PLAYSTATION

Troubleshoot PS4 Blinking Blue Light Of Death Issue With Official Guide

Following reports of PlayStation 4 consoles that were either dead on arrival or somehow failed shortly after, Sony has today published a guide that is aimed at those with PS4s that simply do not work.

With a largely successful launch under its belt, with a million PS4 consoles sold in the first day alone, the PS4 is still seeing its fair share of angry gamers flood its official forums with complaints of consoles that are failing to live up to expectations thanks to one simple problem – they don’t work.

In a situation similar to the infamous Red Ring Of Death that affected Microsoft’s Xbox, the PS4 appears to display a flashing light when it encounters hardware problems, and unfortunately it appears that this flashing light of various colors is cropping up far too often, leading Sony to publish a guide explaining the possible reasons for such errors.

Sony is quick to point out that it is seeing failure rates at under 0.5% which it says is "within our expectations for a new product introduction," but that is scant consolation if your PS4 happens to be within that half percent. According to Sony though, the reasons for a hardware failure can be varied with causes ranging from faulty or mi-seated hard disks to an incompatible HDMI cable.

Sony’s PS4 has been on sale for a few days in North America, and priced at $400 a pop it’s safe to say that gamers are not enamored with the idea of having an expensive paperweight sat beneath their TV sets. Unfortunately, thanks to a shortage of PS4 units, getting a replacement console may not simply be a case of walking into your retailer and swapping it out. On the plus side, the next batch might offer you a spot more luck!

Sony will want to get these issues ironed out as soon as possible, and with Microsoft’s Xbox One not far from release now the Japanese company won’t have the floor to itself for too much longer. Of course, you’d be brave to suggest that Microsoft’s machine won’t also have its fair share of faulty units out the gate.

You can check out the complete guide here in all its glory. The guide includes all the troubleshooting techniques which the users can perform on their own. And if you happen to have a genuine problem, then you might want to consider swapping your console for a new one.

Sony Considered An All-Touch PS4 Controller Before Going Ahead With The Current Design

Sony’s latest iteration of the DualShock controller may look extremely similar to its predecessor, but it could have all been entirely different if today’s report is true. The controller that will accompany Sony’s PlayStation 4 looks and feels like a natural progression to previous DualShock hardware, but things could have been radically different if the early DualShock 4 design prototypes had made it through to the final launch.

Sony’s Product Manager – Toshimasa Aoki – has spilled the beans on the early stages of the PlayStation 4 project by telling us all that his design team wanted to start from an entirely clean slate when designing the PS4 controller.

We all know by now that the finished DualShock 4 controller looks remarkably similar to previous iterations of the hardware, but that so nearly wasn’t the case. As part of the design and development process we now know that Sony built and trialed controllers that were entirely touch-screen based as well as an option that allowed the user to actually change the location of the touchpad. The form factor of the controller was also something that was put under a lot of scrutiny by the team during the first design phase.

In addition to considering the whacky touchscreen options, the team involved also seriously considered doing away with the tried and tested location of the analog-sticks and moving them to the top of the controller. Gamers who own a Nintendo Wii U will more than likely be familiar with that configuration from the accompanying Wii U Pro Controller. As you would imagine with any design major design process, the team was always taking onboard internal and external feedback, leading to the DualShock 4 we see today being built in a very familiar way.

Sony will be more than aware that every design and manufacturing decision and u-turn will ultimately change the way a certain set of users think about the end result. The ultimate goal is to produce a product that appeals to the majority to ensure commercial success in the marketplace. There will always be a set of consumers who embrace innovation and want to see companies pushing the limits with their products, but we imagine that the majority of PS4 gamers will be more than happy with the traditional controller approach that Aoki and his team opted for.

(Source: VentureBeat)