Like, should I be booting them up once every few months, keeping them plugged in, running any sort of database rebuilding program like Sony consoles have, or pulling the drives and using DiskFresh on them every few years? I'm assuming the manufacturers didn't really plan for longevity beyond the 5-6 year console cycle so I don't know if they'd be utilizing any of the built-in tools HDDs have and I'm trying to think of how to do any sort of HDD preventative maintenance on them.
For a PS3? I'd replace the spinner with an SSD. It's fairly easy, just be sure to follow a guide as there are steps that have to be taken. I don't think you can brick it, but you can make it harder on yourself. It only very mildly improves loads in a small list of games, but spinning disks from that era are on their way out. For other ones, I'm less sure. If you can replace an HDD with an SSD, do. But some won't work with one, like the OG Xbox.
I don't imagine that any preventative maintenance will really help. Your main issue will be just hitting the end of their lifespan.
Hey, it improves Gran Turismo 6's install time from 8 hours to like 2.
Supposedly it also "fixes" Skyrim lmao