AfterDawn: Tech news

Sony sued over PS3 firmware update

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Oct 2009 12:09 User comments (24)

Sony sued over PS3 firmware update Sony has been sued this week by John Kennedy of Florida, over the bricking of his PS3 console by Sony's v3.00 firmware upgrade last month.
The suit is class action, and is for all users who suffered hardware failure or problems after installing the update. The suit "implicates Sony for several complaints, including breach of implied warranty, negligence, unjust enrichment, and negligent misrepresentation," says Arstechnica.

Kennedy had owned his PS3 for 9 months, with no noticeable issues, until September when he installed the system update. From there, his Blu-ray drive began to malfunction, to the point of not playing back games or movies after just a few minutes of playback.

"Thousands of Sony PlayStation 3 ('PS3') video game owners who downloaded a system update required by Sony found that the update caused their PS3 units to malfunction and actually damaged the hardware on many units," read the claim, via Ars. "For owners who sustained hardware damage from the Sony-required update, Sony is charging a $150 repair fee per unit. Sony, responding to the numerous complaints about the unacceptable effects of the defective update, released a further, optional update that it claimed 'improves system stability'—yet performance problems continued, and the new update did nothing to remedy the systems of users who sustained hardware damage."



The only problem with the complaint is the fact that the updates are not really 'required' as stated by Kennedy. You do not have to upgrade although it is usually required, especially if you are always connected to the Internet via the console, and need to access the PlayStation Network.

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24 user comments

18.10.2009 12:14
emugamer
Inactive

Plus his console is only 9 months old, therefore it falls under warranty.

On the contrary, I'm not able to connect to the PSN or even play some games unless I accept a firmware update. Have I been doing something wrong? I try to log in and get the error message, "you need the latest firmware update to proceed."

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 08 Oct 2009 @ 12:15

28.10.2009 12:52
pphoenix
Inactive

Originally posted by emugamer:
Plus his console is only 9 months old, therefore it falls under warranty.

On the contrary, I'm not able to connect to the PSN or even play some games unless I accept a firmware update. Have I been doing something wrong? I try to log in and get the error message, "you need the latest firmware update to proceed."
its a disgrace but i think all consoles do this now dont they? consoles have evolved into an update nightmare the worst thing that happened to consoles was the introduction of hard drives as now they can keep releasing unfinished games or sell you the other half of the game in micro payments.

does sony not have the usual get out of jail free card, stating that they do not take responsibility for damage caused by firmware updates, you do this at your own risk?
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 08 Oct 2009 @ 12:54

38.10.2009 13:41

...and they can't blame piracy! Oh noz! No scapegoat!

48.10.2009 13:45

Yes it is under warrenty.Firmware updates are there to enhance the gaming experience,enable new features and iron out problems with previous releases.It a bit like updating your driver for hardware on a PC.Nintendo have "bricked" a number of Wii consoles that do not have softmods on and they,to the best of my knowledge are repairing them for free.Stand up and be counted Sony.Would i buy a PS3?.Not now!.
So they are trying to drive sales of consoles and games?.o dear.

Sony, responding to the numerous complaints about the unacceptable effects of the defective update, released a further, optional update that it claimed 'improves system stability'—yet performance problems continued

Guilt?

58.10.2009 16:58

If a game requires a firmware update in order to play online, and you purchase said game specifically, only for, and entirely based on, online play, then you SHOULD be able to argue that it IS required. Because based on why you purchased what you did, it makes your purchases entirely unusable.

If a game has downloaded content that requires you to be signed in for authentication in order to turn on, and allow you to utilize said content, then you SHOULD be able to argue that it IS required. Same goes with any content you download. If you need an online verification in order to use it, than it IS required.

I don't see how they can get away with saying it's "optional". It clearly ISN'T optional. As not updating it, completely and utterly breaks the functionality of whatever you had purchased. You PAID for it. Selling something that is inherently broken or unusable, whether legal or illegal, is just plain wrong..

68.10.2009 21:52

even if his ps3 is 9 months old he still needs his receipt. with out it he was no warranty.

78.10.2009 22:58

Quote:
Plus his console is only 9 months old, therefore it falls under warranty.

On the contrary, I'm not able to connect to the PSN or even play some games unless I accept a firmware update. Have I been doing something wrong? I try to log in and get the error message, "you need the latest firmware update to proceed."
usually when a system bricks you void the warranty all together so it's completely up to Sony...

"and reading this For owners who sustained hardware damage from the Sony-required update, Sony is charging a $150 repair fee per unit."

who knows if they'll do it or not... and people said the red ring was bad :/, just stating, am not a xbox fan, let that be clear before I get hate mail hahahaha.

88.10.2009 23:19

Originally posted by cazer:
even if his ps3 is 9 months old he still needs his receipt. with out it he was no warranty.

Manufacturers will also often go by manufacture date (e.g. a year + 30-60 days from when it left the factory).

98.10.2009 23:42

Firmware Updates Are indeed required especially to access PSN if you havn't updated to a newer Firmware or else when PSN updates you cannot enter it and that is especially for the PSP cuz in some cases in order to play games you have to update the systems firmware, I HOPE THIS LAWSUIT PREVAILS to the one who sued Sony's ass, Sony needs a good sue whoopin for this damage atleast as I said Nintendo admits 4.2 Firmware can brick your consol Sony the usual deniers.

108.10.2009 23:42

If they owned up to it nukeing units they would not be sued, so screw im.

119.10.2009 00:00

Quote:
Originally posted by cazer:
even if his ps3 is 9 months old he still needs his receipt. with out it he was no warranty.

Manufacturers will also often go by manufacture date (e.g. a year + 30-60 days from when it left the factory).

not sony and not with the ps3 i know i already had this problem with my sons ps3. in the end i had to pay the 150 plus tax.

129.10.2009 00:45

I hope this gets thrown out of court, only in the United States something like this would happen. The guy is out trying to make a buck in this recession. Pretty soon companies going make you sign a form stating any issues with your system cant sue us,etc,etc.
Waste of tax payers money................

139.10.2009 03:44

It probably will get thrown out of court...big business always wins in the courtrooms of the USA, no matter how much evidence they have against them.

BTW...for some games, you do NEED the firmware update. I just got Assassin's Creed. Slid it in, and it says "game needs update to..." so it downloads the game update (this is before the game installer even begins). Then, it says "to use this update you need to upgrade your firmware...". There is no way to get around it other than doing a completely offline install...and then the game does not work anyway since it was released (and then rereleased) with a ton of huge bugs that make it unplayable without the patches! (even with the patches, the character often walks through walls and barriers durring large fights...resulting in death)

The fact that they made a firmware that was so buggy that it could cause physical damage should be enough to get them convicted. Personaly, I am woried that I might have some unseen damage to my unit. It plays game fine for now, but who knows for how long...

149.10.2009 10:36

Suddenly a 360 doesn't look so bad does it. At least Microsoft admitted they screwed up. Sony wont even cover the repair of their own screw up. Any newer game you buy for the PS3 will require the firmware update so eventually they will all have this problem then Sony won't be able to ignore the problem.

159.10.2009 11:30

Originally posted by Gatlin:
I hope this gets thrown out of court, only in the United States something like this would happen. The guy is out trying to make a buck in this recession. Pretty soon companies going make you sign a form stating any issues with your system cant sue us,etc,etc.
Waste of tax payers money................
If that is how you're viewing the situation than you've been poorly informed of the going ons. This hasn't been the first time sony's done this and has refused to admit fault; it cannot be allowed to continue.

169.10.2009 13:20

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
If they owned up to it nukeing units they would not be sued, so screw im.
Quite the opposite.

If they admitted culpability, then it would open them up to liability in court. That would go a long way in helping prove a case that otherwise has yet to be proven.

Since they haven't admitted culpability they can argue otherwise.

179.10.2009 21:57
ak472009
Inactive

i was think of buying PS3 but not anymore this is one sony fan going to microsoft.

189.10.2009 22:05

Gatlin (Newbie) 8 October 2009 23:45
I hope this gets thrown out of court, only in the United States something like this would happen. The guy is out trying to make a buck in this recession. Pretty soon companies going make you sign a form stating any issues with your system cant sue us,etc,etc.
Waste of tax payers money................


I don't know what planet you are from but if the company who made the system demands you update to continue game play and then that update kills your system they have to accept responsibility and fix or replace your system at their cost. Yes I own a PS3 and a Xbox 360 and a WII so I am not a fanboy I am a consumer who expects the company to make good on there screw up. My system has had no issues with 3.00 or 3.01

199.10.2009 22:48

Originally posted by ak472009:
i was think of buying PS3 but not anymore this is one sony fan going to microsoft.

So you can deal w/ THEIR BS instead?

209.10.2009 23:02

Originally posted by UHALL:
Gatlin (Newbie) 8 October 2009 23:45
I hope this gets thrown out of court, only in the United States something like this would happen. The guy is out trying to make a buck in this recession. Pretty soon companies going make you sign a form stating any issues with your system cant sue us,etc,etc.
Waste of tax payers money................


I don't know what planet you are from but if the company who made the system demands you update to continue game play and then that update kills your system they have to accept responsibility and fix or replace your system at their cost. Yes I own a PS3 and a Xbox 360 and a WII so I am not a fanboy I am a consumer who expects the company to make good on there screw up. My system has had no issues with 3.00 or 3.01

It's just a bunch of whiny people. I'm still waiting for any kind of proof that Sony broke anyone's PS3. I don't know of anyone with problems myself, so as far as I know, it could just be people with already broken PS3s trying to blame it on the semi-required firmware update to try to get a free repair/replacement. If there were such a major firmware flaw, I'm fairly sure more than ~.1-.5% would be experiencing problems...unless a very small subset of units have some slightly different components than the rest.

2110.10.2009 00:48

While I had no phystical failures because of these updates, firmware 3.0 killed playstation home, and I had to uninstall, delete my apartment data, and re-install. The same thing also happened when PS home 1.3 came out...full uninstall and reinstall. They realy, realy need to work on their beta testing for these updates.

I wouldn't give microsoft too much credit for their repair service...they have been making operating systems for years, and have already learned the hard lessons about what must be done when a software update causes physical problems (and it took them a very long time to learn these lessons). Sony is rather new to the software update game...the PS3 is the first platform they have done it with. This isn't an excuse...but it does put things in perspecive.

Wii gets credit for repairing bricked systems as well...but the firmware updates that cause these issues are not to add features, fix bugs, or improve performance. All they do is brick systems and break existing features...they might as well be writing virues.

2210.10.2009 03:11

Uhall
*pokepoke* and another one raises from the grave of life!
How you been bro?

2321.1.2010 14:30

IT's real simple NEVER EVER NEVER BUY A SONY PRODUCT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!
I bought a samsung Blu-ray player boxed up my ps3 and stuck it in the closet. If i wanna game I'll do it on the Wii. Sony will never get my money again !!!! Boycott SONY they suck edited for content !!!!!

JUST SAY NO TO SONY !!!!!!!!!!

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 21 Jan 2010 @ 5:39

2421.1.2010 17:41

So lets see, this is your first comment and you dig up a 3 month old thread to post that? Absolutely Amazing....look if you want to partake in the discussion fine. Just be a bit more timely, show a little decorum and refrain from violating any forum rules.

Closed

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 21 Jan 2010 @ 5:43

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