Sony Unveils First PlayStation Phone

KRK-TR writes "Sony Ericsson has unveiled the first 'PlayStation phone,' called the Xperia Play. The device resembles a regular smart phone but has gaming buttons that slide out from beneath the screen." Eurogamer got some hands-on time with the device, and they had this to say: "The recessed digital controls are precise and responsive but have a hard, microswitch-style 'click' to them which contrasts with the soft, springy touch of a PSP or a Dual Shock pad. There are left and right shoulder buttons recessed into the handset – you need to find these with the tips of your index fingers, rather than the joints as you're used to. The most interesting inputs are the twin circular touch-pads between the buttons. These effectively replace the on-screen virtual analogue sticks that blight so many smartphone games – and they do the job well. ... Despite the nominal similarity to PSPgo, it doesn't bear any family resemblance to or design hallmarks of SCE products, and indeed is only passingly identifiable as a Sony Ericsson phone. It's very much an anonymous Android handset with the added novelty of game controls."

oblig

[Osgeld]

Fuck sony

DOA

[Anonymous Coward]

Reminds me of this bit from "Objectified", quoting roughly:

"So the stats come, our average customer is a woman about 30-s early 40-s, has 2 point 3 children on average. I interrupted him. I said, don't give me the average, give me the extremes, the average will take care of itself naturally"

If you are a gamer enough that you'd want your phone to come with a thick joystick pad, wouldn't you rather go the extra inch, and get yourself a separate PSP, that is the solid experience, and then some phone, as you need.

I think most will.

Many phones make great casual gaming devices. But this poor hybrid will see the same sad destiny as other gaming phones we've seen in the past.

Oh and if you get it, don't get carried away playing for too long, or else you can't make critical calls on a wasted battery. Sucks, I know.

N-GAGE 2

[allusionist]

So it's a new N-Gage.

And Sony thinks that THIS TIME it will be successful? They really have lost touch with reality.

Re:oblig

[moniker]

On the bright side, because it is a phone, there is the DMCA exemption for jail breaking it.

Re:N-GAGE 2

[chuckymonkey]

Except that they're opening with a nice library of games from playstation, something a lot of people remember fondly. They also have a nice framework for gaming programmers to use to make new games. The phone is also useful outside of being a gaming device, it runs Android something a lot of people are already invested in. So, this is more value add than anything else. You can use all the apps you already have on your Android device, play games that were on Playstation which so many remember fondly, and have a very powerful and useful smartphone. No, this is not another N-Gage, if anything the Playstation framework is a "killer" app.

Re:oblig

[DMoylan]

so a firmware update to remove the phone functionality? if they can remove the other os option... :-)

haven't bought sony since 1997, not likely to buy for another 10 years. at least.