Sony admits PSP problem

Following complaints by consumers in Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment officially announced that it will repair any PSP suffering from a defective square button. This repair is to correct a defect where controller buttons on some Playstation Portable (PSP) units may become stuck and not return to their default position.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

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.

http://www.playstation.jp/info/qa.php?pid=&cid=480&sid=1