It’s nothing too major or catastrophic, but a small percentage of PlayStation 4 owners have indeed been experiencing issues with their shiny new console. Though certainly not as widespread or fatal as the Xbox 360’s notorious “red ring of death” (un-affectionately known as the RRoD), Sony has provided the estimated .4% of users affected with some possible explanations and solutions.
The new info comes via the PlayStation support forums, and it actually seems like it will be pretty handy if you’re experiencing problems. According to Sony, blinky-blue (I’m officially coining that term) can mean one or more of the following.
Here are some of the symptoms associated with blinking blue lights issue:
- blue indicator light blinking
- no video/audio output to television
- console powering off after blinking blue
This blinking light issue could indicate any number of causes including but not limited to:
- TV compatibility
- Issues with PS4 power supply
- Issues with PS4 hard drive
- Issues with other PS4 hardware
Though that last one certainly isn’t going to solve any issues for good, at least Sony is putting in the effort and providing info on how the affected should respond. The post also includes some troubleshooting tips — such as updating TV firmware — that have improved the situation in certain specific cases. You can scope out the post yourself if you’re curious or unlucky enough to actually need the info, though if it were me I’d probably just try exchanging the thing from where I bought it.
As Sony says, ultimately only about .4% of PlayStation 4 consoles will ever experience this problem, so the odds of this being a repeat of Microsoft’s last-gen fiasco are slim. Even if it were, at least blue is a more pleasant color than bright red.