back to article PlayStation Phone spied in China

Sony Ericsson's upcoming Xperia Play handset - aka the PlayStation Phone - has turned up for sale in China. Taiwanese website ePrice says it was tipped off to the fact by a reader on the mainland, and promptly sent one of its Shenzhen-based correspondents to go and have a look. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Source: ePrice The …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Will be great if..

    It has the other stuff thats needed for a good smartphone experience..

    Camera with Xenon Flash, HD recording, Compass, Accelometer etc.... and can run GT5 just as good as a ps3??

    1. Robert Hill

      Open eyes...

      If you look at the pics in the article, you can SEE the backside of the phone. There are two circles (plus a lower one that is a Sony logo), one for the camera, and one probably for a round light. Given that xenon flashes seem to be rectangular, I think we can bet this is an LED flash.

      As for the rest of the experience, it is Android, so I would guess HD recording, accelometers, and probably a compass...but I doubt it will run GT5 nearly as well as a PS3...

  2. a1exh

    Encryption re-work?

    They are almost certainly going to have to put this product on hold due to the leak of the PS3 (and in turn PSP) master key which will enable any software to be installed.

    Either that or put the price of the hardware up to compensate for the loss of revenue they will experience due to piracy.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Troll

      Re: Encryption re-work?

      it only supports digital downloads, they could resign those downloads for this phone.

      (note, the phone division and the PSP (PS) divisions are 2 _separate_ companies, they could each have their own digital store)

  3. Thomas 4

    Hmmm, dunno about this.

    Sony has a spotty record when it comes to online content. I doubt these things will be able to run PSOne games and PSP titles and it's doubtful they could persuade enough developers to code specifically to take advantage of the Experia's unique controls. Don't get me wrong, a decent game-playing control system on a phone is a great idea - I'm just pessimistic about Sony's ability to deliver decent content. After all, look at the PSP Go and how badly that tanked. I'm still waiting for them to cough up PSOne games that are available in the US to their UK store.

  4. Annihilator
    Heart

    Replacement photo

    Boo, does that mean the end to the brilliant el Reg PSP Phone concept?

    http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/05/23/psp_phone_1.jpg

    Frankly I'm amazed they didn't go with your idea :-(

  5. Mike Brown

    damn yo and your need for titles!

    from the sounds of the "playstation portable app" its just an app! So will the app be available in the android market, and any tom dick or harry can have a psp phone? and the official playstation app currantly on the market place is a tester for whats to come? id love remote play on my phone.

    but tbh im more intrested in the psp2.

  6. LinkOfHyrule
    Joke

    If only

    If only someone would bring out the Atari 2600 phone - complete with wood panelling - then I'd be happy!

  7. DrXym

    Looks good but

    How many phones do they seriously expect to sell? I really can't see any PSP enabled phone (or series of phones) selling 50 million odd in its lifetime. It probably needs to be augmented with a phoneless version too.

    Also I hope Sony have learned their lessons from the PSP Go. That device was widely lauded on a technical level but was sunk by being too expensive, not offering a migration path for PSP owners, and for the games costing too much and the selection being poor.

    I wonder if Sony should licence out the PSP brand to other phone mobos. It would widen their platform base and might allow PSP to become the defacto gaming platform running on top of Android. If they don't do it, then they run the real risk that Google or someone will produce a gaming service and then the PSP will look like the odd one out.

    1. stizzleswick
      Coat

      I see your points...

      ...but seeing as, for reasons unfathomable, the JeezuzPhone has managed to become the #1 mobile gaming platform (according to industry statistics, not just the manufacturer's), it would seem reasonable for Sony to go the other way around -- put phone hardware into a portable game player. At the very least, it might be interesting to see what comes out of that approach.

      Wonder what the Androiders are going to do to keep up -- the gaming experience on Android-run hardware, so far, leaves a lot to be desired, and it seems that the average customer wants both phone _and_ games.

      Oh, what the heck. Mine's the one with the Newton stuck in its pocket. And the pen missing.

  8. MJI Silver badge

    No UMD no sale

    If you already have a PSP and a few UMDs how can you play them on the PSP phone?

    Remember that PSP Go was a flop

    1. DrXym

      In theory

      In theory a PSP phone peripheral could be a docking station which has a UMD. Dock your phone into charge and sync a game or two at the same time. The synced game would allow you to play it a few days or some period of hours before requiring revalidation.

      It beggars belief that Sony didn't do it for the PSP Go. They have 60 million PSP owners (or whatever) and none of them could bring their collection to the new PSP. How stupid is that? Sony could probably have sold a dock for $75-100 extra and the Go would sold like hotcakes.

      Without a migration path there is no loyalty from legacy owners. They may as well go buy a 3DS for all the difference it makes to their existing investment of games.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Unhappy

        I suspect..

        They couldn't work out a DRM mechanism to do it without getting ripped off - what was to stop you letting anyone rip your UMD to their own PSP? The discs weren't unique, so there was no way to say "already ripped".

        I, on the other hand, did a jailbreak as soon as possible and ripped all my UMDs so I could play it on memory stick - all UMDs then went in the loft. Did exactly the same with the PS2 onto an external HD. Loading times plummeted to practically nothing and was suddenly able to cart my PSP on a plane without selecting which games to carry.

        1. LuMan
          Go

          How about....

          I sort of agree with the sentiment that the PSP Go pisses off the SPS users who have a healthy back catalogue of games (and movies) on UMD. I've got a PSP and a rack load of UMDs and I can't see why I'd go for a PSP Go and dump my 'normal' PSP.

          But, what if I could use my PS3 as a portal? Plug the old PSP into the PS3 (via USB, natch) and blip the UMD data across to create 'PSP Go' files for my 'Go, attached on another USB. I'm sure the boffins at Sony could rig something to ensure that I don't install a UMD more than once onto a 'Go using this method (they did it with MiniDisc, after all). Not only do I get a back up of my media, I also get to play it on a 'Go (or a new Sony Mobile!!!).

  9. b166er

    Playstation App

    Perhaps they're going to do GaaS (yes, yes), something like OnLive.

    As ever though, there will be some capitalist twist with it being Sony, like 10p per minute played or something.

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