If you're like me and you spend at least an hour or two on your PSP daily, you have one sore left thumb! You've got a pain in the joint and soreness beneath the thumbnail due to the unnatural position of your thumb because of the nub that serves as a joystick on the PSP.  I thought I had found the solution at my local Best Buy when I found replacement joysticks (made by Sony for the PSP) that was about 1/2" taller than the default nub joystick.

I popped out the nub and placed my new joystick over the analog thumbstick extension.  I loved that the extra elevation put my left thumb in a position that was more natural. Also, there was less pressure required to maneuver the joystick so that also helped with the soreness that develops from pushing on the nub joystick.

Everything was great until a few days later, my joystick snapped off.  I noticed that it seemed loose when I pulled out of my bag and it snapped off as I started playing.  To make matters worse, it wasn't just the joystick that had come off, but the extension that was built into the analog thumbstick.  I was horrified!  I tried to push the thumbstick back in place, but it was completely broken off.

I took it to a local game repair shop where I had to buy a replacement for the analog thumbstick assembly. It's almost as good as new, but I'm back to using the old nub as my joystick.  I've learned that even a Sony licensed product can't safeguard you from problems.

Side note: After getting my PSP repaired, I researched the joystick issue and found that problems with the joystick is the PSP's most comment problem.  The entire analog joystick assembly is replaced frequently, especially with more active gamers.  You'll find dozens of blog entries and forum discussions on opening up the PSP and changing the assembly yourself.  (There are several sellers on eBay that sell the assembly).

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