SCEA Offers Official New Extended Warranties For PS3, PSP

Sony Computer Entertainment America said Monday that it would be offering official extended warranty plans for PlayStation 3 and PSP hardware. The extra peace of mind is not free, however. For a plan that extends the PS3's included one-year manufacturer's warranty by one year, customers will need to pay $49.99. A two-year extended warranty costs $59.99. For PSP and PSP Go, a one-year extension costs $29.99 and a two-year extension costs $39.99. Sony's also offering an "accidental damage" warranty for PSP that costs $39.99, which covers damage such as a cracked screen from an accidental drop. The accidental damage plan for PSP begins on the day of buying the warranty, and must be purchased within the first 30 days of owning a PSP system. The warranties cover all shipping charges and repairs, which are performed by official SCEA-licensed technicians at authorized repair facilities, the company said. The new extended warranty plans are available this month for PS3 and PSP owners whose hardware is still under the one-year manufacturer's warranty, as well as new PS3 and PSP buyers. PS3 owners whose warranties have expired could pay around $150 to have their consoles repaired by official Sony technicians. The most widely-talked about PS3 issue is known as the "yellow light of death," in which the console simply fails to operate. While reports of the yellow light of death are easy to find on the internet, PS3 hardware failures are still not as widespread as Xbox 360's "red ring of death," which played a factor in Microsoft extending the manufacturer's warranty for its Xbox 360 -- for free to consumers -- in 2007. SCEA VP of operations Glenn Nash said in a statement that Sony's products are reliable, and "it's because of the reliability of the PS3 and PSP systems that we can offer the PlayStation Protection Plan." Nash added, "We have heard from consumers that they're interested in an extended service plan that's backed directly by SCEA and leverages our technical expertise. While both the PS3 and PSP systems are designed with future-proof technology and built for long lifecycles, we're looking forward to offering this service to consumers looking for added peace of mind." Those interested in buying the extended PlayStation protection plan can call 1-866-716-7669.