COMMENTARY | The tech world was abuzz when the original Sony-Ericcson Xperia Play was released last year, on Verizon and later on AT&T. People called it "the PlayStation Phone," before and after its release, because it was "PlayStation Certified" ... whatever that meant. Apparently, a slide-out game controller and a handful of PlayStation games, sold through apps called the PlayStation Suite.
Since then, a handful of other devices (like the Sony Tablet S) have been updated to receive the PlayStation Suite, and a couple of new PlayStation Certified devices were unveiled at this year's CES. Somehow, though, none of them have quite had the impact that one would expect of a "real" PlayStation device ... like the PlayStation 2, which caused people to line up outside Wal-Marts back around the turn of the century.
Why is that?
Lackluster hardware
First off, there is no one PlayStation Phone. There are a bunch of different devices now, with different looks and specs. Few of them bear all that much resemblance to an actual PlayStation, either, whether in looks or in quality. Just look at Engadget's review of the Xperia Play; the shoulder buttons on the game controller were "too sensitive," and the screen is "one of the worst screens we've seen" on any hardware they've reviewed.
The new Xperia handsets just announced by Sony, like the Xperia Ion, look a little bit more well-designed. But none of them have slider game controllers, which suggests that was only a passing fancy ... and will make it a bit harder to play certain PlayStation games on them.
Dearth of games
Which certain PlayStation games, you ask? Not too many, unfortunately. When the Xperia Play first came out, there were only a handful. As of last October, there were still just 10, according to the PlayStation blog. And these are PlayStation games in the sense that they were made for the original PlayStation ... you know, the PSOne. The one that was made more than 15 years ago.
A handful of other games were given support for the Xperia Play's slider gamepad. The trouble is, no other phones even have that, and it's not looking good that more will. And Android itself doesn't have many games to begin with, at least not great games. At least not compared to the iPad, or even the PlayStation Portable.
Misleading branding
David Hinkle of Joystiq says being PlayStation-Certified means a device can use "entertainment services from Sony Entertainment Network", and the Sony press release he quotes says that it guarantees " a high quality smartphone gaming experience.****" Yes, with four asterisks.
What does that even mean? Can a "PlayStation Certified" phone buy games from the PlayStation Network? No. Can it do PSN multiplayer? No. Will the games you buy on it be playable on your PSP or PS3 consoles? No, and no. So how is it anything but diluting the PlayStation brand, to sell a line of me-too Android smartphones and tablets that are only tangentially connected with it?
The new Xperia phones might do well on the market, but it's not because PlayStation gamers will buy them. And judging from Sony-Ericcson's recent performance, there's a ways it has to go before it's dug itself out of its hole.
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