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[plainr_]

This would be so awesome with emulators.

 

[Celine]

This phone reminds me of the Nokia Ngage. Hopefully this will be alot more successful.

NGage launched with a legendary saturn PS1 game too !

 

[Shanlei91]

ignore that guy. Verizon and Sprint are CDMA in the US. they don't even use sim cards. AT&T and Tmobile are GSM, but their 3G radio technologies are completely incompatible- have fun downloading and playing games restricted to EDGE (sub 3g) speeds, even if you CAN get an unlocked GSM phone.

hardware wise, the US is NOT like Europe. an unlocked phone is still largely tied to the carrier it was originally intended for.

I thought as much. I don't like the idea of an unlocked phone, as my first iPhone on T-Mobile crashed a lot and had other issues.

It's probably better to switch from AT&T to Verizon and just pay the contract termination fees as opposed to the ridiculous price of buying an unlocked Xperia Play?

 

[Massa]

This phone reminds me of the Nokia Ngage. Hopefully this will be alot more successful.

This phone's platform is Android. It will be as much of a success as a gaming phone as any other high end Android phone.

The difference, of course, is that some games will be able to use traditional controls.

N-gage was a platform, Xperia Play isn't.

 

[Bboy AJ]

Awesome idea. I really want one. But like I've been saying in the OT, the guts of the Play are outdated. I've had that same processor in my Nexus One for over a year now. Give it cutting edge hardware and I'm in.

 

[SolidusDave]

It seems you cannot play content you buy now on the Xperia Play: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6298836.html

"[Xperia Play owners] will have to re-purchase the games, so it's not totally integrated," admitted Vautier, when asked about the ability to transfer purchases.

Seriously, this makes this whole PS integration into other devices and one "combined" network for all Sony devices completely useless.

 

[Lagspike_exe]

There's a game called "Gun Bros"?

Yes and it sucks.

 

[tzare]

this phone seems the perfect alternative to my psp for homebrew/emulator combined with NGP for psp and next gen portable games

 

[Shanlei91]

Seriously, this makes this whole PS integration into other devices and one "combined" network for all Sony devices completely useless.

Ya, that can't be right. They advertised a cross-compatibility with Playstation Store content and other devices. Qriocity even lists "other devices" along with PSP and PS3 in regards to where the account is tied. Having to re-purchase PSOne and Mini titles would be the stupidest thing they could possibly do.

 

[spwolf]

Ya, that can't be right. They advertised a cross-compatibility with Playstation Store content and other devices. Qriocity even lists "other devices" along with PSP and PS3 in regards to where the account is tied. Having to re-purchase PSOne and Mini titles would be the stupidest thing they could possibly do.

there will be no PS Suite for Android until end of the year, so there is no way you will be able to transfer PSN games to Android Marketplace.

It is an bonus feature anyway, it is not like you can buy some other phone that will transfer your purchased PS1 games for free.

 

[Shanlei91]

there will be no PS Suite for Android until end of the year, so there is no way you will be able to transfer PSN games to Android Marketplace.

It is an bonus feature anyway, it is not like you can buy some other phone that will transfer your purchased PS1 games for free.

So PS-Suite is going to be what synchronizes the Playstation store to it? That makes more sense but it does seem like a bit of a shot in the foot. Introduce a device, advertise it as playing Playstation games, then not have the PS-Store titles available at release. People will end up using it for just emulation.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

aaand boom goes the dynamite.

They better fix this. If they want me to have any interest in PS suite, I better be able to transfer my already purchased PS1 games over to any PS suite device!

 

[Gamecocks625]

It's like Sony or SE is saying:

"Hey consumers! We have a great idea and a little something out of our usual business model to really go after the mobile market. HOWEVER, we're going to shoot ourselves in the foot in a few key areas to make sure this thing is never really a resounding success!"

 

[spwolf]

It's like Sony or SE is saying:

"Hey consumers! We have a great idea and a little something out of our usual business model to really go after the mobile market. HOWEVER, we're going to shoot ourselves in the foot in a few key areas to make sure this thing is never really a resounding success!"

no, it is like SE not wanting to wait for it half a year while hardware is ready... Afterall, Xperia Play is best gaming phone you can buy in March 2011, why the hell would they wait for 9 months? Once PS Suite is out, it will be even better...

For instance, i am looking to buy new Android phone next... if this gets carried by my carrier, i will probably get it as it is good phone and media device to start with, and the fact it has proper games and controls is only an plus.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

this will be a fragmented niche market.

developers will need to optimize for this control layout. and honestly, whats more likely? developers will focus on the larger touch-based machines (ipad, android touch-only devices, tablets, iphone, etc) or take time to make games for this?

it's also backwards-thinking. we've moved on. and while i dont think touch is the pure future of gaming or even superior to tactile controls, i know shoving a controller into the device isn't the answer. especially given how fragmented android is already, this is just compounding the issue.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Introduce a device, advertise it as playing Playstation games, then not have the PS-Store titles available at release.

I have to agree, this is ludicrous.

 

[Takao]

this will be a fragmented niche market.

developers will need to optimize for this control layout. and honestly, whats more likely? developers will focus on the larger touch-based machines (ipad, android touch-only devices, tablets, iphone, etc) or take time to make games for this?

it's also backwards-thinking. we've moved on. and while i dont think touch is the pure future of gaming or even superior to tactile controls, i know shoving a controller into the device isn't the answer. especially given how fragmented android is already, this is just compounding the issue.

This isn't fragmenting anything. The control pad options are now in Android's OS. Sony Ericsson is just the first to market a control pad phone. Which is why they're rushing it out as quickly they are, before some else tries to.

 

[JWong]

this will be a fragmented niche market.

developers will need to optimize for this control layout. and honestly, whats more likely? developers will focus on the larger touch-based machines (ipad, android touch-only devices, tablets, iphone, etc) or take time to make games for this?

it's also backwards-thinking. we've moved on. and while i dont think touch is the pure future of gaming or even superior to tactile controls, i know shoving a controller into the device isn't the answer. especially given how fragmented android is already, this is just compounding the issue.

Uh, you think it's that hard? A lot of touch based games just mimic traditional controls on the touch screen anyways. Large screen devices are just upscaled controls. That argument is practically irrelevant for development. They don't specifically make controls different for smartphones and tablets.

Moved on? That's just Apple telling you how they want it. But we haven't moved on because there's still demand for traditional keyboards.

 

[jmdajr]

"[Xperia Play owners] will have to repurchase the games, so it's not totally integrated,"

....

 

[Shanlei91]

it's also backwards-thinking. we've moved on. and while i dont think touch is the pure future of gaming or even superior to tactile controls, i know shoving a controller into the device isn't the answer. especially given how fragmented android is already, this is just compounding the issue.

I still can not play Tetris comfortably on my iPhone. I refuse to accept any control scheme as being the next step for all gaming unless I can play Tetris well on it.

Is it bad that I'm willing to incur a $200+ cancellation fee to play Tetris with buttons? Oh yeah.

 

[KAL2006]

I have heard the PS1 Classics that are bought on PSP/PS3 are not compatible with PS Suite, so you have to re-purchase PS1 games if you want to play them on PS Suite. Is this true. I just thought the compatibility issue was with The launch Xperia Play games (PS Pocket) as they are not PS Suite games.

 

[gofreak]

this will be a fragmented niche market.

developers will need to optimize for this control layout. and honestly, whats more likely? developers will focus on the larger touch-based machines (ipad, android touch-only devices, tablets, iphone, etc) or take time to make games for this?

You're not making games just for this. You're talking about making an alternate control scheme for games where buttons would make sense - which is not a huge deal. Some games are already using virtual buttons and d-pads and stuff - in cases like that you just feed the input from the buttons instead and rip out the screen interface. Quite aside from that, in a Suite context, I highly doubt button support will be mandatory - as Kaz Hirai said himself, for some games the touchscreen alone is sufficient.

This market will indeed be a fragment of the overall Android market, but the question is how big that fragment will be.

Re. the PSN content transfer stuff, I'd like SCE to come out and clarify that. I don't know if I trust SE to communicate this properly - I saw CNN asking Nordberg a similar question about PS3 PSN content and getting a similar answer, but in that context it has nothing to do with PSone games specifically and I wonder if the Gamespot question was took to mean the same thing. I very much hope the PSone side of things is transferable where games are available on Suite.

 

[Takao]

Gameloft's going to be on this shit like flys on poop, they have the following ten titles ready for launch:

Asphalt 6: Adrenaline
Star Battilion
Assasin's Creed
UNO
Let's Golf! 2
Spiderman: Total Mayhem
Modern Combat: Black Pegasus
Real Football 2011
Brothers in Arms 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction

Apparently the first two may be pack-ins.

 

[cyclenut]

A for effort sony, but no thanks.

 

[CurlySaysX]

engadget said crash bandicoot would be packed in. Day one if true.
I hope they get Loaded on the ps suite when it launches.

 

[Sipowicz]

a bit underwhelming after the PSP 2

one thing i don't understand is why this is getting such good EA support while the NGP and 3DS are getting nothing. is it just the same old incompetence from john riccitellio?

 

[Takao]

a bit underwhelming after the PSP 2

one thing i don't understand is why this is getting such good EA support while the NGP and 3DS are getting nothing. is it just the same old incompetence from john riccitellio?

Eh, these are ports of the iOS offerings, and the FIFA game itself is an older game. EA will be there for NGP, but admitedly their 3DS offerings are quite sketchy.

 

[yurinka]

this will be a fragmented niche market.

developers will need to optimize for this control layout. and honestly, whats more likely? developers will focus on the larger touch-based machines (ipad, android touch-only devices, tablets, iphone, etc) or take time to make games for this?

it's also backwards-thinking. we've moved on. and while i dont think touch is the pure future of gaming or even superior to tactile controls, i know shoving a controller into the device isn't the answer. especially given how fragmented android is already, this is just compounding the issue.

No.

You'll see in Xperia Play the same games from the major mobile phone gaming publishers that you see in the other mobile phones.

Mobile phone developers are used to have buttons and pads in mobile phones, even they where crappy ones in all of the previous phones until a year or two ago. Games are ready for these controls before starting the port.

We (the mobile phone game developers announced to support the device since day 1) are also used to have contols using motion sensor and touchscreens too, because a ton of mobile phones are also using them since a shit ton years ago (yes, before the DS was released).

We developed hundreds of games for thousands of handsets, all designed to be scalable from the oldest crapbox to the newest high-end device. It's just another handset more. And it is running Android, nothing new.

The only thing more or less special that will need some programming is the trackpad for the analogs. So to port an existing game for this handset maybe will need a coder working 1 hour. If we want, we can port all our recent library in few months (not gonna happen to avoid market saturation).

With touchscreen you hide part of the action, enemies etc with in-screen buttons and with your fingers. Often you click outside the in-screen pad or buttons because you don't have tactile feedback. It's a nightmare for console-like mobile phone games. It only work properly for touchscreen designed games and genres.

I work in one of the mobile phone gaming companies announced to support the device, and have like a dozen of top selling, award winning titles mobile phone games in my CV. We support every handset like the other major mobile phone game publishers, so I suppoused we were going to support this one. But now the mobile phone games are developed by other of our studios (now we make Facebook games too) so I didn't know we were working on the phone until I saw the commercial.

Android needs a proper game store like the iOS devices, and Sony needs mobile phone games library for the PSP2 and future devices (I would say PS Tablet, TVs and others to support PSN). Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play and PlayStation Suite will be the bridge. It would work.

a bit underwhelming after the PSP 2

one thing i don't understand is why this is getting such good EA support while the NGP and 3DS are getting nothing. is it just the same old incompetence from john riccitellio?

EA supports everything until it proves it doesn't sell. Make sure both NGP and 3DS will get EA support. Maybe this time they are just waiting to see how their market reacts to NGP and 3DS before announcing stuff.

 

[Takao]

[Cross post from the Xperia Play price thread which speculates that based on contest prize value, the phone may be $400/499 euros]

Here's the official SE website for the phone. It takes some jabs at the tech press for the "PlayStation Phone" moniker.

Apparently it will come with at least 5 free games alongside Crash Bandicoot:

FIFA 10

Trying to play FIFA on a touch screen has always been a challenge. Now thanks to what is basically a Sony PlayStation controller under your phone shooting, passing and scoring goals is a lot easier. We can really see this and similar games becoming a massive success.

Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior

It’s your classic fighting game that sees you play as Bruce Lee taking on 10 other fighters in “Tournament fights” to prove you really are the best in the world. There are Arcade, Survival, Time Attack and Training modes as well that let you dip in and out of the game play depending on how much time you have. Of course having the buttons makes a huge difference when it comes to pulling off those super combo attack moves.

Star Battalion

Fantastic graphics take top billing here as you command a spaceship around distant planets blasting anything you see in the sky that you don’t really like. There is a storyline of course, but that’s not the point. Do the buttons help? Of course they do, letting you pilot and blast your way out of trouble with ease.

Asphalt 6

Load up the game, press down on the X button and away you go. No fingers getting in the way, no having to wave your phone around like it’s a steering wheel making you look like an idiot on the train, just lazy gaming as you accelerate at 80mph around a city course.

The Sims 3

One for those with a god complex or maybe just a love of playing with dolls houses. The extra keys don’t make masses of difference but do make it easier in the long run letting you quickly get around your house.

Source

 

[Thrakier]

Haha, it's kinda funny how they promote "buttons". Like it's the newest innovation on the market. ;D

Don't get me wrong, I love BOTTONS but this one is hilarious. ;D

 

[CurlySaysX]

$600 Europeans isn't too bad. Cheaper than the Xperia X10.

 

[dream]

Load up the game, press down on the X button and away you go. No fingers getting in the way, no having to wave your phone around like it’s a steering wheel making you look like an idiot on the train, just lazy gaming as you accelerate at 80mph around a city course.

I can't think of a way to articulate how much I hate that term.

 

[Massa]

Here's the official SE website for the phone. It takes some jabs at the tech press for the "PlayStation Phone" moniker.

I didn't take that as a jab at the tech press.

Bloggers call it the PlayStation phone. We call it Xperia™ PLAY

To me that reads like "We wanted to call it the Playstation Phone. Sony wouldn't let us, so we call it Xperia™ PLAY."

I'd even bet that they leaked this thing ahead of time so the press would promote it as "Playstation phone".

 

[blitz64]

i hope the 6 games it comes with have some online play. or there are some games that I can buy that will have online play. I don't like single player games that much.

 

[Takao]

i hope the 6 games it comes with have some online play. or there are some games that I can buy that will have online play. I don't like single player games that much.

Fifa 10, Asphalt 6, and Star Battalion all have online and local multiplayer confirmed.

 

[Takao]

The white one looks so good.

 

[Lazy8s]

Considering the selling point is the physical controller, the pad should've at least been based on a good design.

Oh well... it's only the first, mini-Xenos GPU powered version. The late-2012/early-2013 A9600 powered Xperia Play with 200+ GFLOP, 350M tri/sec, 5G tex/sec real-world performance GPU will hopefully have an improved controller.

 

[blitz64]

For the USA version. we will get StarBattalion, Asphalt6, TheSims, Tetris, and BruceLee.
So we don't get fifa like the UK but we get Tetris.

I love Tetris!! Hope it has online multiplayer.

Source: http://twitter.com/sonyericssonNA