The Xperia Play handset: 3D gaming, PlayStation controller, 60 titles from launch.
The Sony Xperia Play is NOT a dedicated games console. This is what I was told, very firmly, as my review handset was packed up and posted to me last week. What it is, is a Sony Ericsson Xperia smartphone, with all the functionality of the respected series of Android devices, including 5MP camera, TimeScape social networking system and huge 854 x 480 resolution touchscreen. It just so happens that it is optimised for gaming. Which is, let's be honest, the bit we're interested in.
So while I completely accept that this is NOT a dedicated games console, there have been plenty of in-depth reviews elsewhere handling other aspects of the device. I want to talk about games.
So after a week of messing about with it, I've found the gaming elements of the Xperia Play to be … interesting. The spring-loaded slide-out controller is certainly the star of the show. The d-pad and PlayStation buttons are small, but well-placed and give satisfying feedback when pressed.
In the middle are the two circular touch pads, which act as surrogate analogue sticks and do an impressive job of providing more exact controls. I had no trouble using them to navigate Tevez through packed defences in Fifa 10. There are also two shoulder buttons, which have an equally pleasing click to them, but they are tucked in a little behind the screen, and didn't feel anywhere near as comfortable to use as they would on a regular joypad – at least with my gigantic hands.
The controller is definitely an attractive functional feature, though – even if it does add heft to the phone, both in terms of size and weight. At 175g it's a bit of a porker compared to other Android handsets, but I like the slight chunkiness. It feels more like a dedicated games console. Oh no, I've said it now.
Games-wise, it's very early days. The phone comes with the graphically impressive brawler Bruce Lee, the patchy 3D air combat shooter, Star Battalion, and two reasonable but uninspired EA conversions, Fifa 10 and Sims 3. It's hardly the most thrilling line-up. However, there's the whole Android Market to call upon and 60 titles have already been tweaked to employ the Xperia Play's physical controller. Developers using the Unity3D engine can call on a special API, which helps with the optimisation process – several titles, including the gorgeous 2.5d platformer Cordy, have already been prepared and we can expect many more to follow.
As for classic Psone titles, you've probably heard that the selection is tiny at the moment. Naughty Dog's seminal platformer Crash Bandicoot is pre-loaded, and plays surprisingly solidly (plus, it's a good history lesson for younger fans of the Uncharted series – this was the studio's first significant release), and there are five more titles ready to download, including serviceable snowboarding sim Cool Boaders 2, amiable action adventures Jumping Flash and MediEvil and smashy racer, Destruction Derby 2. I found them quick to download, coming in at around five to ten minutes, but at £3.99 each they're reasonably pricey for nostalgic gaming snacks – especially as there are, let's be honest, PSone emulators around out there (although they're now a little harder to find on Android).
The conversions are very good though (with Crash, you even get the original PlayStation title screen), and you're able to adjust the display settings to go for a stretched widescreen mode or a 4:3 option that matches the olden days TVs that PSone titles were quaintly designed to run on. There are lots of titles I'd love to see – Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, Super Puzzle Fighter II, Pa Rappa the Rappa, Vandal Hearts, Ape Escape – but we'll have to wait and see. Of course, it would also be great to get access to the PSP library and the downloadable PlayStation minis…
The navigation experience has taken me a little while to master. Among the main menu items, there's the usual link to the Android Market where all the new games reside, but there's also an Xperia Play icon. This takes you to a dedicated menu screen where you can browse all the games you have on your handset as well as see a selection of other available titles. Hit the teeny Android Market icon on this page and it helpfully lists all the Xperia Play-optimised titles in the store.
Furthermore, the main menu also has a PlayStation icon: select that and it brings up a differently-styled "PlayStation Pocket" screen, which lists all the classic PSone titles you've downloaded. In the corner there's also a magnifying glass icon, which I assumed would just search my phone for games. However, this is how you connect to the range of retro PlayStation titles. It's a bit of a hodge-podge of menus, icons and pointers – all made slightly redundant by the fact that your games also appear seperately in that main menu set-up.
The handset is also a moderate disappointment on the specifications side. The battery life is okay with around 10 hours of talk time and 5-6 of gaming. However, the screen – though massive – is a little dark: even with the brightness turned up, I couldn't see anything while sitting in my garden. Plus, like other reviewers, I'm concerned that, with a single-core 1Ghz Snapdragon processor and Adreno 205 GPU set up, it is underpowered compared to brutes like the Samsung Galacy S II and LG Optimus 2X which boast mighty dual-core CPUs and the latest high-end Tegra 2 graphics processors.
Of course raw power is not the only deciding factor with games functionality, and Sony says its use of dual channel ddr2 memory operating at 300 Hertz speeds up communication between the CPU and GPU thereby turbo-charging performance. And well, Sony engineers know how to put games hardware together…
If you want to see the graphics potential of the device, just look at Backstab, Gameloft's visually astonishing open-world swashbuckler. With its richly evocative 18th Century Caribbean setting and smoothly animated sword-fighting set-pieces, it's an Xperia Play exclusive that would stand up against a few very late PS2 or very current PSP titles. The controls are a little clunky, but that's not Sony's fault.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is NOT a dedicated games console. It is a respctable (although not brilliant) Android smartphone that just happens to have lots of functionality and form factor features aimed at gamers. I've really enjoyed the feel of it, and the presence of a very good controller has inspired me to play the sort of more complex driving and shooting titles that I usually avoid on touchscreen devices – because they rarely work, and I hate virtual onscreen controllers.
To make a success of this, Sony needs to very quickly add another 20-or-so PSone titles to the PlayStation Suite. It also needs to consider a cheaper price point for retro games, and to ensure it's fully supporting developrs who want to customise their new titles for the system. What concerns me is that, right now, Xperia Play feels like a device for committed gamers, because it's all about that controller – casual gamers, the people who play Angry Birds and the massive market that Sony needs to attract – don't need a controller.
So, just to re-iterate, the Xperia Play is NOT a dedicated games console. It has a controller, it plays console games, it is "certified" with a console brand, but it is a smartphone, with gaming features. It just needs more games. And maybe more attractive specs. I'll be sad to send it back, but I'll have one eye on Sony Ericsson's press site, expecting an Xperia Play 2 announcement before too long.
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