Sony went ahead and released the Xperia Play PlayStation class phone, and we’re not sure if we gave a strong enough opinion in our preview last week about how clever this move is, both embracing Android, at the same time as inviting other Android phone makers into the playstation market with a software license scheme for PlayStation gaming, alongside a replacement launched last week for the PlayStation Portable. And already there are reports that it has landed a full scale launch at Verizon in the US, alongside the iPhone, although the price of the device has yet to be revealed.
This is also the week that Sony announced that it has sold 150 million PS2 gaming consoles. That was launched back in 2000, and is still selling today, and its predecessor the PS1 sold just over 100 million in its lifetime. Assuming perhaps a 50 million overlap between the consoles, that suggests that there are something close to 200 million people roaming the planet with a favorite Sony PS game, and if they just might have that on their phones, that would be Soooo cool. Those kind of numbers could make this the type of phone to completely upset the pecking order in global handset gaming, it might even dent iPhone sales.
The Xperia Play is said to have super-fast graphics, dedicated game controls and will arrive in March. The thing is driven by the current generation of Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor so you can picture a super powerful replacement, capable of more or less all PS gaming by 2012 when the new 2.5 GHz Quad core version arrives (see separate story on Qualcomm).
But this is not just a gaming console phone, it’s a touch phone and offers smooth 60fps 3D video play-back and Web browsing with minimal power consumption.
Rikko Sakaguchi, Executive Vice President and Chief Creation Officer at Sony Ericsson commented: “Today is a very proud moment for Sony Ericsson as we bring something truly revolutionary to the market. Living up to our vision of Communication Entertainment, Xperia Play will forever change the way people think about smartphones and mobile gaming.’
Sony Ericsson will put a bunch of hit PlayStation games on the Android Market including Need For Speed, Sims 3 and a multiplayer version of FIFA 10 for mobile, as well as Guitar Hero, Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell and some new 3D titles. Gameloft said it will support the launch with over 20 titles over the next 6 months which will take full advantage of the power of the device. This phone will upset the order of things. We warned you first.