Console designer assures future PSP models won't have the same problemSony's first handheld console, the PlayStation Portable (PSP), finally launched in Japan late last year and was met with both accolades and criticism.?The nature of some of the negative spin levied against the PSP was particularly troubling, as it concerned its questionable construction and long-term durability.?A particularly telling issue emerged where one of the console's crucial buttons could become stuck in place when pressed and not be able to return to its original position during play.
The reason for this issue being a distinct possibility lies in how close the PSP square button is to the wide game LCD with covers a great deal of the console itself (link).?While Sony itself hasn't outright acknowledged the unresponsive square button as a design error on their part, it is at least offering to repair any PSP with such a defective button.?Gamers in Japan will need to send in their unit to Sony's repair service and hopefully get good news shortly after.?If you ask me, it would have been nicer (though costlier) if they just replaced the whole console instead, since in my experience having something repaired in precision electronic equipment just ends up busting something else.?That's probably my bad luck though.
More importantly they assure the press that this problem will not affect upcoming PSP consoles now that they have (reportedly) identified and resolved this design issue.?This hopefully means that North American and European gamers won't have to go through the same ordeal once the PSP makes its official appearance in both international markets.
"Sony released a statement that said the problem affected only about 0.6 percent of the 510,000 PSPs that were shipped during 2004. The company assured gamers that the manufacturing problem has since been solved, and PSP units shipped after the start of 2005--all those that will go on sale in the US on March 24--will not suffer from the problem. Owners of a Japanese PSP with a defective square button should send the unit to Sony's repair service, which will fix the machine for free. Details on the PSP swap are available from the official Japanese PlayStation site."
Article Link: GameSpot