Sony Ericsson’s announcement of the Xperia Play was met with both bewilderment and intrigue; could Sony’s solid, established strategy in gaming really be applied to mobile, and if so, is slapping some familiar hardware controls on the back of the Xperia Arc the best way to do that? Sure, Sony has had plenty of experience making portable gaming devices like the PSP Go, but Sony Ericsson is still very much a separate entity from the PlayStation family. The only other player in a remotely similar situation is Microsoft, who is trying to push a whole mobile OS to take advantage of the Xbox 360. Nintendo is having none of it, leaving it a two-horse race between the established video game pros. The only real x-factor is Apple, who has done a great job at popularizing mobile apps, games being the most used among them. iOS 4 even introduced an Xbox Live-style achievement and social network called Game Center. However, despite making a gold mine for old and new game developers alike, portable gaming had still been existing in its own bubble for some time.
Now that we’re starting to see some crossover between the two industries, interesting new takes on smartphone like the Xperia Play doesn’t seem so crazy. Though it’s a new mash-up, it’s still heavily steeped in the established Android world. There are a lot of questions to be answered, namely will hardcore gamers default to the Play, or still opt for a dedicated portable gaming console? Will more casual gamers not be interested in the added bulk provided by a dedicated slide-out controller? Hit the jump and find out!
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Available soon for $99.99 on a three-year contract from Rogers, $199.99 on a two-year contract from Verizon
Specifications (Spec-sheet)
1 GHz Snapdragon processor- 512 MB RAM
- 4-inch FWVGA display (854 x 480)
- 5-megapixel camera with LED flash
- 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera
- 8 GB microSD card preloaded
- Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Timescape and Sony Ericsson customizations
- HSPA 3G
- Wi-Fi b/g/n with mobile hotspot and DLNA support
- Bluetooth
- GPS
The Good
- Tasteful, simple, useful software customizations
- Great games with high replay value
- Wide selection of apps
The Bad
- Added thickness and new controls feel awkward for smartphone
- Games eat up a lot of battery life
- Joysticks awkward to use
- Mediocre camera quality
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