I've been an iPhone user since day dot, starting with an imported North American 2G model in 2007. I upgraded to a 3G not long after the Australian release and recently picked up an iPhone 4 after being unable to locate an HTC Desire HD. So when Sony Ericsson approached me with the opportunity to trial its new Xperia Play (read: PlayStation Phone), I was eager to see how tough the transition would be to a new platform and its differing ways of doing things.

　　Rather than juggle two phones, I wanted to give the Play my full attention, making it my only handset for the full trial period. Android's user interface was easy enough to get to grips with, and I immediately began liking the subtle changes, like the window shades notification system that marks new activity and events with a drag-down banner at the top of the screen.

　　While Apple continues to shake its boob-free app iron fist of certification at consumers, Google appears far more lenient with giving its thumbs-up on Android. If you've ever lost your phone only to call it and find you've had it on silent, the existence of apps that can receive an SMS from another phone, turn off silent mode, and crank up your ringer volume to locate it are a godsend. Likewise, though sitting in a grey legal area, Android is littered with a multitude of classic game console emulator applications, all waiting to turn your mobile into a portable version of the experiences you own on home consoles.

　　Is it a phone? Is it a plane? No, it's hybrid technology!

　　Platform eccentricities aside, since the Xperia Play is being marketed primarily at gamers who recognise the Sony brand, I was eager to see if the Play could capture and then keep my attention. For a full overview on what the Xperia Play is, and some of its specs, watch our Crosshairs segment below.

　　So, how well does it work? Boiled down to its absolute core, the Xperia Play is at its most basic level the ill-fated PlayStation Portable Go with added touch-screen support bolted on to an Android phone. Like the Go, it won't take UMD games, instead relying on digital downloads--and because it's an Android device, it will support everything from simple Flash games on websites through to advanced downloadable mobile games, as well as specialty PlayStation titles. The handset comes bundled with a handful of familiar franchises, like a slimmed-down version of EA's FIFA series, a Virtua Fighter-style Bruce Lee Kung Fu fighting game, and a decent port of Sony's own Crash Bandicoot. Sony promises that new PS One titles will sell for around six Aussie dollars each, and the company has already announced plans to bring titles like MediEvil, Syphon Filter, and Destruction Derby to the device once it goes on sale.

　　The big draw card of the Play is that, because it opens longways, the lower sliding panel reveals the iconic four PlayStation face buttons--square, triangle, circle, and cross--a physical (and clicky) D pad, two virtual analog sticks, and a pair of shoulder buttons. Sony Ericsson has tapped the team responsible for designing the DualShock 3 controller, so the phone even has miniaturised versions of the Start and Select buttons. It's not uncomfortable to hold for short bursts, though we could see the potential for hand cramping during extended play sessions.

　　Sliding apart the two halves initiates the PlayStation menu system, which you can navigate by scrolling your finger across the simplified XMB-style menus or by using the D pad. Tabs separate Xperia Play games from the unwashed masses of regular downloadable games, and by selecting a search icon in the upper-right corner of the screen, games that have been specifically optimised for use with the phone appear in their own browsable list.

　　Unfortunately, while the interface is slick, things came a bit unstuck when we actually started playing some of the games. While we quite liked that we didn't have to share screen real estate with fingers that obscured the action, the digital analog touchpads left us cold. Sony Ericsson is making them mappable for developers, and if they choose not to, in some cases players can map them to suit their own custom layout. But--and this is a big but--it was clear that across the games that included support for the little flat nipples out of the box, they didn't behave uniformly across all games. When they do work, it's great, but some were far more responsive than others, some were sluggish, and others stopped working intermittently while playing.

　　As you'd hope, Crash was one of the better examples of gaming on the device, and it ran smoothly and responsively. It gave us a good indication (despite being a minor technical showcase) of what the phone can bring to the table, and we're hoping the Play has the technical nous to handle PlayStation 2 games into the future.

　　Since the handset hasn't yet gone on sale, we're forgiving it the limited amount of Play-specific content available to buy and play from third-party developers, though we were extremely disappointed with the gaping holes in the Android games channel for official touch-screen content. Aussie developer Halfbrick's Fruit Ninja was here, but when we went looking for other top-rated and downloaded iPhone games, like Firemint's Flight Control, Battleheart, or Tiny Wings, we were presented with either blatant knock-offs or failed search results. Despite Android clawing at Apple's market share--and boasting significantly more manufacturers making devices for the operating system--it's clear that with the exception of a handful of cross-platform developers, if you want to play the popular games that your iPhone friends are enjoying, iOS still leads the charge.

　　Most of the games we grabbed for the Play included a small installer app that would then link up to grab the rest of the game, usually between 200-500MB. Because of this, you'll want to load up on games over Wi-Fi at home before you go out. Large apps aren't exclusive to Android, but given both the lack of quality of small, cheap Flash apps, and the device itself being geared towards heftier, more graphically intensive content, it (ironically) makes this less of a device of convenience. That caveat aside, the games we did download and play looked and sounded good and were of the quality you'd expect from a dedicated gaming handheld. We have to give the Play props for its audio quality, and its unique speaker design and placement made game audio loud and crisp rather than the muffled garbage you normally get when held in landscape mode.

　　This is a phone-turned-gaming-device, but whether it's officially part of the family or just a distant cousin, there are bound to be expectations from PlayStation loyalists around content sharing. The elephant in the room is cross-platform support, and in February, Sony Ericsson big cheese Nathan Vautier confirmed that owners will be asked to stump up and repurchase content that they have already bought on the PlayStation Network for their phone. A bit of a kick in the teeth for Sony fans who, in all likelihood, probably already own a PSP and are interested in reducing the number of devices they currently carry.

　　So is it time to ditch iOS for Android, or make the move from Android to the Xperia Play?

　　Ultimately, the decision to make the switch will be driven by two key factors: handset features and the content available on the devices. If gaming is one of your primary motivators, Android is certainly more open than Apple's iOS, but frankly, we'd sooner settle for the middle ground between nanny state sanitisation and the digital Wild West. Even with Sony's announcement of more PS One titles coming down the line, and as much as we like the Xperia Play with its tactile gaming, buying in straightaway puts a lot of faith in Sony and third-party mobile devs to deliver on promises of more content at reasonable prices. It's a bold first step, and we're eager to see what Sony does with this handset, and potentially any of its successors, before we plonk down any of our own hard-earned cash. What could help make this more attractive to gamers? In an ideal world: a phone that interfaces with all of our existing and future PlayStation content such as Play TV segments, bought and rented films, and the ability to play games we've already purchased while we're on the move.

　　The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play goes on sale in May/early June in all major Australian carriers. Read the full handset review at CNET Australia.

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