Michael Trebilcock of Adelaide wanted $800 in compensation for an upgrade to his PS3, which he claimed meant it could no longer be used as a computer.

Mr Trebilcock's claim was dismissed by a magistrate in the Holden Hill Magistrates Court who was told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had cleared Sony of any wrongdoing regarding the upgrade.

A class action over the same issue has been brought against Sony by gamers in the US.

Mr Trebilcock had earlier said the "Install Other OS" feature originally included with the PS3 had been praised as one of the console's selling points.

"One of the reasons I bought (the PS3) was for this feature — it allowed you to use the PS3 as a computer, not just a games console," he said.

"You could attach printers to it and print documents, you could use Messenger and Firefox web browsing."

Sony Computer Entertainment Australia said the feature was deleted from its PS3 consoles via an optional software update in April because of security concerns.

With NewsCore and AdelaideNow