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Kotaku
Since the dawn of time, man has been driven by the need to take what he is given and make it better. Over the years this need has led to many advancements, such as hardware superstores, cosmetic surgery, and of course, console modding. Every once in awhile I get bitten by the bug myself, as evidenced by my red see-thru (non-working) PS2 and the Xbox in my closet that glows with an eerie blue light but can't actually play any games.
Apparently I am the Death of electronics, and they fear my icy touch.
Still I cannot resist the urge to tinker, which is why I sat down the past weekend and pimped out my PSP with a Campy Pro Gear faceplate, which was graciously sent to me by the fine folks at Camy International.
What strikes me about the Camy Pro Gear faceplate it the glossy finish created by having a clear layer of plastic over the black, giving it a sort of force field sheen effect, just like the original PSP face. You see the same effect on a DS Lite.
Anyway, down to business.
As you can see, the kit comes with everything you need to do the deed, including the tiny screwdriver. You get replacement buttons, extra screws, instructions, and, of course, the faceplate itself.
There were a couple of different designs to choose from, but I come from that esteemed school that sees no point in modifying something cosmetically if you can't work a skull in there somewhere. Not only did I get a skull with this faceplate, I got a flaming skull with wings, which I believe entitles me to free refills at the biker bar of my choice. Note my huge, snausage fingers.
Eager to get started, I grabbed the screw driver and set upon my poor, unsuspecting PSP. There it sat, wagging its little nonexistent tail, perhaps hoping for a rousing game of Yu-Gi-Oh, only to have me setting in motion events that would tear the very skin from its face. I find it helps taking electronics apart if you imagine them as living things that feel pain when you disassemble them.
Anyway, it was round about that time I ran into my first snag.
Remove the 6 screws as shown. Count the arrows. A simple typo in the manual, but for someone terrified of destroying their $200 (at one point at least) handheld it amounted to around 15 minutes of poking around the system with the screwdriver, sweating as if I was diffusing a Cartoon Network movie advertisement.
Finally, after the girlfriend assured me everything would be all right, I removed the Sony faceplate from the PSP, and thus was a warranty voided.
Okay, technically the warranty was voided the moment I removed the screw under the serial number sticker, but most game shops never look there anyway.
I removed the analog assembly, the rubber undersides to the d-pad and buttons, and finally the buttons themselves, setting them aside in no particular order at all, until finally my table looked like this:
Note: If you are planning on doing this sort of thing, make sure you place the parts down in the direction you need to put them back in. It'll keep you from having to unscrew the faceplate and put it back on again 4-5 times after you are done to make sure all the buttons work. Not that that happened to me or anything...just saying. *whimper*
Now the instructions told me to remove the bottom button strip from the original faceplate (select, start, etc.) but the new one seemed to already have one in place. I also opted to use the unmarked buttons Camy provided for the X, O, square and triangle buttons. I felt they offered the same coolness factor as an unmarked keyboard, only with less to remember.
Once everything fit together and I verified that all my buttons worked, I sat back to admire my handiwork.
The Camy Pro Gear Dual Layered faceplate is, for all intents and purposes, exactly the same as the Sony one, only much prettier. It contains all the same features and ridges as the original covers, down to the odd golf ball dimples along the top. The finish looks dead-on, and the plate sits perfectly flush with the system, maintaining the same line without any over or under hang. The only real problem I have with it is the screen. It looks fine when the system is on and playing, but as you can see here it looks like it is covered with radiating scratches or scour marks of some kind.
In short, if you are looking to void your PSP warranty in the name of good looks or simply need to replace a damaged faceplate, the Camy Pro Gear is an excellent choice, and one I would certainly recommend. Considering my staggering ineptitude when it comes to tinkering with electronics it is definitely easy to install, and aside from the screen looking scritchy at certain angles while you aren't playing it looks amazing. Plus, now everyone who goes into my bathroom (the PSP's home) will know how much of a badass I am. Flying flaming skulls for the win!
