After considerable speculation and no shortage of hype, mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson teased a forthcoming smartphone designed for playing video games in a much talked about commercial on Super Bowl Sunday.
On the grandest marketing stage of them all, Sony Ericsson finally debuted the Sony Xperia Play, a “PlayStation certified smartphone.”
Although the full slate of details on the Xperia Play won’t be available until Feb. 13, there’s a palpable buzz in the tech and gaming worlds today over the forthcoming product arrival.
What is known for certain about the device is that it will run on Google’s Android operating system and sports a sliding screen which serves up familiar game controls to those found on the PlayStation Portable (directional pad, four face buttons and Start and Select buttons.)
While there are some modifications from the control mechanisms of the PSP, avid PlayStation gamers will likely find the transition to Sony Xperia Play a comfortable one.
Expectations for the new gaming-centric smartphone are already immensely high, given that Sony’s current generation PlayStation 3, has sold better than 41 million units worldwide. The PlayStation Portable, however, has performed even better, selling an estimated 60 million units worldwide.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4lxuoGgbxs&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]