PS3 just started freezing

Hey guys my sister got a PS3 a little over a year ago, and it has always played beautifully. my dad played Madden NFL 09 yesterday and then tried to play it again today, and today the PS3 froze up on him. We checked that the disc was clean and it still froze. We tried two other discs and they both froze too. Then I turned off the 1080 dpi setting (like the PS3 website suggests) and yet again the games still froze. I am desperate to understand what the problem is and how to fix it. It isn't firmware because we have the latest, so it would have to be hardware which scares me because this thing was expensive! I don't know what could cause this in a machine that has worked fine so far, and my sister has been real carefull to take good care of it.



so what is going on?

If this doesn't belong here, sorry just trying to get all the help I can.

 

Is it dusty...? It might be overheating. Make sure there is plenty of room around it for airflow, and let it sit for an hour or so to cool down, before you're rebooting it. If it need repair and the warranty has expired, it'll cost you a little, and it might be worth your while to call Sony and find out how much. It is guaranteed to be cheaper than buying a new one.

And for future reference, PS3 questions would go here, in the Games forum