Your Pocket Gamer guide to the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Touchscreen gaming seems more about compromise than anything else. Yes, you get the odd game that’s properly tuned for such a device, but the vast majority of the more mature genres we’re used to on dedicated portable consoles tend to be only ‘good enough’ rather than ‘just as good’.

Sony Ericsson’s new Xperia Play hopes it can offer the best of both worlds - touchscreen controls for the Angry Birds out there, and proper PlayStation game controls for games like N.O.V.A. 2 and FIFA.

But with so much news about the device swimming around on the Internet, it can be a little tricky just working out whether this new gaming phone will be what the N-gage should have been, or what the N-gage was.

So let this guide help you make up your mind, with detailed specifications, hands-on accounts of the device in action, and a look into some of the launch titles we’re expecting to see when it launches on April 1st.

In terms of hardware, the Xperia Play is a 4-inch, single-core device, running a 1GHz Qualcomm Scorpion CPU and Adreno 205 GPU. Not the most cutting-edge of tech when compared to the first-generation dual-core mobiles, but not too shabby against the current mobiles available for purchase.

The stand-out feature about the Xperia Play is, of course, the PlayStation-esque controls that slide out from behind the touchscreen.

The eight buttons (D-pad and four face) are complemented by two touchpads that perform the role of dual-analogue sticks, plus two shoulder buttons on the corner of the phone.

The Xperia Play is the first PlayStation certified phone, which essentially means it’ll be one of the first to support the PlayStation software suite.

We’ve had not just one, but two chances to get our grubby mitts on the Xperia Play.

Chris James, our esteemed MD, was one of the first outside Sony Ericsson to fondle the new device and walked away impressed:

“As a smartphone it’s a solid card-carrying member of the increasingly popular Xperia family with good build quality, responsive screen, and a solid UI. However, it’s only when you flip open the slider controls and switch your handy phone into handheld console that the 'wow' factor really kicks in.”

However, PocketGamer.biz editor Jon Jordan was less bowled over by the phone during his test at the Mobile World Congress, but believed it could succeed if developers embrace its unique (for a mobile) controls:

“As a standard Android device, all touchscreen Android games will run on the Xperia Play. But if developers and publishers want to charge a premium for content, they'll have to ensure they're providing premium content, and that means supporting those controls properly.”

We’ve been looking forward to the fabled PlayStation phone for an absolute age now, with both positive and negative thoughts on the very idea of an Android-powered gaming phone before Sony officially announced the machine.

Since the official announcement, we’ve explored whether Xperia Play can be a hit, proposed a list of great Android titles that will be even better with the Xperia Play’s controls, and explored the 10 reasons why the Xperia Play is worth your hard-earned cash.

The games

Sony is certainly bullish about the number of games coming out for the device, saying that there will be “hundreds and hundreds” of optimised titles available to download by the end of the year.

These games themselves are expected to range in cost between £1-10, which is a little higher than most other app stores like the Android Market or App Store currently retail for, but still very much within the mobile gaming ballpark.

Gameloft has been one of the most vocal supporters of the new platform, promising two (sort of) exclusives - BackStab and N.O.V.A. 2 - to be available a month before other Android users get access to them.

The phone will come with five pre-installed iOS ports to play around with - Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior, Tetris, FIFA 10, The Sims 3, and Star Battalion - and Crash Bandicoot from the PlayStation 1 days will make a welcome reappearance.

The Xperia Play will also be one of the Android phones to have access to the PlayStation Suite later in the year, with classic PlayStation 1 titles like Syphon Filter available to purchase and play once the service launches.

Every major UK network will be selling the Xperia Play, although O2 has had to push back its own launch to an as yet unknown date thanks to teething software issues.

There’s also the option of picking up the phone unlocked from an online retailer like Expansys, Play.com, or Amazon.

Unlocked Xperia Play prices range from £465 to £532 depending on where you look online.

While these prices are high, they do give you the freedom of inserting whatever SIM you want without getting tied into a 24-month contract.

If you want to get the phone through a UK network provider than you have the choice of T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, and Three.

Vodafone is currently offering the cheapest deal on the handset, with the machine going for free on a £35 per month, two year contract and requiring you to pay £199.99 up front for the two year, £25 a month option.

Three is more expensive than Vodafone, offering up the handset for £49 if you sign up to a two-year, £40 per month contract (there is no other choice when it comes to contract). It’s worth noting, however, that Three’s plan includes unlimited data usage, as opposed to Vodafone’s 750MB a month cap.

Orange isn’t revealing many details about its plans, although the webstore does suggest that there will be the option of getting the handset free on at least some of the contracts on offer.

Likewise, Everything Everwhere partner T-Mobile is keeping its cards close to its chest, with absolutely no info available about Xperia Play contracts other than it’s coming soon.