I noticed last night that the faceplate to my Sony PSP has gained another crack, this time on the top edge above the LCD screen lip. In fact its two cracks, about a centimeter apart, one wrapping around the edge of the faceplate, the other not quite that bad. They are only noticable on close examination, but the worry is that a section of the faceplate may break off, or further cracks are going to appear. I’m not sure how these latest problems were generated, I’ve been careful not to drop/kick/throw or generally mishandle the PSP,so its a worry that the faceplate is not that strong.

These new cracks are on the opposite edge to the crack that the PSP picked up within its first few weeks, that I’ve managed to avoid making any worse. These new cracks mean that I’m going to have to buy a new faceplate, so I was interested when I came across the following article at HardOCP about the DecalGirl website and the new Flat Black Asterix custom PSP faceplate kit.

The reason for HardOCP wanting to replace the PSP faceplate is fingerprint smudges, something which I can full sympathise with, but a cracked faceplate is also a good reason to look at these new replacement covers.

So, I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and replace the PSP cover with a Flat Black Asterix Faceplate, which will solve both the cracked standard PSP faceplate and remove the issue of finger marks and smudges that bug the hell out of me. I might even go for some of the replacement red buttons, and give my PSP a whole new look.

If anyone has any experience of fitting the Astrix Faceplates, and can let me know how easy (or not) they are to fit to the PSP, dropme a line or post a comment. Same for the replacement buttons, are these relatively east and staightforward to fit. I’m pretty handy with the screwdriver and pliers, so I don’t think its going to be a huge job for me to do, but I like to be armed with the facts before I try fitting a new Psp faceplate.

Update: Since I wrote this, I have replaced the PSP faceplate with a Matt Black one (Photos Here). You can read up on the fitment process here.