Sony Ericsson: No need for Xperia Play 2

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 6 September, 2011

Xperia Play "won't be outperformed quickly".

Sony Ericsson believes the Xperia Play smartphone is powerful enough to hold its own in the near future - and poured cold water on calls for an Xperia Play 2.

Xperia Play launched earlier this year as the world's first PlayStation Certified smartphone.

It runs on Android 2.3 using a 1GHz processor with the Qualcomm Adreno 205 GPU, a four inch 854 x 480 display, a five megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and stereo speakers.

Despite it only being out for half a year, some have expressed concern that Xperia Play will soon be outstripped in the power stakes by beefier smartphones - including those with dual core processors.

Not so, Dominic Neil-Dwyer, head of market development at Sony Ericsson, told Eurogamer.

"It's devices for what devices do," he said. "This device, with the GPU integration, has been optimised for gameplay. Bearing in mind when we talk to the high-end publishers, they're very precious about the devices their games are going to be displayed upon, particularly those that are coming in from outside of mobile. They're very much impressed.

"In terms of what it can do within gaming, it's proven every time. And these are deep, technical people. They're all very impressed by the power of the device.

"When you go into things like dual core versus single core, what a lot of people don't understand or appreciate is the actual benchmarking and the ability of a device to do what they do, dual core doesn't mean it's faster. This is PlayStation Certified, and it's been proven by all of the discussions of a very technical nature we're having with publishers.

"It's not going to be outperformed that quickly."

Xperia Play was buoyed recently by the launch of Minecraft Pocket Edition and the announcement that FIFA 12 will launch on Xperia Play before other Android devices.

Sony Ericsson refuses to reveal sales data, but Neil-Dwyer said Xperia Play was "meeting expectations". "We've always viewed Q4, just because of the way the gaming industry works and the smartphone industry works, as a key period in time.

"We're very pleased with how it's going. It's meeting expectations, but our expectations for the end of the year are a lot higher."

Still, with the impending launch of the iPhone 5, some have wondered when Sony Ericsson will launch an Xperia Play 2.

"Right now our big focus is on improving the experience of Xperia Play, bringing face chat, video calling with Skype, and movies and more software updates, because we can, and bringing better games," Neil-Dwyer countered. "That's our focus.

"We're trying to create a new market. That's our thrust right now, to build a great device. It will keep improving. We'll keep upgrading the experience, the software and the games you get with it."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 6 months ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Widge #1 6 months ago

    Sure. Right up until Suite appears on more powerful phones and the software outstrips what the Play can do.

  • Jacksie66 #2 6 months ago

    At least its doin better than the n-gage...

  • kestral #3 6 months ago

    "Sony Ericsson refuses to reveal sales data" guess that means they're not proud of how much it has sold, or they would be boosting about it.
    Edited by 1 at 06/09/11 @ 13:46

  • Dizzy #4 6 months ago

    "Still, with the impending launch of the iPhone 5, some have wondered when Sony Ericsson will launch an Xperia Play 2. "

    Surely nobody would put those two in the same sentence?

  • HyperTails #5 6 months ago

    This things price has really plummeted, and from what i've read over the last few weeks its bombed and people aren't interested in it.

    Had potential, but its too expensive and I want dedicated games on a handheld, which is why i'm getting a Vita.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #6 6 months ago

    WVGA Android phones ranked by GlBenchmark performance:

    [link url=http://g lbenchmark.com/result.jsp?benchmark=glpro20&orderby=405&scre en-group=true&screen-group-value=1&submi=OK&screen=2&os=0&ve rsion=all&certified_only=1&brand=all
    ]http://gl benchmark.com/result.jsp?benchm...[/link]

    Xperia Play is halfway down the second page...

  • Daeltaja #7 6 months ago

    Haven't see anyone with one of these yet.

  • NotSoSlim #8 6 months ago

    Updated hands on have said how much the phone has improved. Using original reviews now mean nothing as they have updated phone alot

  • TFM_Excalibur #9 6 months ago

    Yet they are using minecraft to demonstrate the power of the machine, these are going the way of the dodo, havent shifted a single unit at work since launch.

  • Ryze #10 6 months ago

    "...and bringing better games," Neil-Dwyer added as an after-thought.

  • Quak #11 6 months ago

    Not interested. My phone is for making calls and battery life on phones these days is bad enough without using them as games machines. For games machines I have a DS, 3DS, PSP and soon a Vita, which as dedicated games devices offer a much better experience.

  • vizzini #12 6 months ago

    @HyperTails

    Well I caught up with a friend yesterday to backup his business laptop& database, who bought an iPhone 4 (direct from Apple) a few weeks back (when his business iPhone 3GS failed with the known home button fault).

    He's been having issues with O2 reception(like most of us), so I had a little look to see if it reported the loss of coverage (as a percentage) like Android does; and needless to say, I was a little shocked by how sparse of OS features/information the latest iOS seems in comparison to Android 2.3.3.

    Anyway I showed him the Xperia Play and he happily played on it while I ran updates and backed up. He was suitable impressed and entertained by it; and a little put out by the £200 differential in price paid off contract, and is seriously thinking of trading the iPhone 4.

  • Subdominator #13 6 months ago

    Meeting expectations is corporate speak for selling bad. Why did they release it in the first place if they don't expect it to move a decent amount of numbers until Q4?

  • FogHeart #14 6 months ago

    - Want to carry one device around, something that can act as media player, phone, and portable games device. Yay!
    - Dislike touchscreen for games, much prefer buttons. Yay!
    - I like the flexibility of the Android OS, I want to browse Flash-enabled sites, and I particularly need to run an app that turns it into an FTP server. Yay!
    - I want to be able to carry around my entire music collection (60Gb) and several gigs worth of video. Oh.

  • Whitster #15 6 months ago

    I got one of these on saturday on a 12 month contract as I felt like sampling android for a year after two years of iphone and I've been proper impressed so far. One of the best things has been that all the Android emulators work with the gamepad.

  • Goffee #16 6 months ago

    I tried one for a few weeks and while it was fun to play with, there was nothing essential about it. The XP makes a nice emulator device, but everything else beyond the hardware failed to live up to expectation...

    http://ps p2roundup.blogspot.com/2011/09/...

  • Bennicus #17 6 months ago

    @kestral "or they would be boosting about it"
    Is that when two sony execs repeatedly sell each other the same phone in order to boost their sales stats?

  • Nuronv #18 6 months ago

    I was looking for a new phone when this came out. Even on launch day the specs were behind the times, the only thing this device has going for it is the control pad.

    "When you go into things like dual core versus single core, what a lot of people don't understand or appreciate is the actual benchmarking and the ability of a device to do what they do, dual core doesn't mean it's faster"
    This is very true....if the parts weren't standard industry parts that are clearly not at the cutting edge any more. This isn't an exotic device with a never seen before design. Its a standard phone with a slide out joypad.

    "This is PlayStation Certified, and it's been proven by all of the discussions of a very technical nature we're having with publishers"
    They have talked about it and its so awesome they put their name on it!

  • arcam #19 6 months ago

    the only thing this device has going for it is the control pad.

    True, but that alone is a rare and useful feature to have. What I want now is something with a slide out d-pad with keyboard, plus good hardware specs. That's something I'd consider ditching my Nexus One for.

  • fknetwork #20 6 months ago

    @MENTAL1ST
    I can assure you the benchmark tests you linked to are incorrect, go over to XDA forums and see for yourself how powerful the Xperia Play is, there aren't many devices out now which out perform it.


    I've had an Xperia Play since launch and it is honestly a fantastic android gaming device (and phone), Sony Ericsson has constantly bought updates out to improve the os to a point that it is a joy to use now, it's running the very latest android os along with all the latest SE os software.

    There is already a large selection of "Xperia Optimized" games (with many more planned) along with the normal android games, psone games and the emulation, playing all the old snes, n64, psone and mega drive games is superb with the gamepad, the emulation on its own will provide you with years of retro gaming!

    There is also now a very healthy hacking/development scene for the Xperia (and Arc), take a look over on XDA forums, we now have custom roms, kernals, PSXperia, etc

    My Play is overclocked to 1.7ghz (instead of the normal stock 1ghz), that speed along with the Xperias super fast DDR2 Ram means it now tops even the galaxy 2 dual core in the many benchmark tests, it's a seriously quick device once you overclock it! it runs anything you can throw at it.


    Most of the reviews on the Play's release were bad but to be frank it was deserved upto a point, the poor selection of xperia optimized games on release along with the MANY bugs (now fixed) and lack of features (also pretty much fixed) resulted in the bad reviews, if these places reviewed the device now I would put money on it that it got glowing reviews.

    The early days were rather rocky for the Play but things recently are looking great, if you like gaming do yourself a favor and grab one, you won't regret it! you can get them unlocked sim free for around £200 now if you look!
    Edited by 1 at 06/09/11 @ 16:09

  • arcam #21 6 months ago

    My Play is overclocked to 1.7ghz

    Wow, impressive! Any significant drawbacks? Stability, battery life etc. And how much do you notice the difference in everyday use, not games?

  • Whitster #22 6 months ago

    @fknetwork

    I wouldnt mind knowing about the overclocking process for android, any.site you would recommend?

  • Collymilad #23 6 months ago

    Jesus christ Sony, you really do talk shite.

    It was outperformed at release by phones that were ALREADY OUT.

    WAKE UP.

  • meanmrmustard #24 6 months ago

    I'm perfectly happy with the Xperia Play 1 as it is anyway, I have it as my portable emulating device and a bit of galaxy on fire but apart from that hopefully the Vita will serve any other portable gaming needs I might have.

  • fknetwork #25 6 months ago

    @archam & Whitster
    XDA Forums are fantastic for everything relating to android,
    The only side effect of running the Play at 1.7ghz is the reduced battery life, it actually overclocks to 1.9ghz without any problems too!

    Overclock Details - [link url=http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1176502
    ]http://fo rum.xda-developers.com/showthre...[/link]
    Xperia Play General: [link url=http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.p hp?f=1091&order=desc
    ]http://fo rum.xda-developers.com/forumdis...[/link]
    My name over on XDA is FK1983 :)


    People that say this phone isn't powerful really haven't got a clue what they are chatting about, the Xperia Play out performs the Samsung Galaxy 2, already proven! but you know, haters are going to hate no matter how good the device is, funny really as its them missing out :p
    Edited by 2 at 06/09/11 @ 20:52

  • Whitster #26 6 months ago

    Cheers bro, gotta say I love mine so far.

  • informed1 #27 6 months ago

    @fknetwork
    There's nothing wrong with that benchmark, it is used by handset manufacturers to test the gpu performance of their phones. There are a few phones which vastly out perform the Xperia Play but they won't get games which are optimised for them to take advantage of their hardware. That just the way mobile hardware is every 6 months something more powerful is released. PS any phone using the omap 4 soc has dual channel ddr2 memory aswell.
    Edited by 1 at 06/09/11 @ 21:16

  • Marshall2008 #28 6 months ago

    No one wants the first one so why make a 2nd one, especially with the vita on the way.

  • fknetwork #29 6 months ago

    @informed1

    As I said before, those benchmark results are not accurate and they are certainly NOT used by any of the major phone manufacturers lol, it is an unreliable benchmark, the results show this very clearly, a HTC Desire beating a Samsung Galaxy lol, A Nexus S outperforming the Xperia Play and Xperia Arc when in reliability both the Play and Arc are leagues ahead :p

    Edited by 2 at 06/09/11 @ 22:55

  • informed1 #30 6 months ago

    @fknetwork
    It shows a Desire HD which has the same soc(system on chip) and a lower resolution screen beating the Arc and Xperia Play. The Nexus S beats the galaxy s (which uses the same soc) and the other devices because it is using newer drivers.Which is also one of the reasons why the Xperia play beats other phones with the same soc.
    Glbenchmark is a lot more reliable as a GPU benchmark than Quadrant.

  • fknetwork #31 6 months ago

    @informed1
    You are wrong plain and simple, I've had a desire hd and its performance is very poor compared to either of the Xperias (Arc and Play), I won't keep arguing with you as its clear you have these incorrect facts zapped into your brain.

    As I said before, if you want to see the true performance of the Play and Arc go to XDA, then you will see just why the Play outperforms even the Galaxy 2 and HTC Sensation.


    I would much rather trust the words of many actual android game developers and android chip makers than you, no offence!
    Edited by 2 at 10/09/11 @ 10:23