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Possible Sony Xperia Play 2 prototype surfaces eight years after it was canceled
Much sleeker than the Play 1 and looks like it had a 3D gimmick on board
Gaming phones are commonplace now that mobile gaming has reached a level of maturity, although most half-decent phones can play modern games to a pretty good standard these days anyway. Rewind back to 2011, and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 1 was a unique proposition with its slide-out PlayStation gamepad and stereo speakers. A follow-up was sadly canceled, but it appears as though images of a prototype have surfaced all these years later.
If you couldn't get enough of Dirk and Daphne from the original Dragon's Lair, they're back in the arcade sequel. Dragon's Lair 2 was originally released back in 1991 on arcade laserdisc machines, enabling the beautiful 2D art from master animator Don Bluth to shine through. Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp is five dollars on the Play Store (the same price as the original) and is compatible with Android 1.5 and up.
There's an almost obsessive quality to equipping and upgrading your character that makes the RPG genre so addictive for some players. OrangePixel's long-awaited Heroes Of Loot understands that and strips out all the unnecessary fluff like story, character development, and whiz-bang 3D graphics... to make room for more loot. The game is available now on the Play Store in a $2 paid version or a free ad-supported version.
Grand Theft Auto III, the car-stealing, open world game that came to Android in celebration of the series beginning ten long years ago, got a nice update today, bumping it to version 1.3. Besides the usual bug fixes, the GTA update expands the game's compatibility to ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer Prime and the Medion Lifetab, while also adding support for Gamestop's wireless game controller, and enhanced controls for other gamepads and Sony's Xperia Play.
Sony was among one of the first manufacturers to be completely transparent about bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to its devices. Throughout the process, the company has posted numerous entries on its blog regarding the process, where they were at with various devices, and even offered up downloads of the beta product for advanced users and developers to test out.
I know, I know. 4.0.2 sounds a lot like Android 4.0, but it isn't. It's actually Gingerbread 2.3.4, and Verizon Xperia Play owners who wish to rock out like it's May 2011 need only mash the update button.
Do you like Backbreaker Football? Would you like to do that, but with skates and a big stick? Well today the makers of Backbreaker Football have released Icebreaker Hockey. "Crushing checks, slick moves, and super-addictive gameplay" awaits -- should you choose to download. It also has Xperia PLAY support, achievements, online leader boards, and unlockable items. If you've got a device running 2.1 and up, give it a shot.
Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play, also known as the Playstation Phone, will be hitting AT&T's HSPA+ network on September 18th for a mere $50, finally allowing gamers rocking Ma Bell to let go some of that envy towards VZW. This portable gaming/smartphone hybrid sports a 4-inch screen, 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 5MP rear shooter, and Android 2.3 out of the box; what really makes this device unique, though, it its slide-out Playstation gamepad and exclusive gaming content.
Minecraft, a game that attracted almost 12 million players, over 3 million of whom paid for it, has long been teased for Android by its creator Markus Persson of Mojang. As of today, it's finally available on the Android Market for $6.92 or as a free demo. As expected, the game is currently limited to the Xperia Play - the rest of us will just have to do away with this trailer:
Good news, Xperia Play, neo, and arc owners: the worlds greatest custom ROM, CyanogenMod, is coming soon to a device near you! Thanks to some newly submitted code, support for these devices can be expected to hit the CyanogenMod repositories soon, and nightlies will be available shortly after that.
We've known that Minecraft is coming to Android for some time now - we even witnessed a video of the game in action on the Xperia Play back in May. What we didn't know, however, was when it would become available on the Market and how much it would cost for eager gamers to take everyone's favorite pixelated game with them on the go.
It's been quite some time since we first heard rumblings of the PlayStation phone. The concept - a high-end Android phone mashed together with familiar PlayStation controls - seemed like one that could revolutionize gaming on Android. In theory, this device could have done just that.
This is quite the deal if you've been thinking about getting an Xperia PLAY: with a new two-year agreement, you can get the one-and-only Playstation phone for less than one dollar at both Amazon and Wirefly - $0.01 and $0.99 respectively, to be exact. If you're already on VZW, you can still score this device for $50 with a two-year agreement renewal.
[Review] Age Of Zombies Achieves Impossible: Comes With Virtual Joysticks That Don't Inspire Suicide
Call me a stickler, but I think games should play well before looking pretty. I think they should be functional, polished and most of all, not frustrating. This seems to elude most developers who insist on using on-screen joysticks for their products, as more often than not they're a buggy, non-responsive mess.
If you're the proud owner of the recently released Xperia PLAY, then you'll probably welcome what Sony Ericsson announced today via its product blog: the Xperia PLAY Experience Pack. Sounds pretty intense, right? The contents: a multimedia dock, pocket USB cable, "music cable to connect the dock to your audio system," and three free games from Gameloft. Ah, that last part got your attention, yes?
Roughly two months ago, Halfbrick - the company behind the infuriatingly addictive Fruit Ninja - released its latest and seemingly greatest Android game: Age of Zombies. The otherwise praiseworthy game had one major flaw, however - it was only available for Sony Ericsson's Xperia PLAY, which at the time wasn't widely available. This resulted in understandable disappointment and displeasure in the Android gaming community - our own Artem Russakovskii used the weekly app roundup to publicly express his desire to play (no pun intended) the game.
Looks like Verizon isn't waiting until May 25th to ship the Xperia Play - at least a few customers have received confirmation that their phones have already been mailed.
Like clockwork, the thumb-hungry Xperia Play from Sony Ericsson went up on VZW's site, ready for some early pre-order action. It will set you back $199.99 on a 2-year contract and should ship out May 25th to be in your hands by May 26th, all for free.