now today I finally have time to actually try the game... and it won't read the disc. So I try Gran Turismo 5, my system won't read THAT either. So suddenly since last week it won't read discs.

I really get the whole anger at modern systems thing that the Critic goes on about. When it isn't done right it sucks. My 360 and Switch don't give me these issues. I've bought cords and controllers and replaced a router and spent a few hours downloading and troubleshooting just so I can play Portal 2 on an HDMI TV and now the system suddenly won't read discs! WTF? My PS2 I list often in my top 3 systems of all time. I still love that thing. The PS3? Damn I am not even remotely impressed with it. When PS2s come into the store they'll be beaten to hell and they will still work. This system looks pretty good and starts up just fine, but the lens is possibly completely toast already?

What can you do when a PS3 suddenly stops reading anything?

[VideoGameCritic]

Your experience may be an aberration but I think situations like this will become more common in the future. Classic consoles had locked down operating system, so they still work like a champ. With newer systems that have mandatory updates, you're dealing with a moving target. I think that gamers allowing constant updates to be the norm have made a deal with the devil.

Hint: Those resource-hogging, time consuming updates aren't for YOUR benefit.

[Tron]

I know not to shop at your wife’s thrift store now since you take home all the video games.