subject: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play PlayStation Phone [print this page] Sony Ericsson Xperia Play PlayStation Phone
While games have been available on mobile phones for well over a decade these were traditionally limited to simple applications like Snake that harked back to the early days of computer games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is fair to say that, even with Nokia's 2003 gaming phone the N-Gage, mobile gaming has always lagged behind the experience that people have come to expect from PCs and consoles.
The increasing popularity of games in smartphone app stores has led many phone manufacturers to invest a great deal of time and money in producing phones focused on gaming, bringing them into line with the level of quality that can be found on hand held consoles. Indeed, mobile gamers are benefitted in this regards by the fact that two of the biggest console developers are already heavily entrenched in the mobile industry.
The Xperia Play marks the first real attempt by Sony to bring its gaming expertise into the world of mobile phones, and it seems like they have done a good job. Like some of the other Xperia phones from Sony Ericsson, the Xperia Play comes with a sliding mechanism. But rather than revealing a QWERTY keypad as would be expected, the slide-out section reveals an iconic Sony control pad instead.
This comes with the instantly recognisable square, circle, triangle and cross as well as a directional keypad making it ideal for all of the amazing game titles that the Xperia Play has on offer. The phone has a gorgeous 4" LED backlit LCD screen with WVGA resolution which is great visually, and this is further enhanced by the graphics acceleration on board. The only slight drawback is the 1GHz processor on board which seems a bit behind the times considering the dual core phones now available, although it is perfectly suited to running the games available with ease and is comparable in power to all of Microsoft's Xbox LIVE enabled Windows Phone 7 handsets.
The Xperia Pro does not just come with fantastic gaming under its wing, but performs superbly well in other smartphone areas as well. The phone is still fully touch sensitive with multitouch support, so you don't have to worry about trying to write a message with just squares and triangles in. The Xperia Play, like most of the Xperia line up, comes with fantastic email and instant messaging support, as well as threaded SMS and social networking integration.
With plenty of other entertainment available with music and video, online and offline, some great messaging features, a lot of connectivity and a fantastic screen the Xperia Play has a lot to keep you busy and is certainly more than just a gaming phone. The handset is sure to be a big success with all avid gamers and its only real competition comes from the less inspiring Windows Phone 7 devices.
