I promised a separate post dedicated to the new Playstation Suite launching at around a similar time as the NGP so here it is. The reason this is getting a dedicated post, is because this news is actually BIGGER than the news on the next generation portable (notice how I made the word bigger, bigger. Very clever Jeremy).
The reason why this news is so big is because it applies not only to Sony users, but all Android device users alike, the Playstation Suite, is a software framework that allows all Android phones to play Playstation games.
First off, it was definitely a good idea to have decided to make Playstation Suite available on all Android devices and not just Xperia handsets as the Xperia doesn’t have quite the brand equity and popularity to be able to sufficiently carry such a powerful brand as the Playstation. Anyway, Sony has now single – handedly increased the gaming potential of all Android devices, which is great for Google and great for anyone who has or is going to purchase an Android device.
Most importantly, they can’t put this on iOS devices, and given there was no formal announcement of iOS support, I’m pretty sure they won’t, and even though Sony have made some pretty abominable decisions in the past, surely they’re not THAT vacuum-headed to screw this one up. iPhone devices are clearly Sony Ericsson’s main competitors, and giving your competition an exclusive service is like introducing your girlfriend to *insert hot guy here*. I trust that Sony won’t pull a ridiculous act and make an iPhone version.
The Playstation Suite will also be compatible with NGP obviously, and I’m guessing that Sony porting the PS Suite onto smartphones are hoping they will entice users into getting the full experience by purchasing an NGP.
Credit: Engadget.
Demo of what gameplay will be like on Android smartphone running Playstation Suite.
Overall, Sony were a little short on details about this Playstation Suite, however I’m sure they’ll give us more information when it comes closer to release date. We still gotta wait a year before this comes out, I wonder whether the Xperia Play will be coming before this device, and whether it will come with the Playstation Suite, or not. Sony Ericsson haven’t officially announced the existence of the Xperia Play so we don’t even know if this whole nonsense is legit news at all. Which brings me to my next point.
I REALLY REALLY WISH THE XPERIA PLAY IS A LIE
Now that we have this whole Playstation Suite stuff do we really need a gaming handset that will only have one differentiating feature, tactile gaming buttons. As you can see from the photos above, the Playstation Suite will use overlay touch buttons to simulate normal Playstation controls. Now that we have this new software framework, the Xperia Play (the new name for the ubiquitous Playstation Phone) is destined to fail harder than the PSP Go for the following reasons.
1. It looks stupid: This should actually be two points, but I’m combining them both because they both involve the notion of stupidity. The design is really really terrible, it's chunky and fat and looks like another low quality plasticky Samsung Phone. Sony generally pride themselves on high class industrial design but this is just abominable, I vomited (inside) when I first saw it. Secondly, holding a smartphone with Playstation controls makes YOU look gay. You would look like the lamest try-hard holding one of them.
I would not sacrifice my dignity to carry this around
2. Potential market is small: The simple fact is, not many people will buy it, we can almost rule out the entirety of the female population as no girl would want to be seen holding a gaming smartphone that replaces slide out texting goodness for game controls. Also, core gamers will most likely go for the NGP given it’s not priced outrageously, and then given the availability of Playstation games on Android smartphones with the new Playstation Suite service no one is going to bother switching.
3. Cannibalisation: Finally, the Xperia Play would suffer a reduction in sales volumes at the hands of the much more capable Xperia Arc. Sony need not also to dilute the strength of the Playstation brand by combining it into some corny name like 'Xperia Play' or joining with the Xperia family at all.
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