SCEA offers PlayStation Protection Plan
New one and two year extended warranties help ward off yellow light of death
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has announced a new PlayStation Protection Plan service for extended warranties.
The plan is available for any customer still covered by the standard one year warranty and can be applied to the PlayStation 3, PSP-3000 or PSPgo. No equivalent announcement has yet been made in Europe.
For a PlayStation 3 a one-year extension costs $49.99 and a two-year extension $59.99.
For a PSP a one-year extension costs $29.99 and a two-year extension $39.99. A more expensive accidental damage extension is also available for one or two years on the PSP, for an extra $10.
Warranty cover includes all shipping charges and repairs performed by "official SCEA-licensed technicians at authorised repair facilities".
No specific reason is given for the timing of the new scheme, with the PlayStation 3's 'yellow light of death' hardware problem still less prevalent than the red-hued Xbox 360 equivalent at its peak.
"The PlayStation brand has long been synonymous with the highest quality in engineering and design, and it's because of the reliability of the PS3 and PSP systems that we can offer the PlayStation Protection Plan," said Glenn Nash, vice president of operations at SCEA.
"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," he added.
"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," he added.