Xperia Play

[maxlords]

Anyone else get one of these yet? I've been holding out for a smartphone and I finally broke down and got one of these :P

Gotta say it's not too bad so far, all things considered! On top of all the regular Experia functionality, it's got the slide down controller built in, with Playstation Style buttons (Triangle, Square, Circle, X, L, R) No L2 or R2 though.

It also has analog touch sticks which I haven't really tried yet. Pretty neat tho! I'm still getting used to it but I DLed a couple of emulators for it (the Tiger NES and SNES ones) and lo and behold they have mappable keys so you can map the controller instead of using the onscreen virtual ones....very very handy! NES and SNES run smooth as silk on it and with the controllers....well....for a phone it's pretty nice.

It also has surprisingly loud stereo sound, to the point where I actually turned it down cause it was TOO loud.

It comes with a bunch of games built in (nothing too exciting...but Crash Bandicoot is on there), and defaults from the main screen to a gaming sub-menu with all your Play games when you open the controller.

According to the phone rep, Sony is planning on linking the Playstation network with the Play network and you'll be able to link accounts, allowing you to DL any PS1 games you've bought on the PS Network onto your phone as well. A nice bonus IMO.

All in all, a pretty damned cool smartphone for gamers! I'm pretty impressed so far with it!

[maxlords]

Wow....zero interest in the Playstation Phone huh?

[Tupin]

The Xperia Play? It's not out in the United States yet. I've checked Verizon and Best Buy, the former just has a "COMING SOON" in their catalog, and the latter had no record of it.

I want it though, it looks cool.

[skaar]

Also, let us know when you manage to link it to PSN

[maxlords]

Oh wow...I didn't realize it wasn't out in the US yet! Canada NEVER gets stuff first :P

As for the Playstation Network....rumor says that it's gonna be around summer before the update comes for that. It does run Crash Bandicoot VERY smoothly though.

The battery life is BRUTAL until you take out a lot of the background running options for some of the apps....I was getting something like 6 hours on a full charge at first...now I'm up to 25ish with light-moderate use. It's supposed to last for 5.5 hours gaming non-stop.

Also...for anyone thinking of getting one...the screen is "scratch-resistant" glass, but even with very light use and a lot of care, I've still already gotten a couple of minute almost invisible scratches....powered it off until my screen protector comes in the mail lol Apparently the screen is a scratch magnet. And if you already have a touch smartphone...you'll find that the display is overall dimmer than most of the phones out there. I don't mind it...but some might.

[duo_r]

anyone digging it? The buttons work on other games which is cool.

[Drath]

I've been looking at this very closely as I am in the market for a smart phone, I play a lot of games, and I want an Android phone. So naturally, this would be a good fit as I can't stand touch controls for gaming on phones (well, it does work for some games, ala Angry Birds).

[maxlords]

Now that I've had it a while I can say that it's a pretty damn solid phone. Battery life levels out after a couple weeks of use. I'm now getting about a full 24 hours with moderate use and maybe half a day with heavy use (gaming, video, etc).

The buttons are useable in some games, not in others, it's very random. No one is really programming for it yet. However, the Tiger emulators (NES, SNES, Genesis, MAME) all have FULLY mappable buttons! You can map everything to the controller and turn off the on-screen button display, making this a PERFECT phone for emulation! NES, SNES, and Genesis run flawlessly on every working ROM so far, MAME is very hit and miss right now though...only a handful of games work.

When you map the buttons it says "Unknown" when you select one, but it still works fine

I think that once people start programming games specifically for this, it'll be even better, but at least all the good emulators work great with it.

I put a Zagg invisishield on it (if you have to install one of these, be forewarned...it's VERY VERY difficult and mistakes ruin them!) and voila, no more scratch worries at all! I did have to get my phone replaced in the first 30 days though. The thing kept overheating and crashing at random times. The replacement one hasn't had a single issue though...just bad luck I think.

[NayusDante]

I wish my Droid X had buttons. From what I've heard, the build quality on the Xperia Play isn't that great, but my Droid X is pretty solid. I don't think I'd like to go from zero scratches to a phone made out of whatever plastic they use on PSPs, that would be a downgrade.

If they're cheap when I'm up for contract renewal, I'll see how they feel in my hands. At the moment, it's got desirable features but I'm turned off by what I'm hearing about the quality.

[Tupin]

I have one too, and it's pretty good. Emulators run nicely on it. Plus, Minecraft will have a timed exclusive on it before other Android devices.

I need to get a screen protector.

[maxlords]

From what I've heard, the build quality on the Xperia Play isn't that great, but my Droid X is pretty solid. I don't think I'd like to go from zero scratches to a phone made out of whatever plastic they use on PSPs, that would be a downgrade.

Seems fine to me. I could care less how scratched the back of the casing gets though. I never look at it. lol