Let’s get something out of the way: I cannot justify buying Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play. For as much as I love video games, I’m 28. And that seems a bit old to be carrying around a smartphone with its own set of game controls.
But that didn’t stop me from cracking a huge grin when I slid out the Xperia Play’s set of buttons and touch pads for the first time. This Android handset is the mythical “Playstation Phone.” If only it existed 10 or 15 years ago.
For some time, I debated whether Minecraft’s exclusivity with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play gaming phone was a newsworthy event on its own. Don’t get me wrong, I think Minecraft is awesome, but the idea of one platform getting a game before others is not something I’d usually write about here.
Except, this particular timed exclusivity applies to smartphones. That’s something.
The Xperia Play has been Sony Ericsson’s worst-kept secret since the PSP Go. The first rumors popped up in August, and photos and videos followed in December. Engadget got its hands on the Xperia Play before Sony Ericsson even acknowledged the phone’s existence.
But until this week’s official announcement, Sony Ericsson has managed to keep a lid on the most important aspect of all: the games that the Xperia Play will support. At launch, there will be 50 of them, but many won’t come from Sony or even fall under the Playstation brand. Instead, publishers such as Gameloft and Electronic Arts are retooling some of their existing Android games to work with the Xperia Play’s slide-out set of buttons and thumb pads. That was unexpected.
Engadget has a thorough walkthrough of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (a.k.a. the Playstation Phone), but the big questions remain unanswered: What games will it run, and how closely-connected will it be to Sony’s other game consoles?
Until seeing the Xperia Arc up close, I’ d never been excited about a Sony Ericsson phone. (I’d describe my mood about the rumored Playstation Phone as cautiously optimistic.)
To my surprise, the Xperia Arc was impressive in both hardware and software. It’s as if Sony took the missteps of the Xperia X10 — outdated Android, unremarkable specs — and learned.
Among our twenty-five Last Gadget Standing semi-finalists are two Bluetooth-enabled phone accessories which–whatever you think of them–aren’t the same ol’ same ol’.
Sony Ericsson’s $85 LiveView is a tiny screen that shows incoming calls, Facebook updates, song titles, and other information, so you can see what’s up without taking your phone out of your pocket. And the $29.95 Bringrr is a little dongle for your cigarette lighter that has one purpose: It sounds an alarm and flashes a light if you get in your car and don’t have your phone with you.
Your opinion first:
The folks at Engadget continue to get the scoop on Sony Ericsson’s rumored Playstation Phone. This time, they found a pair of YouTube videos showing a little bit of the device in action.
And so far, it’s promising in its simplicity. Rather than gum up the works with Sony’s Xperia operating system, the phone is running stock Android, supposedly version 2.3. Playstation games are accessed through a Playstation app.
Hopefully, it stays this way. I don’t think Sony needs to heavily modify Android to make a good gaming phone, as long as the games are easily accessible and on par with Sony’s PSP handheld. Like the Xbox Live app on Windows Phone 7, a standalone app could help act as a unifying hub for the Playstation Network.
Last Gadget Standing Nominee: Sony Ericsson LiveView micro display
Price: About $85
Everyone likes Android phones with humongous screens, right? Sony Ericsson is betting that some folks who own those phones would like to keep them in their pocket or purse and control them with the LiveView, a tiny squarish display that can communicate with several of the company’s Xperia handsets via Bluetooth. It can display information such as incoming calls, Facebook and Twitter updates, and “now playing” details on music, and you can wear it on a clip, fasten it to your keychain, or even strap it on like a wristwatch.
The LiveView automatically scans your Xperia phone for compatible applications, and will be available in “selected markets” by the end of this year.
Sony Ericsson’s Playstation Phone is looking pretty real in photos posted by Engadget. Josh Topolsky’s not saying how he got the photos, or whether he’s actually seen the device, but he assures that it’s an authentic prototype, with the final product potentially coming this year, or more likely in 2011.
As previously rumored, the Playstation Phone is an Android handset with game controls that slide out from the bottom side, kind of like the PSP Go. There’s a directional pad, face buttons and shoulder bumpers, plus a multi-touch track pad, which I’m guessing will act in place of analog thumbsticks. Specs include a 1 GHz Qualcomm processor, 512 MB of RAM, 1 GB of ROM, and a screen size of 3.7 to 4.1 inches.
The hardware looks pretty good, but hardware isn’t what will make or break the Playstation Phone. Software will be crucial, and we still don’t know much on that front.
The folks at Sony Ericsson had a novel idea, according to Engadget’s tipsters: Build a smartphone running Android 3.0, add a sliding set of game controls instead of a physical keyboard, open a section of the Android Market specifically for this phone’s games, and put the weight of Sony’s Playstation brand behind it. And just like that, the PSP Phone has its most credible rumor yet.
Engadget’s Josh Topolsky says Sony Ericsson’s gaming phone could arrive as early as October, which means we’ve got a few months to speculate wildly on the missing details (the image here is just a mockup). Here’s what I would like to see in the fabled Playstation phone:
