Thousands of PlayStation Vitas are clogging New York City’s sewer system and the problem will only get worst

The city of New York has sent letters to 20 million of its residents and businesses pleading with PS-Vita owners to not discard the portable game system by flushing them in their toilets.

The game console released by Sony only a few years ago has steadily lost popularity to other mobile gaming devices such as mobile phones and Nintendo’s popular 3DS game console.  The suspicion from inspectors of New York’s Waste Water Management Department is that owners are now bored with the console and are simply flushing them to get rid of them.

“It’s a major problem,” explains Randy Koeffeghreinder, a superintendent of a large apartment building.  “In the past month alone we’ve had to call plumbers three times to clear our pipes, and each time the culprit was these damn video games.”

Unlike human waste and toilet paper that is bio-degradable PS-Vitas will not dissolve, break apart, or simply disappear once they are deposited into the sewer system – if they even make it that far.  There are some estimates that for every Vita that makes it into a main sewer artery there are at least 20 more that are currently jammed in pipes or in filter grates.  This causes backups forcing raw sewage to spill into people’s homes, into the streets, and other places.

But not everyone is worried about the calamity.  A Manhattan plumber contacted the Gaming Free Press and explained that business is booming because repairs are frequent and expensive.