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."

Comments

Nip it in the bud

[boohiss]

It's good to quash this kind of stuff as soon as possible. At the price they are selling, they need to take away any technical excuse to not buy a PSP in order to compete with Nintendo at the portable level.

Re:Nip it in the bud

[fwitness]

Yep. I own a DS, and I put a $10 deposit on a PSP on a 'what the hell' basis. However, the dead pixels and bad buttons make me uneasy.

Luckily for Sony, the DS lineup isn't ramping up quite fast enough. As it gets closer to US launch, we'll see who has the stronger platform. This will be interesting. Perhaps it's time for the 'Portable Wars', something we haven't seen since Nintendo won the battle of the portable 8-bits and declared itself supreme ruler.

Sony get it right

[superpulpsicle]

Sony has to get these little things right. The Nintendo handheld monopoly has got to go. It has had a firm hold in this market since the early 90s.

It's funny that Nintendo released gameboy boy black and white lasting a decade, with zero motivation to improve. Then GB advanced, color and DS all launched in the span of 3 years under competition from Sony. It's not even real competition yet, just winding up.

Re:Sony get it right

[NanoGator]

"The Nintendo handheld monopoly has got to go."

Why? It's there because the market decided it should be there, not because Nintendo has a gun put to everybody's head. Frankly, if Sony isn't getting things right, like YOU said, then why on Earth would you want THEM to be in a monopoly?

"It's funny that Nintendo released gameboy boy black and white lasting a decade, with zero motivation to improve."

0 motivation? I suppose you forgot Nintendo's innovation attempt called Virtual Boy. Tee hee giggle snort. Anyway, the main reason why Nintendo hasn't had a serious competitor is because the 'innovators' destroyed a key factor that made their units worth having. Usually it was battery life, although sometimes it was size. The Game Boy had the right balance to pleae a lot of customers, and the technology didn't allow much wiggle room here. It wasn't that Nintendo didn't have motivation to innovate, it was that Nintendo wasn't stupid enough to destroy the successful formula.

"Then GB advanced, color and DS all launched in the span of 3 years under competition from Sony."

The GB Advance (no d.) was out long before Sony was 'competition' in the handheld market. Additionally, it was in development long before Sony released the PS1. I don't think there's any doubt that Sony kicked Nintendo in the rear to innovate, and I agree that competition's good, but your impressions about Nintendo are a little skewed.

Re:Sony get it right

[NanoGator]

"Incidentally, the NeoGeo pocket is notable for having the best handheld controller ever, a reflective color screen that you could actually see, and battery life that rivals the GBA, all in a similar form factor."

Not really an argument, but something to point out: The Neo Geo Pocket had inferior processing capaibilities to the GBA. SIGNIFICANTLY inferior. (Both audio and graphics.)

"You're just plain wrong to assert that they push their technology to the limits without the pressure of competition though."

I didn't say they did. Here's what I did say, though:

" I don't think there's any doubt that Sony kicked Nintendo in the rear to innovate"

What I 'asserted' was tha destroying Nintendo's monopoly is not necessarily a good move. Competition's fine, but when the market says "we like this", then taking it down just because of the big M word is not always the right approach. Nintendo's monopoly isn't due to lack of competition. It's due to making the best handheld. Bad bad bad?

Re:Sony get it right

[aeoo]

"The Nintendo handheld monopoly has got to go."

Why? It's there because the market decided it should be there, not because Nintendo has a gun put to everybody's head. Frankly, if Sony isn't getting things right, like YOU said, then why on Earth would you want THEM to be in a monopoly?

The poster is simply asking the market to change its decision. From where I sit, the poster is free to ask, even 1000000 times, if the poster feels like it. Your kind of reply is not any more valid, or legitimate, or desirable, or anything like that.

Just because someone expresses a desire for change doesn't mean they express a sense of entitlement, tyrany, communism, or anything like that. It doesn't mean the person is speaking out against the "free market". The market is made of people, and the poster is free to try to get these people to change their minds, by any means deemed appropriate (and we're free to respond in kind).

Re:Sony get it right

[cgenman]

Don't forget, the Game Boy focused on Cheap, Rugged, Lasting. The Lynx was more expensive than the game boy, and the battery life was pretty poor. The Game Gear had a color screen with about 1 degree of LCD visibility, and it ate batteries like nobody's business. The Turbo Express Portable was great, but also sucked down batteries and cost a mint.

The Nomad was quietly released post Genesis. I was always sad that system didn't make more of a splash. Now you can emulate a Genesis pretty easily on a GBA.

After the Game Boy, and several years of cheaper-cheaper-cheaper, Nintendo released the Game Boy Pocket, then the Game Boy Pocket Color, and finally the GBA. The Game Boy Pocket Color was not supposed to be a full Game Boy, but rather a stopgap between the GB and the GBA. In the same way Nintendo claims that the DS is not a GBDS, but rather a stopgap between the last official Game Boy and the next. Or something.

In the interem, there has been the Neo Geo Pocket, the Neo Geo Pocket Color, the Wonderswan (which scored a Coup landing Square), the Game.com (chuckle), and a whole host of other lesser immitators. Nintendo just knows their market pretty well, always releasing somewhat underpowered Game Boys with excellent battery life and a rugged housing.

Re:Sony get it right

[NeMon'ess]

Aside from the fact that the CEO of Sega America made some incredibly retarded decisions, by far the biggest mistake Sega made was releasing the 32X. Support for the Sega CD declined. Then a few games that used the Sega CD and 32X came out. Then only a year after the 32X came out, the Saturn was released. Gamers and publishers got burned all around. The Saturn was hard to program, but potentially more powerful than the Playstation. If gamers and publishers hadn't sworn off Sega, the console would have had higher sales and games available.

The Game Gear was released in 1990. The Sega CD was 1991, but the 32X wasn't until 1993. The Game Gear failed because of poor battery life and a higher price. Solving those would have increased sales and publisher support, which would have raised sales. Also, I don't think the Game Gear was a failure. Games were made for it for at least three years. The Jungle Book and The Lion King were some of the last games for it in 1994. It didn't unseat the GameBoy, but I'm sure it made money for Sega and the publishers who released quality games.

[] button?

[redpawn]

This doesn't seem to affect the fact that the square button is not right over the sensor. Are gamers still expected to "have to deal with it" or is this being addressed as well?

Free repair

[FidelCatsro]

" Sony has announced that they will repair the small number of units affected for free, "

Reading that part of it , it seems to me sony are trying to dress this up as a small favour they are doing for the people who bought those units, Ive seen many companys using this aproch .Trying to make people Feel lucky because
*Company* has said they are kind enough to repair a faulty product they sold you.
Its a right in most countrys , i would have alot more respect for these companys if they just said "Sorry , we screwed up " and not a free repair program as really it dosnt need to exist .They have sold a product that is not fit for sale and by most civil commerce laws im aware of Repair these or reimburse the customer

Square Button

[Elranzer]

So this has nothing to do with the Square button being too close to the LCD inside so that the pressure point it sort of off center? Hmmm. I think Sony (and president Ken in particular) are way too full of themselves with this one. They think they're going to take down Nintendo DS as well as the iPod, and in reality it's not even going to take down the Gameboy Advance.

News for nerds?

[hey!]

Seriously, what kind of nerd would return a device for replacement if it had a fault like that, instead of taking it apart, filing off the excess plastic, then posting pictures and a rant to his blog?

For shame.