FEB. 13, 2011 • Sony Ericsson unveiled the Xperia Play, a new  smartphone that can play video games. Similar in format to the PSP Go, the Xperia Play runs on the Android OS, and supports the new PlayStation Suite of classic titles. The new smartphone is the first handset to be certified for the PlayStation Suite, which is also open to non-Sony devices.

Impact: Back in 2003 Nokia had hoped to truly combine a mobile phone with a dedicated gaming portable device, but due to several design flaws the product never gained significant traction despite Nokia’s long time success a handset manufacturer.  Today, gaming on mobile phones is fairly ubiquitous though largely popular due low (or free) software pricing, convenience and particularly due to touch screens that enable great ease of play for new kinds of games. The biggest issue with touch screen gaming are poor controls for more traditional and hugely popular action games that require precise input options virtual buttons simply don’t offer.  While the Xperia Play is not the only modern smartphone with buttons for gaming, for a little while, it is the only one with actual PlayStation branded games.  Given the immense competition in the both portable gaming from Nintendo and Sony, as well as from iOS and other Android platforms, DFC does not expect the Xperia to gain large initial traction though it is more likely to find a sustainable niche than the ill fated N-Gage.