Tonight at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Sony Ericsson has finally unveiled the Xperia Play – colloquially known as the ‘PlayStation phone’ after months of leaks and rumours online.
Sony Ericsson gave a teaser of the Android-based device with a commercial during the Super Bowl broadcast last weekend, a rather creepy affair that saw a grimy backstreet surgeon attach human thumbs to one of Google’s green robot mascots.
Investing millions of dollars in one of America’s most popular TV broadcasts is just one indication of how much Sony Ericsson has riding on this phone.
After a brief play with an unfinished prototype of the latest Xperia, I’d say that Sony Ericsson has come up with a really distinctive device that will have an instant recognition factor for millions of PlayStation fans.
The slide-out panel features a controller with the familiar four action buttons and joypad, with a small logo marking it as the first “PlayStation-certified” phone. It also has a pair of touch-sensitive discs which replicate the analogue joysticks found on full-sized PlayStation consoles, and ‘shoulder’ buttons for the forefingers, lending an authentic game-controller feel.
My concern, however, is just how much PlayStation software will be there to back up the hardware.
At first glance, the Xperia Play looks much like any modern Android smartphone, encased in shiny black plastic.
Running the latest Gingerbread iteration of Android, v2.3, it has all the standard Google services, with a sprinkling of Sony Ericsson’s own “Timescape” visual interface for extra social-networking smarts. Four slim buttons at the base of the screen provide shortcuts for back, home, menu or search. There’s a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a smaller one on the front for video calls.
The 4-inch multi-touch screen is sharp, leaning on that other Sony asset, the Bravia display. Under the hood are an Arm-based 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm and an Adreno graphics processor pumping out 60 frames per second. Battery life is claimed to be more than five hours of continuous gameplay, or eight hours of talk time.
Slide out the game pad, and the screen rotates to reveal the device’s gaming focus. Launch titles will include EA’s Need for Speed and Sims 3, Gameloft’s Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell and popular mobile titles such as Reckless Racing. Some titles also offer multiplayer over both local and mobile networks, including EA’s Fifa football and Racer, a port of a PC driving game.
The driving games in particular are worlds easier to play with a proper controller than on my iPhone’s touchscreen. Angry Birds wouldn’t be revolutionised by it but for those looking for a gaming device that’s for more than just passing the time between stops on the commute to work, the Play is well worth considering. Playing for an extended period may get to feel a little cramped, due to the smaller button layout, but then I found that was the case on the original PlayStation Portable anyway.
However, at launch, there won’t be much overlap with the PSP on the software side. Sony’s own PlayStation Suite initiative – which is expected to bring its titles to the mobile through a “PlayStation Pocket” store – is not coming out until later this year, leaving Sony Ericsson somewhat in the lurch for this Mobile World Congress unveiling.
The only PlayStation games available at launch are emulated PlayStation One titles such as Crash Bandicoot – a bit of a disappointment given these games are 15-years-old and the PSP landed with a raft of PS2 conversions. Similarly, there isn’t much tie-in to the PS3 at this stage, beyond the usual Android apps.
But on the plus side, Sony Ericsson says that publishers are keen to create special Android titles for its device, and a dedicated Android storefront will be available for such games.
Ten years after the formation of the Sony Ericsson joint venture, it’s great to finally see the PlayStation brand coming to its phones and there is plenty to recommend in this device. But when it is released next month, gamer fans may feel parts of the PlayStation experience are missing – at least until Sony reveals its full suite later in the year.
