Sony has responded to serious allegations leveled by UK BBC show Watchdog. An episode of the consumer complaints program airs tonight, claiming that the PS3 has a huge hardware malfunction problem, an accusation that Sony has refuted in a six-page letter to the BBC.

"From correspondence to date, I have serious concerns as to the accuracy of these allegations and the likely tone of the Watchdog report," argues Sony. "The information that you have provided suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the technical issues and a mis-characterisation of SCEUK’s OOW repairs policy.

"We entirely refute the suggestion that PS3 consoles have an inherent defect or other design issue which is akin to any warranty issue experienced by another console manufacturer. SCEUK has sold 2.5 million consoles in the UK since March 2007 and stands by the quality of its products. Clearly the allegations you propose to air in your program might have the potential to adversely effect Sony Computer Entertainment’s reputation for supplying high quality products and customer service and we take very seriously any issues that can impact the public’s or our customers’ confidence in those products."

Sounds like Sony is going to get brutalized tonight. Perhaps the show's creators mistook the PS3 for the Xbox 360. Either that or they're filthy biased Microsoft fanboys. All I know is that I'm on my fourth 360 and my first PS3 still purrs like a pussycat. What about you guys?