The impatience is driving me to the brink of madness...

[syckls]

Not wanting to upstage the 2012 Olympics topic by posting now, but anyway. Go London.

My replacement PSP for the defective one I sent in will either be coming today, or a week from today. By the time the latter approaches I will be converted into a raving lunatic from Wipeout withdrawal. Normally it would be okay, as I actually happen to have Wip3out and Wipeout 64. The only thing is... I do not own a PS1 memory card and my Controller Pak for the N64 has disappeared through a wormhole. I should be used to being gipped by Sony after the thing with my PS2, but that incident just made me hate them even more. Let me explain. My PS2 couldn't read anything from the first controler socket, and Sony blamed it on my superior RedOctane dance pad. So I shelled out $75 to get it replaced, and when they send it back two weeks later it cannot read a single disc. Thankfully, when I sent it back the second time they gave me a brand spanking new PS2. In all, I ended up paying $175 for a new PS2 and getting ripped for $25.

In the interest of making this more than just a personal rant, who else has memories of major inconvenience dealt to them by the video game companies?

[eLhabib]

I am currently playing on my 3rd (THIRD) PS2! It's two predecessors both decided to refuse reading any and all disks only a couple of weeks each's 2-year waranty (guarantee?) had run out. Since buying a new one was cheaper and quicker than having the disk drive repaired, I just got a new one every time. 1st PS2 2000-2002, 2nd PS2 2002-2004, and I expect my current PS2 to stop liking disks by fall 2006, which is fine, as I am gonna own a PS3 by that time...

still, Sony, :bombhead

[Drakkenmensch]

There is currently ZERO tech support fo rthe PSP either aside from "try downloading the latest firmware upgrade"

When my D-pad went wonky on me, I had no choice but to OPEN the damn thing myself thus voiding the warranty (*sound of lightning crashing*) and clean out the D-pad mechanism. It was a mere five minute job to clean out a piece of crud stuck in the contact system of the "down" direction that was making the electric contact almost impossible. Simple five minute job to fix, and they want me to MAIL MY PSP from Canada to the US for THAT???

Sorry Sony, but in the immortal words of the 4chan image boards, "you fail at life."

[syckls]

You'd probably have to wait something like a month and a half to get it back. And plus, if you hadn't fixed it like you did you would have waited a month and a half as well as paying $50 for a five-minute job. Anyways, my PSP is coming in a week. Urge to kill, rising...

[Drakkenmensch]

A month and a half to wait for a five minutes job is simply unacceptable. Thinking about it makes my geek pride scream out in rage and prevents me from just shutting up and taking it in silence.

It took me three minutes on google to find the instructions on opening my PSP.
Three more to figure out exactly how the internal mechanism (so to speak) of the D-pad worked.
Two more minutes to flick off the offending particle and clean off the components with rubbing alcohol just to be on the safe side.

There, you're done! Just be extra careful that you snap the shoulder buttons correctly before you put the screws back in, or you may have the unpleasant (if somewhat easy to correct) surprise that one of your shoulder buttons is locked tight and refuses to push down. It's not a huge problem in itself, but it's mighty embarassing to discover when you're trying to take the 90 degree hard left turn at the start of Chengou Project ;)

[syckls]

I am now in a state of Wipeout bliss. I have Wipeput 3 with a PS1 memory card, Wipeout 64 with a Controller Pak, and MY PSP. WITH WIPEOUT PURE. That last part is the one I'm happiest about. And plus, with my Sandisk 256MB Pro Duo, wireless downloads are much, much faster. I'm still mad at Sony but who cares, they've brought me my PSP and Wipeout Pure. I can't be mad at them now. I just have to get used to doing Phantom Ascension with Triakis again and my recovery will be complete. On a side note, getting medals in Wipeout 3 is really, really tedious.