Comments on: PSP Spontaneously Combusts, Burns Hole in Kid's Pants

PSP Spontaneously Combusts, Burns Hole in Kid's Pants

JD Rucker — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:02:02 -0800

A PSP residing in the pocket of a Michigan elementary school student caught fire in the kid's pants and caused burns to the boy's inner leg. The boy escaped serious harm, only being treated for minor burns at the hospital. But maybe Chen should start considering what he puts or doesn't put in his pants.

By: Shakeer

Shakeer — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:07:53 -0800

or perhaps what he allows residence there

By: uaudio

uaudio — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:11:29 -0800

Well, at least Jack Thompson can now honestly say that videogames are causing injury to our nations' youth.

By: inconsequentialist

inconsequentialist — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:11:46 -0800

"...a fire broke out in a young boy's pants..." Beautifully worded

By: gc

gc — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:24:04 -0800

I can only imagine the boy's classmate who, only moments before, had uttered the word that would change is life. He was only foolin' when he told the boy that he was indeed a "liar" and suggested that his pants were "on fire." I like to imagine the look on this classmate's face, one of shock and fear and wonder of the new power he wields, the power to set his classmates' pants on fire. I imagine him running off into the playground, because, for him, today is a new day.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:27:46 -0800

I'd be interested to know if he had rechargeable batteries in it. I've had them burn me when I was carrying a spare set in my pocket.

By: nzero

nzero — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:51:09 -0800

Judging from the picture in the second link, it was the rechargeable battery that caught fire.

By: qvantamon

qvantamon — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:57:31 -0800

I like the phrasing in the first article. What inconsequentialist said, then: "burning a hole in his pocket" "A teacher at the school managed to separate the boy from his gaming system" I don't know kotaku, so I don't know its style... are these all intentional?

By: papafrita

papafrita — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:07:50 -0800

The battery included with the PSP is rechargeable, of course (what modern portable appliance doesn't have rechargeable batteries nowadays?). I found this strange, since my own first-gen PSP rarely heats up, even when charging. Without being able to read the article, I'm guessing the kid tried out the famous "Pandora's Battery mod" in order to modify his PSP in order to, er, "liberate" it. Said mod involves cracking open the provided battery and playing around with the innards in order to eventually install a new firmware (think of it as the underlying operating system) on the PSP, a procedure where a mistake can easily be made, with a possible burnt leg as a result.

By: papafrita

papafrita — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:09:29 -0800

Ugh. What I meant to say I found strange was the fact that the batt heated up to the point of combustion. And yes, Kotaku's style is quite lighthearted, since it's a gaming site after all.

By: nzero

nzero — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:13:45 -0800

I'm guessing the kid tried out the famous "Pandora's Battery mod" in order to modify his PSP in order to, er, "liberate" it. It's not out of the realm of possibility, but I kind of doubt that is what happened. Reason being that the hardware hack version of Pandora's battery, once made, will no longer run the PSP normally. In other words, you can't use it to play games, only to boot the PSP into recovery mode.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:21:31 -0800

Sony's had problems with OEM Li-Ion laptop batteries catching fire. Perhaps this is related?

By: Tube

Tube — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:31:45 -0800

Imagine the commotion if this had happened to Quonsar.

By: porn in the woods

porn in the woods — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:57:27 -0800

Pandora's battery can be enabled and reversed on a software level. Sucks for the kid though. Burnout Legends in your pocket? Not so great.

By: pax digita

pax digita — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:06:18 -0800

A teacher at the school managed to separate the boy from his gaming system, after which a lockdown was instituted at the school to facilitate emergency personnel reaching the injured young man, whose burns were treated on school grounds before being transported to a local hospital. [emphasis mine] Back in the '70s we joked that school was "prison" but we didn't have lockdowns. Hell widdat.

By: nzero

nzero — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:44:42 -0800

Pandora's battery can be enabled and reversed on a software level. ...which isn't what we were discussing. We were talking about the hardware hack which could cause a fire. The software version just rewrites the firmware on the battery.

By: Naberius

Naberius — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:20:43 -0800

What the hell is wrong with that second article? Are they actually having the news written by robots now? "A teacher was able to get the player away from the Harold The video game was a Sony PSP. Police said the player overheated and exploded." I mean it's ALL like that, FFS. Okay, I figure Oscar Wilde probably has better things to do than write for Click-On Detroit. Being dead. But still, damn...

By: XMLicious

XMLicious — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:13:24 -0800

There's a party in my pants and they're burning down the house.

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:05:43 -0800

4... 3... 2... 1... i can't feel my spleen my flesh is lime green the pain is extreme it makes me wanna scream (skin graft please, skin graft please) this acid burn is crazy it totally dismays me gotta call up 911 fo'sheezy (skin graft please, skin graft please)

By: metaly

metaly — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:53:15 -0800

This is copied verbatim from Gizmodo. Can we try a little harder with these FPPs?

By: triv

triv — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:46:24 -0800

Hey Buddy? You gotta PSP Lite?

By: Foosnark

Foosnark — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:46:30 -0800

I have a DS Lite in my pants right now.

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:25:42 -0800

A teacher at the school managed to separate the boy from his gaming system. Is this what I have to do to make my son stop playing his DS? Rig it somehow? Please send the link for the hack. /end joke - my son got sick of his DS after the 2nd touchscreen lost calibrationability. Lesson: don't buy kids presents, and do lock them in a basement with nothing but books to read and spiders to chat with. And gruel once a day.

By: Crabby Appleton

Crabby Appleton — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:05:22 -0800

From the second linked story: Ironically, the name of the game that was inside the player was called Burn Out. Does anyone know what the name was?