At their big press conference at the Mobile World Congress currently taking place in Barcelona, Sony Ericsson have officially detailed the ‘PlayStation Certified’ Xperia Play phone for the first time, following its announcement during last weekend’s Superbowl.
Describing the device as “the perfect combination of communication and entertainment”, the company confirmed most of what we already expected from the non-stop train of rumours over the past couple of years. The Xperia Play runs Android 2.3 (or Gingerbread), has dual ‘touch pads’ (which are basically virtualised analog sticks), and will start shipping in March (in the US at least, on Verizon).
Whilst it was confirmed that the Xperia Play will launch with a “legendary” PSone Classic on board, details about the Store and Suite’s arrival were a little sketchy, with the only window given a vague “later this year”. What is also unclear is whether the Play will run all previously-released Classics, or if they will have to be repackaged for the phone, and thus trickle out over time. In addition, there were mumblings of games being “enhanced” for playing on the Xperia – this could mean existing PSP content, or existing mobile phone games – and “exclusive” pre-loaded titles, which sounds like they might not be available to other Suite devices like the NGP. We’ll contact SE for confirmation on some of these loose ends.
What we do know is that big mobile studios like EA, Gameloft and Glu (as well as Digital Chocolate, Digital Legends, Fish Labs and Trendy, all of whom were mentioned in the presentation) are on board for the new console, with Dungeon Defenders, Reckless Racing, Assassin’s Creed, Dead Space and – brilliantly – Guitar Hero all confirmed to make an appearance. Expect more details on the UK and European launches over the next few weeks.
Source: Engadget.
aerobes
Would you guys (or the writer … Josh) recommend this? My Motorola Milestone has just given up the ghost so I’m in need of a new unit. iphone is obviously pretty but my buddy, Hannes, recommended the Samsung Galaxy S. I’d like to stay with Android …
dnlgee
The specs aren’t too great, there should be some cracking phones announced in the next day or two with dual-core snapdragons, or the GalaS2 with dual-core hummingbird. This phone is decent, don’t get me wrong, if you want the dedicated controls, go with it.
colmshan1990
I wouldn’t go for the Galaxy S, especially as Samsung just announced the Galaxy S II.
mynameisblair
Why does it have boob-shaped touch pads?
dnlgee
Perfect to tweak the nips!
Dange
Hmmm, interested but got another year left on my current contract.
By then I’ll more than likely have the PSP2 and some new phone will be out that’s taken my fancy.
dnlgee
I’m in the same boat, although not exactly a year. I’m quite liking the look of the DesireHD2, if the rumors are correct it’s going to be a nice bit of kit. Also the PSP2 = an expensive year.
englishgolfer
over on the swedish website for sony ericsson it says it will be released (here in sweden at least) in 3 months time.
tonycawley
I’ve only just got the desire hd and have to say I’m absolutely living it. I could’ve waited for this as I knew it was imminent but really wanted desire hd. Spec of this isn’t as good either I’m just wondering whether the release of this will make developers lean more towards Android now than ios?
Bodachi
Cool little phone but I already carry my PSP around with me I don’t wanna carry two.
gazzagb
Looks good, but expensive.
Rob92
Loved the look of it from that video, graphics werent as bad as I thought and it was promising to see more than PS1 classics.
However the fact that the Suite doesnt even have a confirmed date for games surely misses the point.
Either way, I wont be getting (I love my blackberry and androidy stuff confuses me) but I hope its a success.
dnlgee
@colmshan1990 Yeah mate, that’s what I was saying with ‘GalaS2’ =) Thought it would have had better specs personally though.
October91
is it only verizon? really? thts why im with iphone