Sony Ericsson Xperia Play rocks the Android game with 50 titles at launch, soon on Verizon

After literally every nook and cranny of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play gaming phone with Android 2.3 Gingerbread was leaked beforehand, even its display stand, now it's official.

First off, the specs - Android 2.3 Gingerbread on a second generation 1GHz Snapdragon chipset, which should be running mobile games with ease, since even the prototype handled scored the impressive 1733 on Quadrant with 59.1fps. There are 512MB RAM/ROM onboard, 4" LCD screen with 480x854 pixels of resolution, 5MP camera with LED flash and HD video recording, 1500mAh battery, and everything else you'd expect from a modern smartphone, including dual mics for noise cancellation. The lack of an HDMI-out port is a letdown, though.


As far as gaming content is concerned, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play features the PlayStation Pocket app - an access point to the dedicated space on Android Market for mobile games specific to the device. Besides coming preloaded with a PSone game (we heard rumors of Tekken), Sony Ericsson will have 50 additional titles from 20 studios, that have been specifically written for the device, as well as ported mobile games like Reckless Racing with new levels.

As for the games' cost we've heard smartphone prices, meaning that they will probably be $9.99 or less, rather than cost $30-$40 a pop, as they do on other Sony PlayStation devices. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is actually the first PlayStation Certified device, whatever that means for the time being.

You will be able to play multiplayer locally via Wi-Fi, so get your game one, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is here, and we will be handling it shortly. The first specialized Android gaming phone will hit the shelves in March, possibly as a GSM reincarnation in Europe first, and then in the Spring the CDMA version will be brought to the American shores by Verizon, as we heard before.

Have a look at the video presentation of the Xperia Play from its Product Manager below. Did he just say "you can beat the crap out" of the gamepad? Oops.

source: Sony Ericsson