The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is the newest launch on to the Smartphone market, and what a smart phone. Only the iPhone and the HTC has created so much hype. The Xperia Play has created a lot of hype in the gaming community, something which its much lauded predecessors were unable to do, unless you count a widespread incredulity in to the popularity of the Angry Birds download.
So what is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play? It is an extremely innovative Smartphone, with more functionality than a chimpanzee. It is the brainchild of not one, but three of the world’s most influential companies of the technological age-: Google, Sony Ericsson and the Sony PlayStation Corporation. It could even have some DNA. It feels as though it can only be a good investment, as though it would be the perfect group in Dragon’s Den. It is less clear who is the Theo Paphitis of the group and who is the Khan fellow.
The camera is top of the range, the processing unit is top of the range, the platform is award winning, the potential awe inspiring. I just hope that it doesn’t fall down at the last hurdle. The reason it is surrounded by amazing hype. It’s gaming potential. The phone, running the newest Android System, Gingerbread and the newest video playback device, Bravia is also able to download PlayStation credited games. And we all know that PlayStation do good games. In the hype of the announcement of the launch and the ensuing hype of the launch, PlayStation has announced the PlayStation Suite of applications, which is a partnership between the Dragon’s Den of the internet world, with the Dragon’s Den of the gaming community…. Namco Bandai, Electronic Arts, Gameloft to name but a few. The group have announced that they are to produce many top name titles including the blockbusters Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed as the traditional titles which have shown longevity, with Sims 3 and UEFA Football being offered from the launch in March 2011. The games available, and those potentially available, offer real competition against the current mobile games available for other Android and IOS platforms, and with the streamlined joy pad of a phone handset thrown in their for extra edge, this phone must surely be the gamers choice.
The mobile phone will be available on Orange, O2, Vodafone and Virgin network and it is anticipated that this is the pricing point will be similar to contracts for the iPhone and HTC. How the pricing works for the games however remains a mystery and is creating more hype across the industry community. The games need to be affordable for the main demographic, and that appears to be the younger end of the market. The younger end of the market, but those with some purchasing power, and potentially the purchasing power to buy the PSP2. Which if the hype is to be believed, will be far superior to any handheld gaming experience to come before it and by default doesn’t that include its own Smartphone? It is unlikely that the Playstation Suite will be able compete with the pricing policy for the iPhone apps, nor with the capacity of the PSP2.
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