Sony Working on Gaming Platform/Phone for Android

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Engadget is reporting from “reliable sources” that Sony is working on an Android gaming platform and an Android gaming phone. The above is Engadget’s mockup of what such a device might look like, and while they admit it probably doesn’t do the actual device justice, it does get the point across.

According to their sources;

The D-pad is here, but instead of the small joystick, the device will have what was described as a “long touch pad” for analog controls, along with standard PSP buttons and shoulder buttons. The phone has a large display, described as being between 3.7 and 4.1 inches with WVGA or better resolution, a 5 megapixel camera that we’re told might not be final, and it’ll likely have a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU on board. The phone is mostly black with some silver highlights, and the gamepad area is white / silver in color. Apparently it’s currently branded as a Xperia device, but it looks like it will carry PlayStationbranding as well. Those who’ve seen the phone say it looks “pretty damn sexy.”

Now the extra exciting part about this to me is the fact that this isn’t just about said device, but its about Sony creating a gaming platform (and maybe a multiplayer Playstation network for their Android games?) which would give Google the gaming push it needs. This kind of makes sense for Sony as well. Think about it… Microsoft is pushing their XBox Live platform on their Windows Phone 7 devices, so just like Xbox vs PS3 it makes sense for Sony to push a cell phone gaming platform in response. And since Sony doesn’t have their own UI in the market, why not use one that is already growing at an amazing rate like Android?

Engadget goes on to talk about how the games “will be graphically in the range of PSX or PSP games, meaning true 3D gaming is headed to Android. Titles currently being shown off seem to be focused around some older PSX as well as new PSP offerings, with God of War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and LittleBigPlanet possibly on tap, and future plans for titles which incorporate augmented reality features.”

Exciting stuff for a cell phone, right?

They also say that there will be a separate section of the Android Market for these games (which bring further conviction to the fact that Google is working with Sony and might allow this to become their premiere gaming platform), and that this section will probably only be available to the initial Sony device but that it may open up to other devices as well.

Anyone else think an Android Playstation Network would be kinda cool?

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  • mrjoeyloke

    Yup! If it comes to t mobile it would be a whole lot cooler!

  • raul

    THAT IS SOOOO AWESOME… not to be a pessimist (I am a T-mobile employee), but the exclusive rights may just be sold to directly to verizon. Just because they push out a lot more money for better hardware than t-mobile

    • Raul,

      You’d think Sony would be smart enough to make it a non exclusive device, right? More devices equal more players on the platform, no?
      It’d be really sad if any company got the exclusivity.

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  • john

    problem with a hardcore gaming phone is that the battery life will be dead by the afternoon. hopefully Sony can find a solution for this, but most likely not.

    • John,

      Good point. Battery life would be a major factor.

  • Andrew

    Eh, I don’t think this will be a good thing. Sony is planning on charging 100$ for PSN. I have both the ps3 and the Xbox 360 and psn is nothing compared to xbox live. Live is much more user friendly and easier to play with friends. I don’t think a playstation android phone would be the best for sony to develop.

    • Andrew,

      When is Sony charging for PSN? They have their new PSN paid account and that gibes u new demos and betas etc. But its not required, its optional.
      I agree that Xbox Live is a lot better though too, wonder if it’ll translate to the mobile scene. You think WinMo 7s Xbox Live will be better than Sony’s Mobile PSN network?

  • Breck

    Well I Like the idea but I like my G1 and PSP separate (soon to be G2) Wonder if we can root this phone overclock it make the run super smooth and I wonder will there be custom firmware for PSP

  • Nazrye

    why must it run on snapdragon,hummingbird isalot better than the snapdragon processor

    • Nazrye,

      Hummingbird is owned by Samsung is why 🙂 The might not want to sell it to competitors just yet or Sony might not want to use their chip, eh who knows.