Good job Jimothy

Great job Jimothy

That fact that it's a smart phone is indeed cool, since I think iPhones are lame since everyone has them. Unique smartphones are indeed cool.

That said, having a phone in your gaming device is just asking for trouble in my opinion. It's gonna drain the battery and leave me unable to text or make calls.

Having owned both an N-gage QD and the Xperia, its two different things. One took physical media, was awkward to text on, and had a limited supply of games. The Xperia is an android phone with a controller strapped to it, thats it. Has the same customization as every other android phone.

So while I would say the n-gage failed because of the stigma of the first one (side-talkin, game cart under battery) the xperia is a different beast because its exactly like every other android phone, just with a slide out gamepad.

My main problem with it is that it isn't on the Playstation Network. If I could use the games I ALREADY OWN then I'd have less problems with picking one up.

Has anyone seen the framerate on this thing? It's fucking AWFUL. We're talking like, 6fps. That is not a gaming device.

i didn't saw that coming.
good one

have Sony stopped sending you free stuff yet Jim?

It doesn't look too bad, but then again I still have my N-Gage (although to be fair, at the time I had it I jad it for games, not to use as a phone). Gaming phones, however, aren't really my thing, and I doubt that the Xperia Play will do any better because it's a smartphone, as in terms of smartphone-edness it'll still be a weak competitor, much like the N-Gage was on the phone front.

It being a smartphone is nothing special, most phones are now, well done Sony, you've managed to keep up with your market (just like Nokia did, with a little bad execution), have a cookie...

damn, Jim got owned by the community.

Dont worry jim, Killzone is coming to the Vita so don't fret.

At least this iteration will have Minecraft.

I can see the swarm of Minecraft fans ditching their phones, carriers, mobile operating systems and purchased apps for a phone that does Minecraft on the go.

Err.. From wikipedia:

"A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone that offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone (i.e. a modern low-end phone). A smart phone combines the functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA) and a mobile phone...."

and

"Besides its gaming capabilities, the N-Gage was a Series 60 smartphone, running Symbian OS 6.1, with features similar to those of the Nokia 3650 (it does not have an integrated camera, however). It was able to run all Series 60 software (other than those that require a camera), and Java MIDP applications as well. Its main CPU was an ARM Integrated (ARMI) compatible chip (ARM4T architecture) running at 104 MHz, the same as the Nokia 7650 and 3650 phones."

So by this definition the N-gage was a smartphone, it just wasn't the same caliber as TODAY'S smartphones and Dwyer really doesn't seem to know what he's talking about at all.

And really, the main reason Sony needs to distance itself from the N-Gage has nothing to do with its look or how the buttons are placed, its because the services provided to, and the phone itself, were complete shite. It got next to no service anywhere, even when very close to a tower.

I had 2 friends who had this and one of them worked in the same mall I worked at, which had towers right on the roof above us (because the mall had at least one of each of the major providers within) and they couldn't get a proper signal no matter where they were in the building. And we lived in highly populated areas on lower NY, so it wasn't so backwoods town in the middle of no where that just couldn't get good service -The technology and services behind the N-Gage just weren't up to snuff; Fix that and you'll have your phones sell.

As a closing note to this comment, Dwyer says about the Xperia: "...a very cool, young person that wants something different, right? And that's basically our target audience."

And that was the same exact audience the N-Gage was looking for and failed to capture. Today's a much different market, so lets hope Sony can figure out how to grab people without calling attention to an archaic platform it should be ignoring rather then raking back up.

At least it's not a plastic taco.

The Xperia play is a great Android phone, basically stock Gingerbread, with every single capability you would get out of any other Android 2.3 device. It's a tried and true, highly supported, widely accepted platform. Then it adds the slide-out controller.

Even if you completely ignore the slide out controller it has every modern feature and technology of an Android device. In that regard, it is already vastly superior, and different, than the ngage.

The Playstation Suite software may or may not turn out to be awesome, but even if it sucks, the controller still works -awesome- for emulating.

The comparison to the ngage is invalid.

@ Ace Flibble

Who cares if it's fashionable or not. I could give a lesser shit if an actor/ress uses said phone or not. Nor if it's seen on a walkway in a fashion show. I'm a gamer (read: Video Game Nerd) and if I want to play non smartphone games on a smartphone this is the way I'd go.

On a side not you do realize the irony of calling people nerds for going to an event for gaming on a gaming website?

Eh, no need to get worked up about Sterling's comments in a copy/paste article, he's just trying to set his work apart with a dash of sensationalism and a little trolling on the side. The smart thing to do with his pieces is to read the source, since he usually just picks things out that support something he wants to say.

As far as the Xperia Play goes, it's a standard smart phone with buttons added. Not sure if that fits the description of the N-gage, but if it does, then so be it? I know I'd like to have one, but I'm waiting for v2.

It's an android smartphone, which is awesome. It has access to emulators for every system up to PS1, with better controls than any other phone.

n-gage wasn't great at anything.

Once there's a decent custom ROM, I'll definitely upgrade to this phone.

This thing will be dead by the end of the year.

Yeah, no it's not.

Nice try though, Jim. Find something else to cry about.

Ultimately it's got one truly fatal flaw:

Who the fuck buys a Sony cell phone?

It's a shame the phone's release coincided with all of the best Android emulators being taken out of the marketplace; the only reason I'd consider getting it over any other cheaper phone.

I wanted one, but AT&T never got the damn thing and I needed a new phone badly. Got the Infuse 4G instead. It's a bitch to play emulators on, but at least its huge.

Anyway I hope it does reasonably well so I can buy the improved version when it comes out. :3

Except the Xperia runs Android, which is a huge plus. Even if you choose not to go the Android route, it gives you better controls to play the many more quality games on the market with physical controls instead of touch screen nonsense.

@BoomingEchoes

Could you sum that up in one paragraph or less?