My best friend's PS3 just died and he tells me he believes it to be the "yellow light of death." Is there any way to recover his saved game data? I don't know anything about PS3 (I don't own any current consoles) and am just asking this question on his behalf to a community I trust with this kind of stuff.

Not really, unless you try reflowing the PS3. I didn't have too much luck when I tried it (PS3 only booted for about 20 minutes) but I also didn't use a proper heat gun either.

The PS3 also uses some proprietary file system on the hard drive that isn't recognized when you connect it to a computer. Not to mention the data is locked to the console it was formatted on, so you can't even pop the drive into a working PS3 to get data off.

If your friend REALLY wants to get those saves off, the only option would be to try a reflow and back up the data when the system boots again. I wouldn't use the system after reflowing as it's bound to need it again. It's not a permanent fix, unfortunately.

Unless your friend has PS+, then I don't think he can get his game saves back.

The only other method I can see is what LiquidSaiyan3 suggested or see if the PS3 can boot up for at least 5 mins. and try to back it up to a USB stick.