PS4 SA warranty details revealed

Ster-Kinekor Entertainment has told MyGaming that the PlayStation 4 will have a one-year standard warranty handled by Partserve South Africa.

A Ster-Kinekor representative said that the current process for warranty repairs and swap-outs with the PlayStation 3 will continue with the new console.

For the first year, it’s expected that Partserve will not carry out warranty repairs in the country, but rather just swap out faulty models. The same plan was actioned with the PS3’s launch, possibly to allow Sony and its partners to build up stock of spare parts from broken consoles, or consoles that could be refurbished at a later date.

There will be opportunities for warranty extensions at a handful of local retailers, but that will be outside the standard warranty that Ster-Kinekor offers. Retailers who offer a warranty extension will have to handle their own swap-out process and base their warranty conditions on the commercial terms of sale.

The Playstation family

PlayStation 4 will launch on 13 December 2013 in South Africa, with the Xbox One still awaiting an SA release date.

PlayStation 4

The PS4 comes bundles with a headset

Sony’s PlayStation 4 is not expected to suffer the same overheating and optical laser failure issues that plagued the PlayStation 3 at launch. According to documents submitted to the FCC in July 2013, the PS4 will run at an average of 35º Celsius peaking at 45º C, while the PS3 ran at between 35º to 45º C on launch, peaking at 60º in some cases which could yield the dreaded Yellow Light of Death (YLOD).

Sony has also confirmed that the PS4 will throttle itself in the event of an overheat and downclock any components not required for gameplay to conserve heat and power consumption. The PS3 was not capable of underclocking any components and was more susceptible to overheating.

The PS4 launches in South Africa on 6 December at a price of R6,299. Sony expects the new console to be the biggest launch it has ever had to orchestrate in its history. In the words of system architect Mark Cerny, it heralds a return to the PS1 and PS2 glory days of Sony and a new direction for the company and the PlayStation brand.