Sony Says It’s Always Seeking Ways to Cut PS3 Power Consumption

Sony Computer Entertainment is “continuously working to reduce power consumption” on the PS3 “in an effort to address concerns about the effect of energy consumption on our environment,” an SCE America spokeswoman said Tuesday. Earlier, website Retrevo said console makers still “have a long way to go” to make their devices truly green, but some console owners are making up for the manufacturers’ “shortcomings” on the power consumption front, according to the findings of a poll of more than 400 Internet users that it did in March.

The new slim model PS3 that shipped in late summer “is 30 percent more energy efficient with reduced fan noise,” compared to the prior model, the SCEA spokeswoman said. The company also introduced a power save setting via a firmware upgrade for previous PS3 models that allowed users to turn off their PS3s and wireless controllers automatically after a certain period of inactivity, she said. But Retrevo suggested that the console makers should ship their consoles with the power saving mode on.

Microsoft also said it continued to take steps to make its products more green. Its “commitment to environmental sustainability includes strategies to minimize the impact of our operations, using IT to improve energy efficiency, and accelerating research breakthroughs that will help scientific understanding on a global scale,” a Microsoft spokeswoman said. In its CE business, “we comply with or exceed all applicable environmental guidelines and regulations,” she said. “We constantly look for ways to be more efficient, use fewer materials and always seek continuous improvement while keeping quality up and cost down. Our emphasis on sustainability extends to the Xbox 360 packaging where we have banned the use of PVC, reduced the packaging of the original Xbox by approximately 30 percent, employed the sustainable EnviroShell product, and removed all styrene from the internal packaging.” Nintendo of America didn’t comment by our deadline.

The Retrevo Gadgetology study asked game console owners how diligent they were about shutting off their consoles when they weren’t using them and whether their power saving mode was enabled. “We were pleased to see how many console owners indicated that they don’t leave their units powered on when not in use but were disappointed by the number of consoles that may not have the auto power saving mode enabled,” it said. That’s because console makers “have not done a very good job of implementing their power saving modes,” it said.

"Many console owners have taken it upon themselves to turn their consoles off when not in use,” Retrevo said. But Andrew Eisner, its director of community and content, told us Tuesday that 48 percent of respondents answered “no, and I don’t care” when asked if they felt console makers clearly informed consumers how environmentally sustainable/responsible they were in making their devices.

Eighty-four percent of respondents said they turned off their consoles “most of the time” when not using them, while 16 percent answered “almost never,” Retrevo said. Only 29 percent said their consoles turned off automatically or went into sleep mode when not in use, while 25 percent said their consoles didn’t and many more -- 46 percent -- said they didn’t know. Of the respondents who knew their consoles turned off or went to sleep when not in use, 36 percent said their systems had always done that, while 18 percent of them had to enabled the consoles to do that, Retrevo said.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 “have powerful graphics engines with millions of transistors running at super fast clock cycles,” Retrevo said. Both consoles “suck down large amounts of power,” it said. The PS3 draws 197 watts, while the 360 draws 187 watts, Eisner said. The Wii drew only 19 watts, but citing Greenpeace findings, Retrevo said the console “is manufactured with many environmentally questionable materials.”

Although the PS3 and 360 now offer auto power down modes, “they are both disabled by default and even when the Xbox 360 has it on, it only offers one option of a six-hour time out period before powering down the unit,” Retrevo said. The Wii, meanwhile, “has an auto power down mode that is only enabled when the WiFi Connect24 mode is not enabled,” it said.

Retrevo also recommended that console makers provide better indication of power saving mode on/off, provide better support for auto-saving of games along with auto power down, educate owners about the benefits of using auto power down, and provide an easier method for enabling auto power down. It recommended that console owners turn off the Wii Connect24 mode when not used to enable auto power down mode, use remote play on the PS3 “judiciously to lower standby power,” and consider using a standalone Blu-ray player that only uses about 40 watts instead of the PS3 to play movies.