14 DAY TRIAL // Following reports that some 40 percent of the 40GB PS3s stocked at a Belgian retailer were returned on the count of malfunctioning, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has issued a response immediately, claiming that the 40GB SKU couldn't under any circumstances have experienced such a high failure rate, even calling those who reported the so called issue "sloppy" and "inaccurate."
The official word comes of course via a press release which hit the Internet minutes ago. It says that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) can categorically deny that there is a 40% failure rate on the newly release 40GB PlayStation 3 (PS3) as has been reported on a Dutch website. Having launched in October, the 40GB PS3 has encountered the same industry leading, very low failure rates, comparable to the low level failure rates of the 60GB PS3.
Naturally, an official statement followed to back this up and who could be more appropriate for taking the matter into hands, if not the company's President, David Reeves himself? "We are very proud of the quality and reliability of PLAYSTATION 3 and are disappointed that such extremely sloppy journalism has resulted in this totally inaccurate story," said the President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
He added that "Since launching the 40GB PS3, we have experienced a fantastic jump in sales and the failure rates have remained at the very low level that we not only strive for, but have been achieving since the launch of PS3."
Sure the PS3 has had one or two issues surrounding it since launch, mostly in sales, but never has the PS3 (any model) been tagged as a malfunctioning machine. In fact, the PS3 is much more reliable than Microsoft's Xbox 360, which, although does good in sales, has seen more heating, disc-scratching and freezing issues than any other console out there.
So, the 40GB PS3 is OK to buy then.