HandyGames' Christopher Kassulke on why he's totally committed to Xperia Play

It launched in a blaze of hype but we haven't heard much about Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play 'Android meets PlayStation' gaming phone recently.

Of course, price will be the crucial factor in terms of consumer acceptance, but content will be device's longterm driver.

We caught up with Christopher Kassulke, CEO of German publisher HandyGames, which is heavily supporting the launch, to get his take on the situation.

Christopher Kassulke: First time I saw the device, I was very sceptical and automatically thought about the Nokia N-Gage, and all the experiences we had with it, although I have to mention that not all of them were bad.

But after developing our first title on Xperia Play, with all the features supported, we saw the huge advantages that consumers will have on this gaming device.

From that day, we've been totally committed to the handset. I thought; 'Finally an OEM has reacted to the huge demand of consumers for games.'

Consumers want to play and so give the consumers what they want. You can finally play a game without having your fingers on the screen all the time. A game needs to be fun and controls are part of that gameplay.

In my opinion then, it's a great device at the right time and I think our titles are a perfect fit. Just check out Guns 'n' Glory, Cyberlords, Aporkalypse or Dynamite Fishing on Xperia Play.

HandyGames, like Sony Ericsson, is committed to gamers, so we're planning to release all current and future Android titles for the Xperia Play as free and ad-free versions.

We do not simply port games - we give consumers a better user experience. We really drive the best from the hardware and use all the features the phone has.

HandyGames isn't a big fan of exclusive games as we are interested in the mass market and not every gamer will have a specific handset or platform. Exclusive content means only a very few consumers are happy. What about the rest? We want to have satisfied consumers who can tell their friends how cool our titles are.

Providing exclusive features or content for Xperia Play is an option but there is no required install base for us.

HandyGames is offering all its games as ad-free versions for €0.99 or as free full featured ad-funded versions. I think that's a very fair price point for consumers. HandyGames doesn't charge any extra for games on Xperia Play.