The Alleged Playstation Phone Looks … Good!

By  |  Sunday, December 5, 2010 at 4:07 pm

The folks at Engadget continue to get the scoop on Sony Ericsson’s rumored Playstation Phone. This time, they found a pair of YouTube videos showing a little bit of the device in action.

And so far, it’s promising in its simplicity. Rather than gum up the works with Sony’s Xperia operating system, the phone is running stock Android, supposedly version 2.3. Playstation games are accessed through a Playstation app.

Hopefully, it stays this way. I don’t think Sony needs to heavily modify Android to make a good gaming phone, as long as the games are easily accessible and on par with Sony’s PSP handheld. Like the Xbox Live app on Windows Phone 7, a standalone app could help act as a unifying hub for the Playstation Network.

Indeed, if the finished product isn’t much different than what’s shown here — and if there is a finished product in the first place — the biggest question is whether the games will be actual PSP titles. And don’t forget that a PSP2 is rumored to be in the works; ideally Sony is working on a single platform for all its handheld gaming devices.

One other observation: This Playstation Phone has shoulder buttons, so it’s got every input that the current PSP offers, and then some. (Note how the touch pads could act as two analog inputs instead of one.)

 
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  1. Mike Cerm Says:

    This this is going to crash and burn so hard, I almost can't believe that Sony is actually going to go through with it. Sony can't manage to sell PSP's as standalone units. So, they're going to raise the price ($250 on contract for one of these, I'm sure), and couple it with exorbitant monthly data costs? Overall, I'd say Sony has a pretty competitive device here… It will easily rival Nintendo's Virtual Boy for "Biggest Portable Console Flop", and Microsoft Kin for "Worst Mobile Phone Strategy".

    I am curious to see how well the analog pads actually work – they've got to be better than what's on the PSP now. Unfortunately, I'm sure the placement of those sticks will be another cause for the total failure of this device. I have tried landscape-QWERTY phones of a similar size (like the Epic 4G), and always find the center of the keyboard very difficult to reach.

  2. randy Says:

    Yea just like how the Kin is coming back to Verizon they are so failed..

  3. Mike Cerm Says:

    The Kin devices are actually reasonably nice feature phones with great Zune integration. The problem was Verizon trying to price it like a full-fledged smartphone. Put it up against all the LG and Samsung crap that Verizon sells, and Kin is a winner. Tack on a $30 data plan, and it's a loser.

    The same problem is at work here, except worse; the PSP itself is already overpriced, and not doing well in the market. Now they're building even more expensive hardware AND bundling it with monthly service plan.

    It's like Sony is totally blind to their competition – the DS and the iPod Touch. The PSPhone does nothing improve the value proposition against those devices.

  4. Edward Says:

    Looks like every other android phone. buttons buttons and buttons which was a copy of the iOS of buttons buttons and buttons. YAWN.

  5. Reynaldo Rivera Says:

    If I can get this as a standalone unit without the phone, this can easily shoot itself high up the "want" list.

    I need some kind of PDA type device, and I already plan on getting iPad v.2. Since I'll already have iOS I'll just need Android. I'm also looking for a PSP so this will fit the bill very nicely. Hopefully more PSP games get a digital release.