Hasta La Gadget!

If there was one thing that bothered us most about the Xperia Play, it was the dearth of original PlayStation games we could, you know, play on it. That’s getting a shot in the arm tonight with the introduction of five PS One titles to the Android Market: Syphon Filter, MediEvil, Cool Boarders 2, Destruction Derby, and Jumping Flash. Each is priced at £3.99 in the UK, with the first two games on the list also being available in five languages. That pricing translates to $6.38 when the games are accessed from the US, but we imagine the final pricing may differ once the Xperia Play lands stateside. And yes, the Xperia Play will be your only way to access these for now (R800i is its codename), leaving the rest of us Android PS One lovers with a bunch of games to envy and one less emulator to enjoy. The Android giveth, and the Android taketh away.

Update: Sony Ericsson wants you to know that since the Xperia Play is, in fact, an Android handset, it won’t be restricted to just those five PS One games — it will also feature quite a few titles that you can also find on the Android Market and even a few temporary exclusives like Backstab and Dungeon Defenders Second Wave. Still, it’s a little light on actual PlayStation gaming… See the full list in the press release after the break.

Continue reading PlayStation One games appear in Android Market, predictably restricted to Xperia Play (update)

PlayStation One games appear in Android Market, predictably restricted to Xperia Play (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uh oh, the day has finally come. We just gathered from Joystiq (and confirmed ourselves) that the renowned Android first-gen PlayStation emulator, PSX4Droid, has been pulled from the Market. The reason? Its author, ZodTTD, said Google informed him that it was a matter of “Content Policy violation,” however the fact it’s taken eight months for Google to take action suggests it might have a little something to do with the imminent launch of the Xperia Play, which will have its own mechanism to power the original PlayStation’s games. Another mystery is that it looks like other emulators such as SNesoid (SNES), GameBoid (Game Boy) and, in particular, FPSe (PlayStation) appear to be safe for now, which might suggest that there are other reasons behind this removal; but still, the timing suggests otherwise. On the bright side, we can always rely on third-party app markets.

Update: Here’s a super generic statement we just received from Google regarding this matter:

“We remove apps from Android Market that violate our policies.”

Android PlayStation emulator PSX4Droid pulled from Market, timing pointing at Xperia Play (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While one group of Android phone makers is swinging towards locking their hardware down, Sony Ericsson is resolutely headed in the other direction. The Swedo-Japanese consortium has just announced it will provide a secure and legal way for eager Android hackers to gain full control of the bootloader on some of its upcoming 2011 Xperia line of phones. All four models are covered, the Xperia Play, Neo, Pro, and Arc, however you have to make sure you buy a handset that isn’t SIM-locked to a carrier and then there are territorial considerations to take into account. Warranties may still be voided by fooling around with your Xperia’s software (again, depends on individual handsets and markets) and SE warns gravely of the potential for “physical injuries or material damage” if you freak your Android into overheating or worse. So proceed with caution, but know that Sony Ericsson is by your side*.

* Subject to terms and conditions, repair charges may be incurred, Android upgrades are promised but never guaranteed.

Sony Ericsson will let you unlock the bootloader on new Xperia Android phones — subject to conditions originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, woe is us. Or, to be more precise, woe is us if we wanted the Xperia Play on the UK’s O2 network on the day of its release, April 1st. The British carrier has been candid in admitting it found software bugs on the Play and is holding back release of the gamer-friendly device until those have been ironed out. We appreciate its effort in “testing the phone non-stop for weeks” and its reluctance to grab a quick buck by releasing imperfectly baked goods, but a major question remains — if this isn’t an O2-specific software problem, and we’ve heard no peep of O2 customizing the Android 2.3 build on the Play, why are no other carriers signaling a similar delay? Vodafone is still aiming to deliver UK pre-orders by April 5th and there seems to be no indication of flawed software from others. Only thing we can think of, given that O2 has the white Xperia Play exclusive, is that the white phone curse has struck again.

[Thanks, Ed]

Update: Here’s what Sony Ericsson has to say on the matter:

“Sony Ericsson Xperia[TM] PLAY will be launching on 1st April across all UK mobile operator partners except for O2, who have decided to prolong the testing period in order to ensure that the software meets the requirements of its procedures. Sony Ericsson will be workingwith O2 over the next couple of weeks to expedite the process and ensure that O2 customers can soon join consumers across the UK in being able to enjoy the world’s first PlayStation certified smartphone.”

Xperia Play delayed by O2 UK due to software bugs, what are the other carriers doing? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Caption contest, video edition: Android gets its groove back originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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