Is it safe to leave a console turned on overnight?

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BustaUppa

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Sometimes at night I like to fall asleep to the soothing sounds and images of... oh, say, Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance. It'd be cool to just leave the thing on demo mode all night; it'd make my room seem like an arcade, and I'd feel all warm and gushy inside.

So is this generally considered a harmful practice? Will my PS2 go all wonky if I leave it on for extended periods of time? Sometimes I'll watch a DVD and fall asleep, and I really hope I'm not slowly damaging my unit.

This question goes for all other consoles as well. I remember the PS1 had some "eye" that would move toward the center of the disc tray the more it was used, to help show you when the system was being overworked (at least that's what someone told me. Anyway I would appreciate any info on this subject, thanks!
 
i dont know the answer, but I dont think it will do any good to keep them on for a long period of time, but again, if you enjoy doing this.... just save up for a 2nd system later :) at least that is what I would do
 
heh, well if I find out it actually is harmful, than I just won't do it. But since PCs can be left on all the time without a problem, it got me wondering if consoles are OK with that too.
 
It shouldnt make that big of a difference and isnt that different from leave your PC overnight. It wont overheat or anything, but the only thing to watch for is the optical drive. Most PS2s have about a 9000hr lifespan on the lens motor, but they only cost like $10 to replace anyway.
 
It should be fine overnight. When NCAA Football 2004 came out, I probably left my PS2 on for 3 days straight.
 
I've never had a problem with any of the three next-gens. As long as you have good venilation area around it you should have no problem.
 
The ps2 is a eletronic device just like anyother. technially when it is plug into the wall it is on. having it on does cause more wear and tear. but most eletronics last years. it is the same as leaving you computer on all the time. it may not cause any harm at all, then again it could ruin it. A part burning out could kill your all system. on the other hand just think of all those nintendos that were played for thousand of hours then 20 years later are being bought and played. I dont think it would hurt it as long as it does get turn off sometimes. but I would not do it with mine. leaving it on Is a gamble, either it won't mess it up, or it will mess it up. if I was you I would play it safe unless you could afford a new one if this ones burns out. however chances are low it would burn out. I have a alarm clock in one room of my house that is 25 years old it has never been unplugged it still runs perfectly it is a sony.
 
The only thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn't leave your TV on all night. I guess it doesn't matter with the newer systems/games, but if you were to leave an older game on screen all night you'd have a HORRIBLE burn-in after a while. And if you just want to listen to the music anyways, just hook up your system to a stereo and turn the TV off.
 
[quote name='Graystone'] on the other hand just think of all those nintendos that were played for thousand of hours then 20 years later are being bought and played. [/quote]

The thing is those system's had no moving parts.
 
I don't think it causes any real damage to the PS2., I do it every so often and haven't had a problem. You may want to turn on the sleep timer for the TV though. I know on some TVs, especially some older ones, if you leave it on a single screen with little or no movement for awhile in will burn into the moonitor quciker than normal.
 
My Xbox died after playing it for about 8 hours straight, and yes it did have good ventilation. So I wouldn't recommend doing it with that system at least.
 
I don't know if any of you remember this, but in SSBM you were supposed to leave it on for 20 hours just to get (don't remember but) Mewtwo?. I did that and nothing ever happened to it, so i'm gussing that it won't happen with this generation's ps2. When I think about, I have had sleep overs where we haven't left the playstation for a minute and played it for like 17 hours straight.
 
Thanks for the input, guys!

As far as the burn-in issue goes for the TV screens... wouldn't that only be an issue if there was some static image on the screen? I've seen some arcade screens that got burned pretty bad... usually the "Insert Coin" or high score label gets burned in. But most console games these days will cycle through a game demo, title screen, loading screen image, and maybe an intro video. So as far as I understand it, burn-in wouldn't be too much of an issue.
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers']I don't know if any of you remember this, but in SSBM you were supposed to leave it on for 20 hours just to get (don't remember but) Mewtwo?. I did that and nothing ever happened to it, so i'm gussing that it won't happen with this generation's ps2. When I think about, I have had sleep overs where we haven't left the playstation for a minute and played it for like 17 hours straight.[/quote]

You could have multiple people "play", thereby forthing the time it took. Much easier.
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers']I don't know if any of you remember this, but in SSBM you were supposed to leave it on for 20 hours just to get (don't remember but) Mewtwo?[/quote]

No!

That's the TOTAL play time!
 
[quote name='Graystone']The ps2 is a eletronic device just like anyother. technially when it is plug into the wall it is on. having it on does cause more wear and tear. but most eletronics last years.[/quote]

Except that the PS2 has moving parts. That's what makes the difference. That's why SNESses and Genesii still work, but PS1's and Saturns may not.
 
Here is the real question. Does the demo mode access the DVD drive? If so, your putting a lot of mileage on the drive mechanism just for the sake of putting yourself to sleep.

Many TVs have settable shut-off timers. I'd recommend finding a TV channel that suits the same purpose and setting the TV to shut itself off and save the power usage. A big TV screen is a serious power draw and leaving it on to drive your REM state is kind of expensive. Wouldn't you rather spend money on games rather than utility bills?
 
Just make sure the game doesn't have a static image on it anywhere.

I ruined a TV once when I was playing an online roleplaying game for one day straight (not including the time afterwards when I passed out and slept for 8 hours with it still on). My character's name was forever burned into the bottom my TV screen...LMAO!
 
[quote name='Spacepest'] My character's name was forever burned into the bottom my TV screen...LMAO![/quote]

That would majorly suck, especially with some of the names I use.
 
[quote name='Supernothing'][quote name='Spacepest'] My character's name was forever burned into the bottom my TV screen...LMAO![/quote]

That would majorly suck, especially with some of the names I use.[/quote]

Thank god the character I was using at the time didn't have an offensive name. I put the TV in my guest bedroom and when my Mom was visiting she turned it on and saw my character's name burned on the screen. Imagine what her reaction would have been if it was something really nasty or sexually related. :lol:
 
It's not so much the music that's the issue here. It's the arcadey ambience I'm after. Over the years I've "inherited" a few extra creens/monitors, so I can do some really cool stuff with multiple game systems. Heck, once I had three screens going at once... MK Trilogy on my PC, Castlevania on the PS2, and Pac-Mania on my old Amiga. Walking into my room seriously felt like walking into an old arcade... *sniff, choke*... it was beautiful! Probably not the most energy-efficient habit, but beautiful!
 
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