Review: PSP Extra Button

[bandit]

PSP Extra Button
Manufacturer: 3rd Party
Site: Buy from Brando
Price: $5.00

Overview : It is perfect designed for PSP. Making you control more comfortable and excellent feeling for playing action/fighting games.

Features :

• Easy to install
• Make you more comfortable for playing action/fighting games
• Includes 2 Analog sticks

Quality/Usability : For those who love playing fighting games but hate the directional pad on the PSP and cant throw a single fireball, this is an option. For those who know, Capcom released a directional pad "mod" when they release Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max (aka Street Fighter Zero 3: Double Upper in Japan) as a promotional item for those who ordered from Capcom. Here is an image of it:

Image from IGN

Those who didnt order from Capcom, were screwed and left to use the directional button. The PSP Extra Button is an alternative to those who dont want finger cramps or the annoyance of losing because they cant throw a fireball.

The d-pad is made of hard plastic. Under the d-pad mod are four small stickies that attach to the directional pad on the PSP. Although when they are first applied, they stick. But if you have a case that is near flush to the screen of the PSP, you'll need to remove the d-pad mod. This can be a problem. Each time you remove the d-pad mod, the stickies get worn and dirty and eventually become useless. There is no way to keep the stickies clean once it is exposed. This goes for the same made by Capcom. Overtime, the stickies get worn out.

But for the short time that the d-pad mod sticks, it does a great job. Its not perfect, but its better then the directional pad on the PSP.

The analog nubs isnt really anything special. I prefer the stock analog stick since its rubber. The analog sticks included in the PSP Extra Button are just replacement for those who either lost or broke the original analog nub.

Conclusion : Overall, this is a cheap alternative to fixing the directional pad problems. Only if there was a way to attach the d-pad mod ontop of the directional pad without stickies it would have been better. To me, the analog nubs are useless. For those interested and have double sided tape, you can remove the stickies that are under the d-pad mod and place your own. If you want something more permanent, there are more heavy duty double sided tapes in stores (i.e. car shops, etc.), if not, any stationary store should carry them.

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