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Rumor: PS Phone to be called 'Xperia Play'. To hit shops in April [Update Post 108]

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
gofreak said:
Kaz Hirai talking about it. And some bits on PSP2 I guess, but nothing too revelatory there.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/clues-about-the-next-playstation-portable/



Might I humbly suggest, Mr. Hirai, that your current strategy appears to hold more potential for confusion than the alternatives. A phone version of the PSP2 - *cough* - for example, would be a much simpler and less confusing proposition than a device that sort-of, kind-of looks like a PSP but doesn't play PSP or 'Playstation' games. Not allowing SE access to the 'real' Playstation goods is a very naive way to try and keep Playstation product's strengths intact, it's an artificial divide that needn't be there. Stringer really needs to get them in the same room and knock their heads together a little harder.

Anyway, PSP2-ish stuff, but nothing we didn't already know:
Well, there goes the integration of the Sony different branches.
 
Hirai, from that NYT post:

‘‘The games being played on Android and Apple platforms are fundamentally different from the world of immersive games that Sony Computer Entertainment, and PlayStation aims for,’’ Mr. Hirai said. The kinds of gamers who enjoy more intense games, he said, would remain Sony’s fan base.

This is what I've been saying. Sony want to demarcate clear difference between casual phone gaming and 'Playstation gaming'. That's why there's no Playstation Phone per se, only a Playstation app... which, um, doesn't make total sense to me.

I find it very strange that Sony will often see a significant shift in consumer behaviour and, instead of building a business to anticipate what's coming around the curve, will insist that 'they had it right all along'. Digital music, the early days of PS3/PSN etc. I just don't get what they're trying to protect here.

Edit:

The Wall Street Journal and others have reported that Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson, are developing a smartphone capable of playing simple, downloaded video game titles, including ones from Sony’s PlayStation One. Speculation over the release of a PlayStation Phone heated up in October when the technology site, Engadget, released video clips of a prototype phone.

‘‘We don’t want gamers to be asking, what’s the difference between that and a PSP,’’ Mr. Hirai said. ‘‘We have to come up with a message that users will understand. It would have to be a product that keeps the PlayStation’s strengths intact.’’

So yeah, that roughly explains the reasoning behind this.
 

PSGames

Junior Member
Gofreak I'd reckon this won't be PSP2 compatible because the battery-life would be atrocious. This is probably the best route they could take. Capitalize on their internal developers to created Android games exclusive to their phones, use their PSP experience to design the controls and also keep the phone sleek and light enough to appeal to the smartphone market.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
PSGames said:
Gofreak I'd reckon this won't be PSP2 compatible because the battery-life would be atrocious. This is probably the best route they could take. Capitalize on their internal developers to created Android games exclusive to their phones, use their PSP experience to design the controls and also keep the phone sleek and light enough to appeal to the smartphone market.

I reckon it won't be either, I'm just saying what the strategy should (I think) be. He's kidding himself if he thinks it would be less confusing to have two similar looking classes of device that play different software.
 

Takao

Banned
Some Japanese news paper says they believe it'll hit this Spring as well:

Still unofficial, the PlayStation Phone will be released next spring, reports Japanese newspaper the Asahi Shimbun.

According to the report, the Sony Ericsson-developed phone could go on sale first in the U.S. and Europe and be based on the PSPgo and use slide-out PSPgo-style gaming controls. However, instead of analog thumb nubs, there is apparently a touch-sensitive tracking pad. UMD and Memory Sticks seem to be eliminated, too.

Sony Computer Entertainment did not offer a comment to Bloomberg regarding this story.

As previously noted, the PlayStation Phone is rumored to be based on Google's Android 3.0 platform and sport a "custom Sony Marketplace which will allow you to purchase and download games designed for the new platform."

The Sony Ericsson phone is also reported to pack in 1GHz Qualcomm CPU, 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and a screen "in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches."

And if it's real, it could be out in the West as early as next Spring.

Source (it's loltaku, so be afraid)
 

xtop

Member
wasn't sure which thread to post this in :/

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/04/sonys-playstation-phone-xperia-play-caught-hanging-out-with-a/

psp04.jpg

psp06.jpg
 
Oh, nice. The poster of the pictures takes a photo of the device, but not of the playstation app itself. Way to go :lol

Still, it's interesting to see that they have the playstation branding on the device (outside of the playstation buttons). The device itself looks a lot nicer than it did before though.

Still doomed to be DOA though I reckon.
 
That actually looks really cool. Glad it carries only the subtle PlayStation branding. Hopefully we can drop that "OMG PlayStation Phone moniker".

Kinda tempted.
 

Elios83

Member
Nuclear Muffin said:
Oh, nice. The poster of the pictures takes a photo of the device, but not of the playstation app itself. Way to go :lol

Still, it's interesting to see that they have the playstation branding on the device (outside of the playstation buttons). The device itself looks a lot nicer than it did before though.

Still doomed to be DOA though I reckon.


More like the Playstation controls branding.
Btw I received a Xperia X10 Mini for Xstmas as a gift and it's such a great smartphone. I didn't even know that Sony Ericsson made such high quality devices :lol

Still if this Xperia Play won't be compatible with the Playstation Store, Minis and Psone Classics it will be wasted.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Elios83 said:
More like the Playstation controls branding.

Same difference, really. Sony uses this symbol combination across a range of stuff (e.g the Playstation Store) - it's unmistakably 'Playstation'.

Still would like to know what content it's intended to play. The original forum posts are here but they're not loading for me. I wonder if any of our other Chinese ambassadors could go over there and ask questions :lol
 

ezekial45

Banned
Ok, i haven't really been following this too well.

So there are TWO new PSP products that Sony is developing? A phone and an actual successor to the PSP?
 
gofreak said:
Same difference, really. Sony uses this symbol combination across a range of stuff (e.g the Playstation Store) - it's unmistakably 'Playstation'.

Still would like to know what content it's intended to play. The original forum posts are here but they're not loading for me. I wonder if any of our other Chinese ambassadors could go over there and ask questions :lol

The forum is loading for me. Problem is that I don't know a lick of Chinese :lol

Ok, i haven't really been following this too well.

So there are TWO new PSP products that Sony is developing? A phone and an actual successor to the PSP?

Yes. The phone however seems to have nothing to do with SCE though outside of general support. It will be able to play android apps and special games designed for the device (it almost certainly will not be able to play PSP games but it might be able to play PS1)
 

duckroll

Member
gofreak said:
Same difference, really. Sony uses this symbol combination across a range of stuff (e.g the Playstation Store) - it's unmistakably 'Playstation'.

No, it's not the "same difference" at all. Sony has very specific logos for marketing what is specifically part of the Playstation branding. Not having Playstation anywhere on the phone, and not having the traditional Playstation logo on the product, makes it very clear that it is not directly associated with the Playstation brand. I don't see how they use the symbol combination across a "range of stuff" either, when the ONLY other place this specific icon appears is on the Playstation Store bag logo.

Sony is clearly not letting Sony Ericsson have access to specifically branding the phone as a Playstation product.

ezekial45 said:
Ok, i haven't really been following this too well.

So there are TWO new PSP products that Sony is developing? A phone and an actual successor to the PSP?

"Sony" is not developing this. This is a new Android phone by Sony Ericsson. They are not related to Sony Computer Entertainment in any way.
 
ezekial45 said:
Ok, i haven't really been following this too well.

So there are TWO new PSP products that Sony is developing? A phone and an actual successor to the PSP?

Yes. Do note that Sony Ericsson works completely separately and Sony Computer Entertainment works completely separately, similar to how Sony Pictures works separately. They might be under one brand name but they are entirely different divisions.

Last I checked, SCE and Ericsson had issues on who will have more creative control over the device, thus PSP2 and this is separate (and the reason why this isn't called PSP).

I'm sure the slogan would be "Powered by Playstation" i.e. "Xperia Play: Powered by Playstation". PAY ME MONEY, SONY FOR MY SLOGAN IS BETTER THAN YOURS!
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
duckroll said:
No, it's not the "same difference" at all. Sony has very specific logos for marketing what is specifically part of the Playstation branding. Not having Playstation anywhere on the phone, and not having the traditional Playstation logo on the product, makes it very clear that it is not directly associated with the Playstation brand. I don't see how they use the symbol combination across a "range of stuff" either, when the ONLY other place this specific icon appears is on the Playstation Store bag logo.

I'm sure they have their very strict rules about how the brand is to be handled, but no, I don't think it will make much difference to people's association of the product as 'a playstation phone' when they slide out a iconic playstation control set and tap the explicitly named 'Playstation' app on their phone :lol If Sony wants to avoid customer confusion - to somehow say 'this isn't a playstation product' - they've failed.
 
ezekial45 said:
So there are TWO new PSP products that Sony is developing? A phone and an actual successor to the PSP?

This is not a PSP. It's not called "PSP," it doesn't play PSP software, and it's not market positioned in a way comparable to the PSP.
 

Elios83

Member
gofreak said:
Same difference, really. Sony uses this symbol combination across a range of stuff (e.g the Playstation Store) - it's unmistakably 'Playstation'.

I won't bet on it but on the contrary I see the fact that there's only a Playstation controls symbols (which is used on the Playstation Store too) in the inner side of the phone instead of this on the front:

tasto_ps.jpg


as a clear marketing hint. The phone is a Xperia Android phone compatible with Playstation controls and probably Playstation Store:

playstation-store_icon.jpg


which seems to fit with the recent Hirai comments who doesn't think that Android phones are meant or capable to run the full Playstation experience. My doubt at this point is if they bothered with Minis and Psone games compatibility.
 

kenta

Has no PEINS
It looks like Sony has been wise to deny Ericsson the right to use the PlayStation brand for a phone for all these years. They'll probably regret doing this not long after it ships
 
It is a little bit confusing but I think the device itself looks pretty cool. I'll be intrigued to see what it actually does.
 

Suzzopher

Member
get2sammyb said:
It is a little bit confusing but I think the device itself looks pretty cool. I'll be intrigued to see what it actually does.

I'd imagine, you can send and receive texts as well as make calls :p
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Elios83 said:
I won't bet on it but on the contrary I see the fact that there's only a Playstation controls symbols (which is used on the Playstation Store too) in the inner side of the phone instead of this on the front

There's undoubtedly a distinction, and a deliberate, I'm sure, avoidance to put the Playstation name or its default symbol on the device. And I can totally understand it making all the difference in the world to people like you (or me for that matter, or duckroll etc. etc.) in viewing whether this is a 'real' Playstation device or not. But I do think it risks cheapening the brand - IMO, rather than diluting the brand presence they should have strengthened the product...but that's another argument...

My point is simply I don't think these subtleties will make a button of difference in broader perception of this product. If Sony wanted to disassociate the brand in general, IMO there's too much 'Playstation' on and in the phone to really do that effectively. If they wanted to try and avoid the wider confusing or associating this with 'Playstation', they've done a bad job. This will be the ultimate test of the association going forward - whether it will continue to be AKA 'the Playstation phone'. Tenner bets it will.
 

duckroll

Member
gofreak said:
I'm sure they have their very strict rules about how the brand is to be handled, but no, I don't think it will make much difference to people's association of the product as 'a playstation phone' when they slide out a iconic playstation control set and tap the explicitly named 'Playstation' app on their phone :lol If Sony wants to avoid customer confusion - to somehow say 'this isn't a playstation product' - they've failed.

There is also a Playstation app hitting iOS and all Android phones, so I guess everything is a Playstation Phone soon...
 
I wonder how well those little touch pad "analog" sticks work

Seems neat but I never got why people enjoy playing games on their phone so much. The battery life on my phone is disgusting enough as it is. Hopefully this device encourages more games that hopefully work on a PSP/PSP2 as well
 
duckroll said:
There is also a Playstation app hitting iOS and all Android phones, so I guess everything is a Playstation Phone soon...

This.

For this device to have any success amongst the myriad of android handsets, exclusive access to a game library may have been the catalyst.

To simply attach a Playstation style controller and pretend it's something greater is a grave mistake.
 
duckroll said:
There is also a Playstation app hitting iOS and all Android phones, so I guess everything is a Playstation Phone soon...

The phone does have some playstation branding (the buttons, the symbol in the bottom left corner) and it does actually have a playstation app that runs specialised "Playstation" games.

Certainly, SCE have clearly shown that they don't want to be associated with the device, but there is a definite push by SE to market this as "The Playstation Phone".

If anything, the lack of full on playstation branding (and the fact that this device exists seperate from the PSP2) is a clear sign as to how much Sony is split internally.

They should've really gone the whole hog and make this the PSP 2 (with a phoneless version also being avaliable ALA iPod Touch). As it is, it's doomed to fail and just sends mixed messages to everyone (Lord knows how confused consumers will be if we here on GAF are already this confused :lol)
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
duckroll said:
There is also a Playstation app hitting iOS and all Android phones, so I guess everything is a Playstation Phone soon...

Very different situation. The Playstation app on this device isn't a RSS newsfeed. People will buying games from 'Playstation' and playing 'Playstation' games on this with it.
 

duckroll

Member
gofreak, I think what you're failing to understand, is that Sony really isn't "doing" anything here. We know exactly why this product exists, and it has very little if anything at all to do with Sony Computer Entertainment. Sony Ericsson has been for the last decade desperately trying to get some sort of agreement to take advantage of the more popular Playstation branding to try and make their phone line stronger in branding. SCE has been saying no. This is the best result that SE has gotten thus far in reaching some sort of agreement to take advantage of a tiny part of the Playstation brand.

Sony is not actively trying to say this isn't a Playstation Phone. Because Sony has never said this is a Playstation Phone. Sony has in fact had very little to do with this at all. Sony Ericsson wants to try this, SCE doesn't really care to be part of it. This is the best they could eventually get out of a decade of begging and pleading. That's really all there is to it. Maybe you don't understand how the dynamics between Sony proper (not even SCE here) and Sony Ericsson work, but it's well known that they're very different companies, who are not always interested in mutual benefits.

This is a Sony Ericsson phone, and SCE is not endorsing it in any way. That's just how it is.

gofreak said:
Very different situation. The Playstation app on this device isn't a RSS newsfeed. People will buying games from 'Playstation' and playing 'Playstation' games on this with it.

Until you can actually prove this, I call bullocks.
 

patsu

Member
The Xperia Play phone is consistent with Hirai's vision, but inconsistent with Kutaragi's vision. The latter has an open device centric view, but the former has an open network centric view.

Hirai wants to connect as many devices to the Playstation Network as possible. The XperiaPlay is only an example of their new iOS and Android connectivity. The Xperia keypad is probably for running PSPMinis.

PCs and Playstations can already access Playstation Network Store.

Network Product Services are starting to sell eBooks on iOS and Android on their ReaderStore starting this month. Qriocity music and videos are expected to run on iOS and (some) Android models soon. Bravias and Sony's Blu-ray HT devices will have similar access.

I think if Hirai could, he'd also want AppleTV, Wii and Xboxes to access his Playstation Network also. 8^P
 
I was assuming this "phone" would have access to the PlayStation Store and let you purchase/download/play stuff like God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta and Hot Shots Tennis. Do people think that's not the case?
 

duckroll

Member
get2sammyb said:
I was assuming this "phone" would have access to the PlayStation Store and let you purchase/download/play stuff like God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta and Hot Shots Tennis. Do people think that's not the case?

Yes, I think that is most definitely not the case.
 
shagg_187 said:
I'm sure the slogan would be "Powered by Playstation" i.e. "Xperia Play: Powered by Playstation". PAY ME MONEY, SONY FOR MY SLOGAN IS BETTER THAN YOURS!

Xperia Play: Powered by PlayStation with Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity.

I can already see it.
 
duckroll said:
Yes, I think that is most definitely not the case.

Oh. In which case I'm struggling to see the point. I just assumed all along that this was going to essentially be a PSPgo with a phone slapped on top of it.
 
get2sammyb said:
I was assuming this "phone" would have access to the PlayStation Store and let you purchase/download/play stuff like God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta and Hot Shots Tennis. Do people think that's not the case?

It will have its own exclusive "Playstation" games that are separate from the rest of the Android marketplace, but they won't be PSP games. At least, that was the original rumour (which has proven to be accurate so far)
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
get2sammyb said:
I was assuming this "phone" would have access to the PlayStation Store and let you purchase/download/play stuff like God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta and Hot Shots Tennis. Do people think that's not the case?
I think it will let you download titles like God of War: Betrayal.
 

offshore

Member
So...there's no chance of PSP games working on this and being downloaded from PSN? Seems pretty stupid to me if that is the case.

Phone + PSP games seem like a no-brainer really, especially when the PSP is dead. Having this phone have the ability to download PSP games would be a great way to invigorate PSP game sales again.

As someone who's never owned a PSP, I'd absolutely download PSP games to play on this phone.
 
The hardware looks nice but I am extremely sceptical regarding Sony-Ericsson's ability to execute this idea in a way that will do justice to the brand and actually establish a serious platform. Their best bet is to effectively license this new PlayStation platform to other manufacturers and try to get the games onto as many handsets as possible. Depending on how it's implemented, it appears that the PlayStation aspect of this amounts to some kind of software layer running on Android. The lack of controls on other hardware could be a problem but that be dealt with. PlayStation phone-only software, if it exists, and it presumably would have to to make use of the controls, would never have a large enough potential userbase to justify large development from just one handset unless there was a major push behind it.

In my opinion, the only way a PlayStation Phone could make a real dent is if it played PSP2 and ideally PSP1 games. That, combined with android functionality, would be a pretty compelling package for anyone looking for a smartphone. Considering the fact that the PSP platform is going very digital makes this a lot easier. Customers could simply log in to the same PSN account across their consoles and phones. That doesn't seem likely, and as such I fully expect this phone to be forgotten pretty quickly. Basically, releasing the product that we want and expect a PlayStation Phone to be requires a level of cohesion and communication across it's disparate divisions that Sony has consistently shown itself unwilling or unable to achieve.
 
duckroll said:
When was this announced? :p

This was part of the original Engadget report (which has so far proven to be accurate)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/26/the-playstation-phone/

As we reported back in August, the device you see is headed into the market soon, likely boasting Android 3.0 (aka Gingerbread), along with a custom Sony Marketplace which will allow you to purchase and download games designed for the new platform

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/11/exclusive-sony-ericsson-to-introduce-android-3-0-gaming-platfor/

On the software side, it looks like the device will be running Gingerbread (Android 3.0) with a phone-specific skin, and there will be a new area of the Android Market specifically for the games. That content will be initially accessible only by the halo device, but from the sounds of things, these titles might be made available to other Android phones if their specs and button layouts meet requirements. Games will be graphically in the range of PSX or PSP games, meaning true 3D gaming is headed to Android. Titles currently being shown off seem to be focused around some older PSX as well as new PSP offerings, with God of War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and LittleBigPlanet possibly on tap, and future plans for titles which incorporate augmented reality features.
 

patsu

Member
get2sammyb said:
I was assuming this "phone" would have access to the PlayStation Store and let you purchase/download/play stuff like God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta and Hot Shots Tennis. Do people think that's not the case?

If I were to hazard a guess...

No can do in the traditional sense.

This strategy _should_ eventually allow you to download/stream music, ebooks, movies on the phone and continue watching on PS3 and vice versa. Your personal content library is accessible from multiple devices (because of Qriocity).

For gaming, I'm curious what they think of OnLive's model. Sony has had similar technology sometime ago. May be workable for a small screen + WiFi connection.

But these are pure speculations... best way is to wait and see.
 
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