Xperia PLAY handset promises smooth 60fps visuals and support from big game publishers. New versions of FIFA 10, Guitar Hero and Assassin's Creed announced.
Sony Ericsson has announced that its PlayStation-branded Xperia PLAY handset will be launched worldwide in March. As expected, the Google Android device features a four-inch multitouch screen and a slide out PlayStation-style controller which boasts a d-pad, two analogue touch pads, two shoulder buttons and the iconic PlayStation circle, cross, square and triangle buttons.
According to Sony Ericsson's 'gaming ambassador', Jonas Berg, the controller is designed to free up the display for game viewing, so that players don't need to use an onscreen 'virtual joypad'. "When playing games on a smartphone device, you're actually covering up part of the experience... we've added the next layer of gaming," he explained. A built-in accelerometer also allows for motion controls.
The Xperia PLAY uses the Gingerbread (version 2.3) of Android. The 1Ghz CPU architecture is based around Qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon chipset, together with an embedded Adreno GPU graphics processor. In a press release sent out tonight, Sony claimed the device would be capable of, "silky smooth 60fps 3D mobile gaming". It will be the first Google Android handset to comply with Sony's PlayStation certification scheme, which means it will have access to a range of classic PlayStation titles. The PlayStation Suite programme, will launch later this year.
The phone and its game development environment are apparently the result of close collaboration between Sony Ericsson, Sony Computer Entertainment and several of the games industry's leading publishers. Electronic Arts has Xperia PLAY-enhanced versions of Sims 3, Need for Speed and FIFA 10 on the way, the latter with online multiplayer ? a first for the mobile version of the series. Elsewhere, Ubisoft will be bringing Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell, while Namco Bandai apparently has Tekken ready and Activision ironically opens its PLAY account with the recently axed Guitar Hero. Mobile gaming specialists Digital Chocolate, Gameloft, Glu and Fishlabs are also onboard. It is reported that 50 titles will be available for the release of the phone ? they will be downloadable from the Android Market. Several games will also be embedded on the device at launch.
The handset will also support the widely-used Unity games development platform, which has been heavily used by iOS developers to bring fast 3D visuals to handheld platforms.
Importantly, the battery will allow for up to five hours and 35 minutes of 3D gaming time, according to Sony's own calculations ? a better figure than some pundits expected and comparable with the iPhone 4 (though that has recorded up to six and a half hours on minimum settings). The Snapdragon processor uses ARM's v7 instruction set, used throughout the mobile sector and designed for high performance at low power consumption. ARM technology is also used in Sony's recently announced NGP handheld games console.
As for networks, all five of the majors ? Orange, T-Mobile, O2, 3 and Vodafone ? will carry the handset in the UK.
Sony Ericsson has produced a range of videos to support the launch. They can be found on the manufacturer's YouTube channel.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/feb/13/sony-xperia-playstation-phone-launch
AMERICA MOVIL AMKOR TECHNOLOGY AMPHENOL ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL APPLE COMPUTER
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