So, my PS3 just died.

[Johnny Novgorod]

Sorry for your loss. My GameBoy passed away recently (well, it got Alzheimer's, since it can't remember save files).
How old was your PS3, by the way?

As others have pointed out, save files are stored on the cartridges. IIRC, 12 years is roughly the magic number with GameBoy games until the cartridges start to fail.

Scratch that, all but my Pokemon Blue catridges are goners. Funny thing is I bought it second-hand and is chronologically the oldest of the lot.

As I said, roughly the magic number, lol. I'm sure there are lots of variables that can change things, but unfortunately it does seem these things have a shelf life, and a lot of people's old cartridges are beginning to fail.

That sucks. I had every intention of picking up Pokemon Gold again
Oh well, I'll have to find a job I guess.

Try cleaning the cartridges with a non acidic solution. Worked on my SNES cartridge.

Could you please elaborate on this "non acidic solution"?

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

I'm sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what you must be going through... particularly because I've never had a console die. Which is apparently an incredible feat considering I've owned an Xbox 360 for over 3 years.

I'm guessing it ate its vegetables while it was being raised on the factory assembly line.

3 years?!
I went through two in just 4!
And if I may tell my own story, the second one was giving me trouble. It kept giving me what I call the Half-Moon Of Death (two red lights).
It's basically the same as the Red Ring, it's makes the console just as useless except Microsoft doesn't repair the Half-Moon so I had to just keep working my Xbox until it finally got the dreaded red halo.

 

[bojackx]

I keep seeing "YOLO" whenever you guys type "YLOD". I'm sitting here imagining "YOLO" coming up in bright letters on the PS3 when it dies.

My thoughts exactly. Seems quite fitting too if you don't have thermal paste or the patience required to fix it.

OT: I reckon I just get lucky, since the only console of mine that has broken before was my original DS, which I played to death over the course of 7 years. No Red Ring or Yellow Light for me.

Sorry for your loss. My GameBoy passed away recently (well, it got Alzheimer's, since it can't remember save files).
How old was your PS3, by the way?

As others have pointed out, save files are stored on the cartridges. IIRC, 12 years is roughly the magic number with GameBoy games until the cartridges start to fail.

Even then you can replace the battery in the cartridges. I bought Pokemon Gold off Ebay a couple of months ago and replaced the battery after it was apparent that it couldn't store saves anymore, and now it works fine!

 

[Dead Seerius]

I'm sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what you must be going through... particularly because I've never had a console die. Which is apparently an incredible feat considering I've owned an Xbox 360 for over 3 years.

I'm guessing it ate its vegetables while it was being raised on the factory assembly line.

3 years?!
I went through two in just 4!
And if I may tell my own story, the second one was giving me trouble. It kept giving me what I call the Half-Moon Of Death (two red lights).
It's basically the same as the Red Ring, it's makes the console just as useless except Microsoft doesn't repair the Half-Moon so I had to just keep working my Xbox until it finally got the dreaded red halo.

That sounds like a real pain. Microsoft and their warranty specifics..

Actually, I've had the half-moon a few times before. I just removed and reinserted the hard drive and everything became peachy once again. Sometimes I think consoles just like messing with us. :/

 

[Leemaster777]

That sucks, dude. My first PS3 died on me a couple years after buying it... but that was totally my fault.

See, apparently, I didn't realize that leaving my PS3 running all day, every day, and leaving the same game (and sometimes the same SCREEN) running all day would EVENTUALLY cause the darn thing to fail. That was spectacularly dumb of me. But the thing is, it never really broke COMPLETELY. I'm not sure exactly why, but games with 3-D graphics, like Borderlands and Batman: Arkham Asylum, started spazzing out and getting weird graphical problems involving characters models getting stretched out to wonky proportions. Eventually, it got so bad, that certain games just flat-out froze at certain points (Borderlands was the worst offender). But games that used 2-D sprites, like BlazBlue, seemed unaffected.

So I can't really fault my PS3 for my dumbness, and if anything, I think it's pretty impressive how long it lasted considering the stress I put the thing under.

 

[GodzillaGuy92]

That sucks. I had every intention of picking up Pokemon Gold again

Is there any particular reason for not just playing it on an emulator instead?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm not sure how that is done?

OP - Anybody know what the lifespan of a PS2 is?

 

[WanderingFool]

Thats sucks. My PS2 died a few years back and I didnt have the know-how to fix it. Thermal paste, does that allow you to fix it? if so, sounds like you're on the track to fixing that problem, so good luck...

BTW, anybody know where I can buy a cheap, yet still dependable PS3?

 

[Maxtro]

My 60 GB died a couple of years ago. Still miss it.

 

[ItsNotRudy]

Sorry for your loss. My GameBoy passed away recently (well, it got Alzheimer's, since it can't remember save files).
How old was your PS3, by the way?

As others have pointed out, save files are stored on the cartridges. IIRC, 12 years is roughly the magic number with GameBoy games until the cartridges start to fail.

Scratch that, all but my Pokemon Blue catridges are goners. Funny thing is I bought it second-hand and is chronologically the oldest of the lot.

As I said, roughly the magic number, lol. I'm sure there are lots of variables that can change things, but unfortunately it does seem these things have a shelf life, and a lot of people's old cartridges are beginning to fail.

That sucks. I had every intention of picking up Pokemon Gold again
Oh well, I'll have to find a job I guess.

Try cleaning the cartridges with a non acidic solution. Worked on my SNES cartridge.

Could you please elaborate on this "non acidic solution"?

Get a bottle of pure alcohol (other solutions may work too, but don't ever use soaps or other cleaning liquids you would use for silverware, windows etc.)

Pour a thin layer of alcohol into a glass and dip a cotton swap into it, then gently rub the copper contacts of the cartridge with it, make sure there's no cotton swab on the cartridge and let it dry for a day or so before attempting to play.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

I've had mine since 2008 and it still works perfect. I had one hard drive issue, and that was easily replaced with a bigger one anyway. 5 years out of a PS3 for a lot of people is apparantly the equivalent of living to be 109 or something...of course, I've always made sure to give my PS3 the best living conditions possible. I even resorted to using myths, like keeping the PS3 horizontal, making sure there is nothing within at least 3-5 inches of the fans, turning off any quality or power options I don't plan on using and keeping my backgrounds to a minimum, turning off the internet while playing single player games that push the PS3 to its limits (most recently Far Cry 3) and doing that fan overdrive thing where you hold down the reset button as you turn on your PS3 to blow all the dust out of it. Some days when I'm on my PC and it gives me problems, I look down at my PS3 and literally give it a light pat on the head saying "Good job keeping strong".

 

[-Samurai-]

You could always call around local electronics stores and see if they can do a reflow. Or you could attempt it yourself.

All hope is not yet lost.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Sorry for your loss. My GameBoy passed away recently (well, it got Alzheimer's, since it can't remember save files).
How old was your PS3, by the way?

As others have pointed out, save files are stored on the cartridges. IIRC, 12 years is roughly the magic number with GameBoy games until the cartridges start to fail.

Scratch that, all but my Pokemon Blue catridges are goners. Funny thing is I bought it second-hand and is chronologically the oldest of the lot.

As I said, roughly the magic number, lol. I'm sure there are lots of variables that can change things, but unfortunately it does seem these things have a shelf life, and a lot of people's old cartridges are beginning to fail.

That sucks. I had every intention of picking up Pokemon Gold again
Oh well, I'll have to find a job I guess.

or you could just try to change the battery in the cardiges if it doesnt save properly..
or like others said, clean it with "pure" alcohol.

There's a YouTube video for specifically fixing a Pokemon Gold cartridge for the GameBoy? INCONCEIVABLE.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I've had mine for 5 years or so. Still going, but it has some occasional hiccups. Sometimes it just shuts down mid-game. But all in all, it still works fine. Same with my PS2, really, though that one is a couple of years older. I've been thinking about getting a new PS3 with a bigger hard drive, but I might wait until the one I have now finally kicks the bucket.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Sorry to hear about that.

Goddammit, I didn't need to remember that scene, man!
All this damned rain...

OT: Mine kicked the bucket last summer. It got to the point where it would overheat in about 10 minutes, forcing me to switch it off. It was the original 40Gb model which had served me well since '08. I traded it in for a slim 140Gb model that's nice and quiet, but I still miss the old beast.

 

[MajorTomServo]

Mine stopped reading blu ray disks last month. I was going to get a new one, but I don't really miss it. I might get a Wii U instead...

 

[MrBenSampson]

I'm on my fifth or sixth Xbox 360. One of them broke two or three days after I bought Fallout 3. At least the slim model seems to be holding up. My PS2 is over 10 years old, and it still works perfectly. If I ever join the next console generation, it will not be before the redesigned models are available. Fool me seven times...

 

[Sack of Cheese]

Oh man, my condolences. I don't know what I'd do if my consoles start breaking down... all the save files, memories, efforts.
When my Xbox got RROD I almost broke down, thankfully after I sent it to Microsoft, it's going strong ever since.