Emotional Technology: A Tribute

[VivaEmptiness]

I'm sure many of us have lost things we've cared about over the years, not least our consoles, I am writing this because of a trend i've found in my life with technology which deeply saddens me, so let me explain..

Like anyone old enough on here to have had an original playstation, I found mine got increasingly temperamental as it aged, to the point when I was blowing into it every time I used it, placing immaculate disks polished to a eye-burning shine inside it and gently closing it.. before obviously turning it upsidedown and propping it up diagonally against a wall because this is the only way it would work. Nevertheless, like a pink bunny raped with alkaline batteries, it just kept going and going. That is until around the time I went out with my brother and bought my brand new Playstation 2, suddenly it was like the life was kicked out of the poor thing, with the PS2's ability to emulate the Playstation, it took it's last breath and died in the knowledge that it had been replaced.

Now, being a little older at this point, I didn't really play on my PS2 quite as much, using it mainly for the Gran Turismo and Tony Hawk games. So you wouldn't be surprised to find that by the time it came around to the release of the Playstation 3, my PS2 had been in fully healthy working order and had never had any kind of issues. Now I bought my PS3 a few months after release and as a present to myself for just being so damn awesome, the release titles were pretty poor as they go but regardless I was excited about plugging it in and having a go, having not had a go on one up until this point. In a test of my restraint, upon getting it home I didn't plug it in straight away as I might have as a child, I decided to remove and disk from my PS2 and pack it away properly, baring in mind my new 60gb PS3 could emulate pretty much all of the games that it could run. I did so, taking out Gran Turismo 4, only for the console to turn itself off, never to turn on again... Once again, as if it knew it had been replaced, my PS2 gave up on life having never shown any sign of issues. All of the good times meant nothing now, like the time we played that game, y'know the one, and that other time when we played that game.. I did most of the playing, he was just content with being there, processing, ahhh.. good times.

As far as I know this has almost always been the case with my technology luck, I barely have any working consoles of old, and I have quite a few consoles. So you can imagine the worry I felt when I ordered the parts for my brand new gaming computer, fraught with terrible thoughts of what might happen to my PS3 if it were heartbroken by my actions.. At this stage I should point out how retarded this post is, and how bored I am, but how I actually felt genuine concern for my now 4 year old PS3's well being upon my new purchase. I believe it was the day my PC parts arrived that Playstation Network went down, this didn't seem like a good sign I must say but I could live with it, afterall it wouldn't be down for more than a few days, right? (lol). Thinking I'd dodged a bullet I continued as if everything was normal and essentially just cut Sarp from my gaming diet.. about a week later, completely out of the blue, YLOD. Dead. My PS3 is no more, it has gone to meet it's maker, it's joined the choir invisible. Having discovered it was not pinin' for the fjords I was disappointed to find that I couldn't even swap it for a slug.. It is an ex-PS3!

So am I to think that this is mere coincidence or that they exist on another emotional level? Because on the flipside, my (very smug) SNES, knows that I would never replace him. He knows I'd never emulate, I would always buy the original game and he knows that I would never rate anything as highly as him, he has unconditional love.. and my SNES is still running not-even-god-knows how many years later.

My aim with this post was to pay tribute to our trusty consoles gone by, those which have put up a fight and those which may have given up the ghost in more emotional circumstances, I beg you, following this pointless block of writing, to pay your respects below and share your stories.

Thank you, for not reading all of this by the way, skipping to this part so you can reply with your own stories, which are infinitely more interesting in your eyes.

Viva out.... iness..


P.S. Time will still tell whether I can get the old girl up and running again, to be continued.

-UPDATE- YLOD FIXED! Did it the manly way and took the thing to bits to re-flow it!

[ollyp23]

Why green text?

[VivaEmptiness]

Why green text?

Easy on the eyes.. I also made it bigger, blocks of text can be menacing.

[SeanNolan5]

Why green text?

Easy on the eyes.. I also made it bigger, blocks of text can be menacing.

true

[ollyp23]

Why green text?

Easy on the eyes.. I also made it bigger, blocks of text can be menacing.

Green blends in too much. Make it bright pink

[VivaEmptiness]

Why green text?

Easy on the eyes.. I also made it bigger, blocks of text can be menacing.

Green blends in too much. Make it bright pink

Why I oughttaa... *shakes fist* I'll make you bright pink in a minute!

[Fysho]

Sad story

As for myself, my first console was the PSOne (the "slim" PS1). When I got it, I wasn't very old, and didn't know how to properly take care of it. My brother also frequently tripped over the wire hanging from the console to my old DualShock 1, which meant that it took quite a few spills (before eventually biting the dust). I got a new PSOne for my next birthday, and that held out for a while until I got a PS2 as a Christmas present.

I gave the PSOne to my brother, since I knew I wouldn't be needing it any more. Needless to say, it didn't survive for long (he also scratched up some of the discs). Anyways, my fat PS2 has survived through some tough times. First, it played fine for a few years, before it stopped playing blue DVD discs and two-layered DVD discs, which included some of my all-time favorite games like Gran Turismo 4 and Midnight Club 3. It was kinda sad, though I managed to survive for quite some time, without playing any games.

One day, my brother bought a slim PS2, which I then used for all my dual layer DVD game pleasures. My brother didn't really play many games though, and the slim ended up in my room, sitting on top of my dying fat PS2. However, since the slim PS2 wasn't mine, my brother sold it to someone else, so I was again stuck with a somewhat useless PS2. And I had just gotten used to playing my good games again, and wasn't willing to go back to having a life (as some would put it), so I decided it was time for action.

I took my now somewhat antique PS2, flipped it over, unscrewed all the screws, and ripped it open, exposing all the guts that had faithfully rendered millions of images in the years before. One of the first things I noticed was that it was dusty as freaking hell. So, I started blowing all the dust out, which took a while, and then I just put it back together. I plopped in Midnight Club 3, and waited. "PlayStation 2". F'yeah, it worked as good as new! And all I had to do was get all the dust out.

That held for a few months, until about the time when I purchased my first PS3. It started getting disc read errors again. But that didn't matter. Now I had a PS3! I basically just packed the PS2 away where I couldn't see it, and didn't lay my hand on it for about a year or two.

It should be noted that my PS3 isn't doing too well anymore. It only has 40 gigabytes, so I'm constantly deleting game installs to get room for other games, which is irritating. Also, I have almost no room for music either, so I'm thinking of buying a 500 gb HDD sometime. My PS3 also frequently gets too hot and starts blowing the fans at max speed, which is quite noisy (it's not really harmful for the PS3, just irritating at times). Luckily, I also have a slim PS3 (which my brother uses) along with two other slim PS3s back in the US.

But anyways, back to the PS2. It wasn't too long ago, when I decided that I wanted to play some old PS2 games again. I dug it out, along with my games, plugged it in, and inserted Gran Turismo 4. Disc read error. Great. I remembered how I solved the problem before, by opening it up and blowing the dust out, which worked quite well, so I did that. Took the PS2 apart, blew out all the dust, and put it back together again. Disc read error. At this point, I knew the only thing that could be the problem was the laser, since the PS2 itself worked fine. The laser just wouldn't read the discs. Either the laser itself had gotten weak, in which case, there wasn't much I could do but replace it, or the small rail that the laser travels on needed some oil, so that the laser could travel faster back and forth.

I assumed the problem was the latter. So I ripped apart the PS2 again (and almost literally ripped off the part sitting above the disc tray), and then somehow got the rail lubricated. I shoddily put it back together again (I honestly don't know what I did, but the PS2 is all lose now), and then popped in GT4. It worked! Success! And it's been working perfectly ever since. Just two days ago, I put in Midnight Club 3, after having not played PS2 in quite a few months, and it loaded up instantly. No problems at all

Luckily, I've also kept most of my old PS1 and PS2 games, including Crash Bandicoot 1 (physical copy and PSN digital copy), two copies of Crash Bandicoot 3, CTR, two copies of Gran Turismo 1, GT2, and also other PS1 games like Test Drive 6, Space Invaders etc. I've also got a ton of games for my PS2 (GT3, GT4, MC3 etc.), which for the most part still work.

Hopefully, my PS2 and PS3 will last forever, though I doubt that'll be the case. Whenever they decide to crap out on me, I'll always try my best to revive them, even if that means that I'll have to rearrange the hardware and whatnot.

TL;DR
My first PSOne died. My second PSOne died. My PS2 died, but I revived it, and is now working perfectly, after all these years. My PS3 is still working, though is slowly walking towards death. I still have most of my old (and new) games.

[digdog22]

This is very sad but true. I'll share my respects later, as I'm about to leave.

[DANGEROUS-BEANS]

This is very sad but true. I'll share my respects later, as I'm about to leave.

My ps2 was half broke (it took 10 minutes to realise it was meant to be playing a game and stuff like that) but still kept going for an extra 6 years to do this day (or so) <3 Ps3 broke in January.. probably not getting one now lol.. maybe that was my last ever console :'(

[SeanNolan5]

Why I oughttaa... *shakes fist* I'll make you bright pink in a minute!

lol

[VivaEmptiness]

Luckily, I've also kept most of my old PS1 and PS2 games, including Crash Bandicoot 1 (physical copy and PSN digital copy), two copies of Crash Bandicoot 3, CTR, two copies of Gran Turismo 1, GT2, and also other PS1 games like Test Drive 6, Space Invaders etc.

Woah, a real reply, I'm impressed.. That's pretty awesome about keeping your PS2 alive so long, let's hope I have the same luck with my PS3, gonna take her to bits this coming week! No doubt I'll have to buy a slim PS3 regardless though and my PS2 is loonng dead, so goodbye PS2 games.. I never throw games away..

Did you never play Crash Bandicoot 2? That was just as awesome as the first and third, probably still worth a go if you want some cheap but good entertainment! Also, Test Drive 5 was the best one imo, awesome soundtrack too.. think I might have written that in a game soundtrack post back in the day! lol. But I suppose it's whatever you grew up with which is best, my favourite games of all time are on the SNES, the top couple at least!

Ps3 broke in January.. probably not getting one now lol.. maybe that was my last ever console :'(

I wondered where the hell you went! We used to be such a good Sarp team way back when..

[coolcole93]

I had like 7 PS2's. I think a gypsy cursed me or something which would make sense because I was a little shit when I was about 10.

[Fysho]

Did you never play Crash Bandicoot 2? That was just as awesome as the first and third, probably still worth a go if you want some cheap but good entertainment! Also, Test Drive 5 was the best one imo, awesome soundtrack too.. think I might have written that in a game soundtrack post back in the day! lol. But I suppose it's whatever you grew up with which is best, my favourite games of all time are on the SNES, the top couple at least!

I loved Crash Bandicoot 2, but I just could never get a hold of it (back when I was trying to). I've never really played any other Test Drive than number 6 (well, unlimited, but that doesn't count). But yeah, it's true. Whatever game you used to play when you were younger, usually seem like some of the best games ever, for some reason.

Additionally, I still have all my original Memory Cards. Even my first PS1 memory card. However, most of my original saves have either been deleted, or are corrupted

[Jeal79]

I'm sure many of us have lost things we've cared about over the years, not least our consoles, I am writing this because of a trend i've found in my life with technology which deeply saddens me, so let me explain..

My aim with this post was to pay tribute to our trusty consoles gone by, those which have put up a fight and those which may have given up the ghost in more emotional circumstances, I beg you, following this pointless block of writing, to pay your respects below and share your stories.

That was great to read Viva.
I just haven't replied until now because I haven't had time until now to write a worthy reply. While reading your story I couldn't help thinking about the consoles/games I have had over the years.

Consoles dying on me is a more recent trend. I have to confess that until the PS2 I was a nintendo enthusiast. I have NEVER had any Nintendo console break on me. Ever. So why move to the Sony and its PS2? Well the console choice for me became the gamecube or the PS2. The PS2 not only had a billion more games you could play on it (including all PS1 games and PS2 games), but also BETTER games. Nintendo seemed to be focusing on kids games and while Pokemon games were being released relentlessly on the Nintendo consoles I owned, I looked at my PS2 owner friends with envy enjoying games like Gran Turismo, Tekken, GTA III. I packed up my trusty N64 with its Goldeneye, Mariokart 64, Conkers Bad Fur Day and became a SONY customer.

My first few PS2 consoles did nothing wrong. It was not their fault I abandoned them. That was purely my financial circumstance.

And so a pattern emerged. I would get a job and spend the first 3-4 weeks desperately saving up for a 2nd hand PS2. I'd get one and enjoy buying 2nd hand games for it every week as the paychecks rolled in... until I lost my job. Having lost my job I would always discover that I had no money in reserve to keep me afloat as I had always spent it every week on my gaming passion. A trip back to the 2nd hand store I bought it from was always inevitable. Sadly handing it across the counter in exchange for roughly half of what I had paid for it maybe only months previously. That hurt. A month or 2 later I'd have a new job. Take a guess at what I did. Then rinse and repeat the whole process over and over again about 4 times. 4 different jobs. 4 different 2nd hand PS2's.

By the 4th PS2 I became desperate to break the cycle. I held onto my job longer. I bought games less frequently. When that job ended I still had money in reserve and I was able to retain my PS2!! Joy!! Then and only then did I learn the new pain of a console dying on you. In unfamiliar territory, this being the first console to die on me, I decided to pop it open and see if I could figure out what was wrong. I found out the source of the problem but was never able to fix it (DVD drive was jammed). Cue PC gaming and far too much time immersed in MMORPG. One day out of the blue my Brother-in-law came to me offering me his old PS2 for £20. He badly needed the money and I was glad to be able to cheaply replace my dead console. That PS2 is still working to this day and occasionally comes out of the cupboard whenever I want a little bit of Timesplitters 2, Tekken Tag or MK: Armaggedon (for old times sake)

These days we live in the world of PS3 consoles. I drooled over them from a distance watching trailers and gameplay footage for games PS3 had to offer. It really did make my PS2 look pathetic when held in comparison. Then came the Christmas when I decided I could afford to treat myself to one and hey presto - a 40GB fat model bundled with Heavenly Sword, Uncharted and Spiderman3 on Blu-Ray. Long story short, I played it to death racking up the trophies and thoroughly enjoying my first experience of online gaming with a console. I also discovered the game that I had been waiting all my life for: SARPBC.

23rd August 2010 - YLOD while playing my fave game of all time. No money at all. Heartbreak. The warning signs had been there throughout the summer as I heard the fan get gradually louder and louder. I opened it only a month before the YLOD and cleared all the dust out of it and I even performed a hard-disk restore. In the end I couldn't avoid the inevitable and though I might have prolonged its life by a few weeks it still died. With no money for a replacement I was forced to look at repairing the YLOD error myself which I did successfully with a cheap kit from Ebay. After the repair I think I got about 3 days out of my machine before a new error occured. No Yellow light this time, just no picture on the screen and pads not linking to the console. I think when they want to die, they really want to die. My PS3 appeared to be highly offended that I had brought it back from the dead.

November 2010 - A collision during a game of football put me in hospital with a punctured lung. This was the second time I had punctured it and it was going to require some heavy surgery to prevent it happening again. This really knocked me for 6 and for weeks I could barely move. Though we couldn't really afford one I bought the cheapest slim I could possibly find.

Since Christmas money has been easier and I have been able to upgrade my PC to a more powerful gaming PC. I'm hoping my PS3 isn't jealous as it still gets played on way more than the PC (PC is used mainly for work). Recently though my PS3's hard-disk has been making some odd sounding clicking and clunking noises. I'll be keeping my eye on it especaially as it nears the end of its 1 year warranty



TL;DR - Jobs/financial situation have largely affected what console I have had and when.
Nintendo consoles have never broken on me.
I've had 1 out of 5 PS2's owned break on me and 1 out of 2 PS3's break on me

[ollyp23]

<3 Jeal for taking my advice.

[SeanNolan5]

<3 Jeal for taking my advice.

lol that was actually nicer on my eyes

edit: my story
i kicked the shit out of my ps3 because TOO MANY COMMANDO PRO NOOOBS FFS RIP

[VivaEmptiness]

Additionally, I still have all my original Memory Cards. Even my first PS1 memory card. However, most of my original saves have either been deleted, or are corrupted

When I bought my PS3 I also bought what I can only describe as a 'deally' to back up all of my old PS1 and PS2 memory cards onto the PS3.. Sadly I was too late to backup my first ever memory cards, and lost a lot of hours of my gaming life, possibly most notably GT2, which is the only GT I never completed fully. I'd actually intended to go back and do this at some point to complete the set! Unfortunately flash memory only lasts about 10 years so I really was cutting it fine by the time I got around to backing them up.. sad times..

Oh, obviously now this data is all irretrievable on my broken PS3. Sigh.

That was great to read Viva.
I just haven't replied until now because I haven't had time until now to write a worthy reply. While reading your story I couldn't help thinking about the consoles/games I have had over the years.

Nintendo seemed to be focusing on kids games and while Pokemon games were being released relentlessly on the Nintendo consoles I owned, I looked at my PS2 owner friends with envy enjoying games like Gran Turismo, Tekken, GTA III. I packed up my trusty N64 with its Goldeneye, Mariokart 64, Conkers Bad Fur Day and became a SONY customer.

That PS2 is still working to this day and occasionally comes out of the cupboard whenever I want a little bit of Timesplitters 2, Tekken Tag or MK: Armaggedon (for old times sake)

Since Christmas money has been easier and I have been able to upgrade my PC to a more powerful gaming PC. I'm hoping my PS3 isn't jealous as it still gets played on way more than the PC (PC is used mainly for work). Recently though my PS3's hard-disk has been making some odd sounding clicking and clunking noises. I'll be keeping my eye on it especaially as it nears the end of its 1 year warranty

Thanks a lot Jeal, glad it got you reminiscing, sounds likes you've had some ups and downs with things in general, I left out my tragedy as much as I could from my post because it isn't interesting, but it's great to have some context! It brought in a whole bunch of subjects too, which could have us going way off topic, but hey, it's my frickin' topic! I rule tangential fun!

First there are a lot of awesome games mentioned, which deserve a lot of credit.. but I'd like to start my first tangent about Nintendo and their customer base. I agree that around that point in time they certainly were on the wrong track, but the release of the Wii is what annoyed me most. Far from the excellent games of the past they had basically broadened their target audience, which I have no issue with, any company would do the same. My issue was that they basically made games for children and they made them for a much older audience who had never really had games aimed at them, now normally this would be fine but they essentially cut out a very specific group of people, 20s and 30s.. it was as if they specifically tried to no longer make games for all of the huge Nintendo fans who had followed them loyally for years, everyone in the right age bracket to have grown up with Nintendo were thrown out of the window in exchange for infinite wealth.. *here endeth a rant*

Secondly on the tangent front, I'd like to address PC gaming, what spec is your PC? I may very well make a thread about this if I can be bothered to write down all my hardware.. I've not had chance to give my new PC a good run on any online games yet, just been trying to play new things of full spangly graphics and catch up on old things I've missed while away from PC gaming.. In fact, I will make that thread.

*leaves this reply early due to distraction*

[Voganlight]

None of my devices ever broke in any way, except when I was 5 McDonalds was giving out those radios that play a song, the batteries suddenly dissapeared overnight...