Exclusive: Sony Ericsson to introduce Android 3.0 gaming platform and PSP Go-like smartphone

By Joshua Topolsky posted Aug 11th 2010 7:50PM

There's no question that gaming on the Android platform has heretofore been relatively underwhelming, but that looks like it's all about to change. It seems that Sony Ericsson -- a company that has yet to even introduce an Android 2.0 device -- is at work on a project to redefine gaming on Google's mobile platform. We now know (via a trusted source) that the company is actively and heavily developing a brand new gaming platform, ecosystem, and device (possibly alongside Google) which are already in the late stages of planning. And we've got the goods on it.

Here's what we can tell you about the hardware: if you're a gaming fan, this is exactly the kind of phone you've been waiting for. The device is described as cross between the Samsung Captivate and the PSP Go -- in other words, it's a landscape slider with game controls in place of the typical QWERTY keyboard. The D-pad is here, but instead of the small joystick, the device will have what was described as a "long touch pad" for analog controls, along with standard PSP buttons and shoulder buttons. The phone has a large display, described as being between 3.7 and 4.1 inches with WVGA or better resolution, a 5 megapixel camera that we're told might not be final, and it'll likely have a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU on board. The phone is mostly black with some silver highlights, and the gamepad area is white / silver in color. Apparently it's currently branded as a Xperia device, but it looks like it will carry PlayStation branding as well. Those who've seen the phone say it looks "pretty damn sexy." The mockup above probably doesn't do the actual hardware justice, but it should give you an idea of what you'll be dealing with.

On the software side, it looks like the device will be running Gingerbread (Android 3.0) with a phone-specific skin, and there will be a new area of the Android Market specifically for the games. That content will be initially accessible only by the halo device, but from the sounds of things, these titles might be made available to other Android phones if their specs and button layouts meet requirements. Games will be graphically in the range of PSX or PSP games, meaning true 3D gaming is headed to Android. Titles currently being shown off seem to be focused around some older PSX as well as new PSP offerings, with God of War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and LittleBigPlanet possibly on tap, and future plans for titles which incorporate augmented reality features.

In terms of release, it's possible that the phone and ecosystem could be introduced as early as October of this year, but we have yet to confirm.

Right now we're working on getting even more detail about the phone and partnership, but we can tell you now that this is not a random rumor -- we have reason to believe that what we've heard and seen is real and coming to market. It makes perfect sense in a way -- Google gets a much-needed push into the gaming and entertainment space for Android, while Sony (via its partnership with Ericsson) finally delivers the PlayStation phone users have been wanting. We see it as a major win for both companies and the consumer... and we always need another distraction. Stay tuned to this space for updates as we get them, and in the meantime, start socking away the pennies.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/11/excl ... g-platfor/

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So, any interest? Couldn't begin to justify it myself... (Hit the link for mockup pics etc)

EDIT - There's currently no word on stickers, CC

What’s the point of the PSP then?

It's fantastic for when you're laid in bed with the flu.

Yes but a iPhone can do much of that plus make calls.

Depends how you like your games - you can have the same sort of simplistic games over and over again on your iPhone, or... oh.

iPhone hasn't got Everybody's Tennis, which is chuffing brilliant.

Err, yup, but the PSP has good games and good graphics.

To be honest if I am stuck in bed I would rather use the Xbox and big screen TV. Though travelling is another matter. The problem with the PSP on the move is that you need to carry loads of discs containing the games. Whereas the iPhone has them all installed if you were prepared.

The PSPGo doesn't use discs, games are all downloaded onto memory. I have a slim but the discs take hardly any room.

Um, you can do that on a PSP. In fact on a PSP Go, that's the only way you can do it. I have about 10 games on the memory stick in my PSP, so I rarely bother to carry more than a couple of UMDs as well now and only then if I'm going to be away for a while. Admittedly, the cost model on the PSP Store needs some work but now they've got the essentials range and usually decent monthly offers, you can fill up say an 8GB stick with PSP games for probably less than the price of a couple of PS3/Xbox games.

And with all due respect to the iPhone games market, which I've actually spent a lot of money in, 8 or so PSP games will last you an awful lot longer than the same disk space's worth of iPhone games.

Jon