Sony: Too much dust voids PS3 warranty

Kiss the warranty on your PS3 goodbye if you live in the desert. According to a post at The Consumerist, Sony officials told a PS3 owner who sent in his PS3 to be replaced that there was excessive dust inside his PS3, which Sony took pictures of, and if he wants a replacement he needs to pay $150.

The next day I got a call from the same guy, Saying he couldn’t get pictures, and there was no way they could replace the console unless I paid 150$ out-of-warranty replacement fee. I dais I needed to speak to his supervisor and it took him a while but he eventually transferred me to yet another person who just told me from the pictures they saw of the outside of the PS3, the memory ports and the USB ports, that there was dust inside of these ports, and that there was no way they would replace such a dusty console.

The PS3 owner later goes on to say the highest customer service rep. he could talk to told him he would have to subpoena the pictures to get them, and he could either pay the $150 or wait 10 days for his PS3 to be sent back.

I don’t get it! Sony is including Folding@home with their consoles, The auto-start feature makes it so its running almost all the time, OF COURSE ITS GOING TO BE FILLED WITH DUST! A few reps said that the reason they couldn’t replace it was because it looked as if it had about 2 years worth of dust in it rather than 8 months….. The console hasn’t even been out a year so obviously that is less than a years worth of dust.

I love the PS3, I’m a Sony fanboy, I have a copy of Heavenly Sword Un-Played because I’m waiting for the replacement to come back, For them to say they wont replace it because it is such a damn dust magnet is absolutely ridiculous. IM NOT paying 150$ for someone to use an air compressor to dust off my PS3 re-test it and send it back. MAYBE Sony should let their customers know that excessive dust voids the warranty, so that people can start selling air filter set’s for it, and air-sealed boxes for the PS3 to sit in.

Stories like this tend to spread like wildfire over the Internet, and things that spread like wildfire over the Internet tend to be PR nightmares for companies like Sony. Will Sony back off on this one and give they guy a new PS3, or is Sony going to stick with their original claim that excessive dust is an act of god? Only time and the interwebs will tell.

Update: A customer service rep. at Sony told the Consumerist reader Ive dust shouldn’t void the PS3 warranty.

The only way that it, um, voided is if it was neglected, um, abused, dropped or anything like, modificated like if you opened it up, modification, if you didn’t have your receipt, um, any power failures like mother nature or anything like that then that actually does void the warranty. Other than that any defective PS3s or anything like that is still, um, still under the warranty.

Sony is saying the dust in the unit in question constituted neglect.

I’ll keep you updated on how this develops.

Rock Band features Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld as a bonus track, makes irony laugh

For those who haven’t seen it, the full track listing for Rock Band, including bonus tracks, has been released at IGN. The bonus tracks include songs from Harmonix-staffed bands and Harmonix staple Freezepop’s “Brainpower.” One of the lesser known artists supplying bonus tracks is Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld. As far I’m aware, this is a band with just one, self-titled song, so it wouldn’t be surprising if you didn’t know who they are.

Also in case you weren’t aware, South Park recently aired an episode about Guitar Hero that has Stan and Kyle living a somewhat stereotypical rock band rise to stardom in Guitar Hero form.

In other news, sweet irony laughed and laughed and laughed…

Ace Attorney fans rejoice! Newest game in the series coming to North America

Capcom announced today the fourth Ace Attorney game, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. Having wrapped up Phoenix Wright’s story in the previous installment, Capcom has created Apollo Justice as the new rookie attorney.

Players can expect more of gameplay that made Ace Attorney popular: investigating crime scenes and gathering evidence before cross-examining witnesses in the courtroom, a heavy emphasis on story and flamboyant, crazy characters. The prosecution this time around is Klavier Gavin, who also happens to be in a successful rock band. Helping out Apollo are Trucy, a “mysterious female magician,” and Kristoph Gavin, Kalvier’s older brother.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is the first Ace Attorney developed specifically for the DS, but none of the features Capcom lists are different from the Phoenix Wright games. Perhaps Capcom has something up their sleeve?

Full press release after the jump.

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Banpresto swallowed by Bandai Namco

IGN is reporting Banpresto, the makers of such games as Super Robot Wars and Another Century’s Episode, is being acquired by Bandai Namco Games starting April 1, 2008. Banpresto, which was already a subsidiary of Bandai Namco, will now focus on making prize machines for arcades, IGN said. Banpresto subsidiaries Pleasure Cast and Hanayashiki will become subsidiaries of Namco.

I couldn’t find any confirmations of this on Bandai Namco or Banpresto’s Web site, but the “SUPER HOT WEB” graphic on the Banpresto site alone was worth the search.

I can’t say I’m sad to see Banpresto go. The only games I can remember playing of theirs were two pretty bad games: a strategy RPG of the Tenchi Muyo anime series and a RPG of the Sailor Moon series, both of which I definitely did not download for emulators.