Slashdot Mirror
Sony Admits to PSP Button Flaws
Apparently despite the original company line, there are indeed problems with the buttons on the PSP handheld. Sony has announced that they will repair the small number of units affected for free, and Tech Japan has the details. From the article: "The defect occurs in part of the initial shipment of PSP units and is caused by excess plastic not being completely removed during the molding and manufacturing process of the outer cabinet. As a result, when a button is pressed, it can become caught on the excess plastic and not return fully to its default position."
There was competition. If I remember correctly, the GameGear/Nomad was around in the 90's. None of that was Sony's work. Yeah, yeah, there was also the Wonderswan, but I don't think it made as big a splash as the gamegear did.
They are seperate problems. Sony has said that the sensor problem cannot be fixed w/o making the screen smaller or making the frame bigger. Apparently part of the screen is in the area where the sensor should be, so the quick fix was to just move the sensor over a bit.
Nintendo did not improve on the early gameboys because the technology either wasn't available or just cost prohibitive for the portable platform.(Remember the Gamegear? That was expensive and had horrible battery life.)
Instead they made incremental improvements on the gameboy as new technologies became available.
Also consider the fact that the console market was currently focused on the technological arms race of tv consoles. One would understand why a lack of innovation existed in the portable market.
Nintendo had a good solution for the time and they marketed it better than others. The Lynx, originally a creation of game publisher Epyx, came into Atari's hands when they ran out of money. Even though the Lynx debuted at almost the same time as the GB, and had great technology and decent battery life, Atari(once again) failed to market and distribute it successfully. Similarly, the Game Gear was good(not as good) tech but was marketed poorly, coming at the time when Sega was also dividing itself between the original Genesis/Megadrive, the 32x, the Sega CD, and finally the Saturn.
Because cheap and small technology for portable devices didn't really advance until the late 90s(remember that's when cell phones took off), the Game Boy didn't. They did the Super Game Boy for the SNES but that was different. When portable tech finally improved, they opted first to slim it down with the GB Pocket. Then they made a few incremental steps in technology for processing power and graphics. But none of this was really provoked by competition.
As soon as "real" competition appeared from the likes of Sony, they broke the mold of technological improvement and moved to the DS which is definitely very unique. They probably plan the same thing for the Revolution.
http://www.gamesarefun.com/consoles/psp/square.jpg
Just look how it all lines up.
Read the links, not the incorrect slashdot summary. The design flaw part of it isn't a design flaw. They're offering to repair manufacturing defects.
I believe the "Shuriken drive" is a hoax. For one, the disc ACCELERATES in the video... and appears to be falling straight downwards. Second, my friend bought a PSP and brought it into work, and we examined it:
1. Theres a bar in place to keep it from just popping out
2. It has no spring mechanism to push the disc outwards; it has a spring to move the disc slot outwards from the unit (it doesnt insert into the top, it inserts into a slot which then pushes into the PSP)
3. He couldn't get it to eject without pressing the eject button, even by applying as much twisting torque to the unit as he felt comfortable without risking breaking the thing.
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I happen to own a big-type NGPC, and have played with NGPs.
The controller is prone to breaking, just like the NGCD pad. That's the price of the tactile click that people calim to love so much. Personally, I prefer real d-pads and good analog sticks like the GCN's left analog stick.
But, as someone else mentioned, the NGPC was barely better than GBC, and was nowhere near GBA in terms of power or capabilities. Just compare the graphics of fighting games on both systems and you'll see it right away; even Sonic, one of the best looking games on NGPC, looks like trash compared to the original Sonic Advance. So yes, GBA does wonders given the battery life it has, compared to NGPC. As for screens, the NGPC was just as susceptible to glare/washout problems as the wide GBA. Don't forget about all those NGPC Worm Lights that Nyko was able to sell, even in the U.S.
Hi folks,
As I understand it, there are two problems with the square button on PSP:
1. It sticks.
2. It does not register easily when pressed.
This fix that everyone is talking about now only solves problem number one. It does nothing for the fact that the square button is not properly aligned with the contact beneath it. (And also note that it is only the _second_ of these two problems thet Sony has tried to write off as an intentional feature of the design). As a matter of fact, both of these issues were adressed at the same time in Japan: http://netafull.net/archives/007079.html
To tell the truth, I own a Japanese PSP, and I have never had the square button stick during play (though I have been able to make it stick when not playing). However, the button's poor response rate IS noticeable during play (especially with something like, say, Dynasty Warriors) and can be quite frustrating.
Again, this fix only solves the button-sticking problem. Ergo, square buttons on American PSPs will likely be just as weak and unresponsive as their Japanese counterparts.