The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is the PlayStation phone we’ve all been waiting for. We’re here to explain how this gaming-centric avenger is going to revolutionise your portable play, and why it proves beyond all doubt that smartphones aren’t just about mobile email and business-focused apps – they’re about having fun, too. Read on and we’ll break down why the Thumb Bandit can make Android games even better.
Smash boredom
The Xperia Play is the Superman to boredom’s Lex Luther. It’s a phone that’s been genetically constructed with the aid of the experts at Sony’s PlayStation division to be bring the maximum amount of gaming brilliance to the palm of your hand. Simply put, you’ll never experience a dull train journey again with the Xperia Play safely stowed away in your pocket.
You see, the Xperia Play is the world’s first PlayStation-certified mobile phone, making it something of a super-portable superhero as far as entertainment is concerned. Whereas other phones often treat gaming as afterthought, the Xperia Play has been designed with mobile merriment exclusively in mind, and has the credentials to banish the agents of boredom from your daily life.
For starters, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play excels at touchscreen gaming thanks to its massive 4-inch capacitive display. Finger-friendly games like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja positively fly on this device, largely thanks to the powerful 1GHz processor beating at its cybernetic heart. Pre-loaded with Gingerbread – the latest edition of Google’s mobile operating system – the Xperia Play also has the software strength to deal with the most demanding 3D gaming challenges on the Android Market.
Let’s get physical
While touchscreen gaming is big news these days, every hardened arcade vigilante knows that you can’t beat proper buttons and D-pads when it comes to serious twitch gaming. It’s at this point that the Xperia Play dons its tight-fitting lycra costume and reveals its secret power: a slide-out physical interface that builds upon over a decade’s worth of gaming experience on Sony’s part.
Based on Sony’s legendary PlayStation line of home games consoles, the Xperia Play’s controls allow you make short work of the many nasty villains and devious arch-enemies that patrol your favourite action games.
The responsive D-pad allows you to take full control of demanding arcade titles while the distinctive PlayStation ‘shape’ buttons are as iconic as the Bat Symbol, and instantly recognisable to gaming addicts the world over. To round things off there’s a pair of touch-sensitive pads in the middle of the phone which act as twin analogue sticks for looking around and moving at the same time, and the L and R shoulder triggers give the Xperia Play so many interface options that even the multi-limbed Doctor Octopus would be impressed.
It’s all about the games
The best thing is that the software created for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play will automatically map controls to all of these buttons and inputs, providing an authentic console experience straight out of the box. Many existing Android games have already been updated to take advantage of the controls too, with more developers hastily retreating to their underground lairs to tweak apps to make them Xperia Play-ready too.
The Xperia Play is certain to be something of a caped crusader as far as gaming greatness is concerned, and will also enjoy releases of many classic titles from Sony’s vast back-catalogue of PlayStation classic games via the Android Market, as well as the PlayStation Suite download store, due later this year.
However, mindful of the need to gather strength in numbers before then Sony Ericsson has quickly formed a heroic alliance with some of the mobile gaming world’s most famous developers. Gameloft, Glu, Namco Bandai and EA Mobile are just four of over twenty publishers committed to supporting the Xperia Play cause, and thanks to this proud union you can see titles like Assassin’s Creed, FIFA, Dungeon Defenders and Asphalt grace the Xperia’s striking screen right here, right now.
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