Develop Bugs

Why is android so "meh" for games ;0(

ok its starting to annoy me now... but android has been around long enough and gotten a fairly large established user base that i cant see any excuse why our games are so CRAP compared to the iphone...
I refuse completly to buy an iphone.. in fact i point blank refuse to own any single apple product... i detest the level of control the force upon every one of there products... but as much as i try to argue the fact that my desire and android OS is superior to the iphone it falls flat on its face every time i see the games available for the iphone.... so what gives?
Is it that the hardware is so poor compared to the iphone it just cant cope with the games that work so well on the iphone? is it just that no one is making games
for android seriously yet?
I scan the market and see highly rated games like throttle coptor.. or abduction... i mean really? my 4-5 year old N95 had better gameplay !!!
I love my android in every other way ( not THAT way... god some peoples minds are in the sewer.. :0) ) but i just wish there were some decent games out there that could compete with the iphone ... i just dont know why!

Why bother arguing, who cares, you like your phone they like theirs. I bought a droid phone because it does what I want I could care less if it has ****ty games If I wanted to play good games on the move i'd by a DS or PSP.

If you take a look at Gameloft's games, you'll find they are pretty much close to their iPhone equivalents. Most of them are not available on the Market, but I like Dungeon Hunter and Nova.
The games market for Android is still fledgling, but expect it to improve dramatically over the next year.
Regards,
Dave

i was looking at a review on some of the gameloft titles ported from iphone.. and in pretty much every review it said the game was far inferior to the iphone... not so much graphicaly (although they did say they ran alot chopier on the desire) but the controls are meant to be awful... as for some reason the desire and other android devices cant cope half as well with multi touch controls?

the reason why is the apps sd issue.
iphones can use all of the 16/32 gb for app storage, android can only use the onboard RAM, which isnt bigger than 512mb usually. this limits the size of apps.
Up until now, developers have been hampered by the fact that every Android phone to date has had a relatively small amount of storage available for applications (a couple hundred megabytes as opposed to the iPhone’s many gigabytes). Apps are stored in the phone’s ROM rather than the phone’s removable (and cheaper) SD storage, which grants developers enhanced protection against having their apps pirated. But it’s also proven to be a handicap.
Many of the iPhone’s most popular applications are graphics intensive, rich games. But these games often require high quality visual assets to go with them. The iPhone handles these fine — you can download massive apps over Wi-Fi or through iTunes sync. On the other hand, while the newest Android phones are certainly capable of rendering high quality graphics, their ability to handle large apps is limited by the phone’s available storage. Yes, developers can choose to download their app’s assets to the SD card after the initial install, but this isn’t a good experience for the end user.
from now on, ie with Froyo and probably 3.0 gingerbread games can be stored on the sd card( apart from smoe kb files) this will encourage more game development.

bob dylan said:
the reason why is the apps sd issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not convinced this is totally accurate! Most of the better games just have a separate download which goes direct to SD card anyway.
Regards,
Dave

I find alot of people on xda (as good of a site this is) stuck in the past!
I mean "if i want to play good games i'll buy a ds?"
So you deem £400 plus for a device a good price for something you consider to be just a phone? I'm sorry but thats nuts!
Believe it or not the most fun to be had with a phone these days is not changing what the battery icon looks like.
And to the op games on android are picking up, this is somthing i've noticed in the short time i've been with android,
Nfs shift for example, DS? I think not!
It's even said to be better than the psp version.
Then we have Raging thunder 2, Monopoly classic HD, Lets golf, Hyper jump, Hungry shark, Anytime pool,
Hero of sparta, Backbreaker football, Sims 3 HD, Crush the castle, Nova,
Tiki towers and also out this month Reckless racing and Angry birds, all good games
And to round off my rant HTC packaged and sold the desire as many other manufactures do as a "Multimedia device"
And gaming takes more money as an industry today than music and Movies put together!
Put's on flame coat and hides! LOL a DS?

Chivalryyyy said:
i was looking at a review on some of the gameloft titles ported from iphone.. and in pretty much every review it said the game was far inferior to the iphone... not so much graphicaly (although they did say they ran alot chopier on the desire) but the controls are meant to be awful... as for some reason the desire and other android devices cant cope half as well with multi touch controls?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats because the desire dosent have multi touch, it only has dual touch, that ok when you need to say move a virtual joystick and press a button, but if you need to use 2 virtual joysticks or 2 x/y axis's the desire gets confused n f'ks up lol

better drivers .. better hardware.. for a PHONE this is very good... asphalt , super ko, talking tom etc... all very good graphics... but it is . at the end of the day ... a PHONE... until the they are fully converged... will have to stick to huge games on your sd card .

Chivalryyyy said:
ok its starting to annoy me now... but android has been around long enough and gotten a fairly large established user base that i cant see any excuse why our games are so CRAP compared to the iphone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're not crap at all:
4 Android 3D Games Worth Buying
A Look at Android Gaming: Video Overview of the Top Games Google’s OS Has to Offer
Android may have some catching up to do, but it's catching up fast

The Nexus One and the Desire use a Synaptics ClearPad 2000 touch sensor. Later HTC phones (e.g. EVO and Incredible) are using better touch sensor (see here for more details), and I expect this to be continued in the Ace/Desire HD and newer models.
So, it's not "Android's" fault - it's the hardware. That being said, there is no reason why the game developers couldn't tweak the controls to better suit the Nexus Ones/Desires touch sensor - they just tend not to bother because many of the games are direct iPhone ports.
Regards,
Dave

[Q] Hardcore or casual?

Just a quick question: Is this phone's gaming-thingies more for the hardcore or could potentially be for the hardcore? or is it geared toward the casual gamer? considering other platforms have Dead Space and NFS Shift? Having second thoughts

I'd say casual, it has xbox live integration however the current selection of games on offer are either overpriced or indie / casual orientated. ilomilo for example.

The whole idea of gaming on a mobile device is that it's casual. It's deigned for people who want to play a game while on the bus, during free time, in queues.
Yes, gaming on mobiles will improve but they'll always be casual. Why would someone want to play on a 3.7" screen when they have a large HDTV and XBOX / PS at home?
Even in technologically advanced games such as Dead Space, it's still designed to give you something to do when you have a little time to waste.

Casual, in fact, mobile gaming will always be consider casual in my opinion due to the fact that they have to last all day. I personally wouldn't take hardcore gaming serious on a phone when I have a laptop that can run just about any game.

WP7 - casual
IOS/Android -hardcore and casual, especially with HDMI out or video out. You basically have a Wii and a Playstation in your hand.
Smartphones are headed closer and closer to PC, remember that.

vetvito said:
Smartphones are headed closer and closer to PC, remember that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe mid range powered PC, not even a replacement to a decent specs gaming laptop. Maybe one day they will catch up to PS3/360 graphics power, but the GPU will never reach PC power due to being SoC. PC gaming is getting crazy powerful and if AMD does something, it looks like the resolution might get way high.
In other news, you can play Angry Birds on Wintel and Mac OS X.

Games on PC will be cross platform played with their mobile counterparts.

vetvito said:
Games on PC will be cross platform played with their mobile counterparts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would I want to play watered down versions of games? I will still choose computer over mobile any day, mainly because I don't have to make calls on my computer. Oh and
Don't see smartphones OS' being taken serious for hardcore gaming, unless you consider the tablet counterparts with the larger screen size.

A phone can't match the hardware performance of an Xbox 360, PS3 or a new generation PC because of the size constraints, battery restriction, etc. You can't really compare a game console that is always plugged to the power source to a phone, or even a tablet, that has to use a small battery.
Now, phones still get some really good games, but a console/pc will still be a better place for hardcore gamers.

Both.
They're the best games I've ever played on a mobile. Coming from years on Android I thought they had some decent games until I came over.
Some are Casual, some are "Hardcore" (especially since you describe NFS Shift as Hardcore, WP7 has NFS Undercover).
The Harvest is a pretty hardcore game for a mobile, as is Ilomilo. Max and the Magic Marker is a good platformer and Earthworm Jim was ofc already a SNES game. All of these games I've mentioned I'd have no problem playing on my Xbox so I'd call them hardcore.

Who said anything about matching hardware performance of today? Fact smartphones are headed closer and closer to PC capabilities. Its like you guys want to argue for fun, but this is a fact.
WP7 is lonely gaming. When im around my friend with a iphone, I can pull out my android phone and play against him. Everyone doesn't have an iphone, and everyone doesn't have a Android, but we can play against each other effortlessly.
Hardcore to me is everything beyond Angry birds style of gaming.

brummiesteven said:
The Harvest is a pretty hardcore game for a mobile, as is Ilomilo. Max and the Magic Marker is a good platformer and Earthworm Jim was ofc already a SNES game. All of these games I've mentioned I'd have no problem playing on my Xbox so I'd call them hardcore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently ilomilo is a game you can get on the Xbox live thing. One day, we might see something like Gears of War or any other Xbox like games on WP7 phones.
I do believe that because WP7 has Xbox live, which is infinity better than well, whatever Android and iOS uses, that it might have some potential for more "hardcore" gaming.
Plus, Microsoft has experience in gaming. They have the 360 and in some ways, PC. Apple and Google, not so much.

The only thing Xbox LIVE wins at is chat. Game Center pawns at everything else. And you know what Xbox LIVE is available on every other major smartphone OS.
Microsoft has a huge chance to take this market over, but right now their screwing it up.

vetvito said:
Game Center pawns at everything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And all the games with Game Center enable are casual. Unless you want to argue about how Pac Man and Angry Bird is consider hardcore.

This is supposed to be casual.
Sent from my Samsung Focus

canadariot2312 said:
Maybe mid range powered PC, not even a replacement to a decent specs gaming laptop. Maybe one day they will catch up to PS3/360 graphics power, but the GPU will never reach PC power due to being SoC. PC gaming is getting crazy powerful and if AMD does something, it looks like the resolution might get way high.
In other news, you can play Angry Birds on Wintel and Mac OS X.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, doesn't the new psp coming out have 4 graphics chips???
canadariot2312 said:
Apparently ilomilo is a game you can get on the Xbox live thing. One day, we might see something like Gears of War or any other Xbox like games on WP7 phones.
I do believe that because WP7 has Xbox live, which is infinity better than well, whatever Android and iOS uses, that it might have some potential for more "hardcore" gaming.
Plus, Microsoft has experience in gaming. They have the 360 and in some ways, PC. Apple and Google, not so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read that they are going to make a halo port. That would be pretty hard core.

canadariot2312 said:
And all the games with Game Center enable are casual. Unless you want to argue about how Pac Man and Angry Bird is consider hardcore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You obviously haven't played any Game Center games. Those two aren't even multi-player. But please let's not turn this into every other OS sucks except WP7.

nrfitchett4 said:
yeah, doesn't the new psp coming out have 4 graphics chips???
I've read that they are going to make a halo port. That would be pretty hard core.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Halo port? Isn't NOVA out, change the name and its the same thing as Halo.

vetvito said:
You obviously haven't played any Game Center games. Those two aren't even multi-player. But please let's not turn this into every other OS sucks except WP7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why not? According to you, every OS rocks except wp7.

nrfitchett4 said:
yeah, doesn't the new psp coming out have 4 graphics chips???
I've read that they are going to make a halo port. That would be pretty hard core.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The PSP2 is designed for one thing, gaming obviously, at least I hope Sony is marketing it as that.
I've only played Halo once and it seems pretty fun. Would be really cool if they had the energy sword on the port.
vetvito said:
You obviously haven't played any Game Center games. Those two aren't even multi-player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I have. It reminds me more of the Nintendo DS gaming, which is casual.

[Q] any good?

is this phone any good? how does it fare up against the iphone 4?

Android can do everything the iPhone 4 can't do, and the Xperia play has a larger screen, Gamepad, and what not?

thanks but i would prefer a more in-depth answer as to why and also if its a good phone or not (and why). thanks

KindaUndisputed said:
i would prefer a more in-depth answer as to why and also if its a good phone or not (and why). thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I have a video review,
...a "How is it after 2 months?" session to see if it's quality stays consistent,
...as well as a COMPLETE written review.
http://verytechnical.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/sony-ericsson-xperia-play-4g-review/
That in-depth enough for ya?
EDIT: Long story short, you can find a handheld gaming system that handles tactile, portable gaming nicely, but they always fall short for... pretty much all of those non-game functions users over 14 need. You can find a lot of smartphones that handle all those necessities, but the touch controls are horrid, and every other physical controller option violates the "fearsome foursome" of external controller flaws; including that none of them aside from the Xperia PLAY have a lot of compatible games - SixAxis, ZeeMote, iControlPad, Gametel, BGP100...
...all of them fall flat on their ass when you start looking for something more than old emulated stuff. Xperia PLAY kicks ass as an emulator, but it's the only truly versatile smartphone with physical controls with the matching support of over 200 non-emulated games. There's no other device on the market that can hold the claim that well.
This is all from someone who came from 4th Gen idevices BTW. In comparison, its beat iOS at everything from media to games

Okay hardware wise they're almost the same.
1ghz CPU
512mb ram
5mp camera.
Adreno205 gpu to the sgx535
Apps will run similarly.
Okay better with iPhone :
The gorgeous hi res retina screen.
The app store
Smooth ui
Availability of apps.
Music, even though people might say otherwise.
Internal space.
Gyroscope
Better with xplay:
4 inch screen.
The ps controls
The exclusive apps
The Dlna
The PRICE
Audio feedback (xloud)
Image quality (with bravia engine )
The modding possibilities
WiFi hotspot (tethering)
A good forum
Price of apps.
Upgradeable memory (up to god knows how much with sdxc) lets say 64
Common peripherals ,ie Micro USB. So they're cheap if you misplace your charger etc.
Upcoming ics upgrade .
Upcoming PlayStation suite .
Current ps1 games .
Emulator possibilities.
Both are very good devices but unless if you were like me, a gamer, go for the iPhone .
The bads:
IPhone :
Heavily overpriced.
Not very revolutionary .
Overhyped apple product.(internals are the same as 3gs )
Relatively heavy.
Overshadowed by 4s .(last year's product)
Xplay:
Depreciation (not if you bought for like a £100)
Android ui (sorry guys spoilt by windows phone xD)
Weight 169 grams (if you're not a gamer you don't need this weight)
Lacklustre( maybe a bit overhyped too - so far but the upcoming months look really good imho)
But I still love my xplay, as I loved my omnia 7. May I recommend the ray if youre not into gaming and would like a good device .
My gf has a 4s and honestly, if you're gonna buy a new iPhone 4 save a bit more and buy the 4s instead .
Hope that helped.
Cheers
from tapatalk on xperia play.

Since buying an Xperia PLAY a couple of months ago, my old iPhone 4 hasn't seen the light of day and has been hiding in my draw since.
When I hold and use my PLAY, I know I'm holding a phone that was made especially for me. It's got:
- A nicely sized screen.
- Probably the best pair of speakers I've ever seen on a phone.
- Good battery life if treated well.
- That "WOW!" factor.
- 720p recording now.
- Great emulation performance.
- Can play pretty much all PS1 games using the likes of psxperia, FPSE and psx4droid.
- A large number of exclusive games.
- Is moddable and is a dream to run after rooting device.
I won't be buying another phone from here on unless it's a Sony gaming device running on Android.
I just love it when family come over in the holidays rocking up with their iPhone 4 and 4S thinking they have the best phone on the market. While they're talking to Siri asking for the weather, I'm having good fun playing Crash Bash with psxperia with a real game pad and at full speed.

KindaUndisputed said:
is this phone any good? how does it fare up against the iphone 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The iPhone whether 4 or 3 or 6 is garbage , CNET and other hi-tech media mention it , IOS is the less customizable less user friendly .... I could go on. Best to actually compare it to a droid razr or galaxy s2 than any iPhone lol.
Sent from my R800i using xda premium

amansth said:
Android ui (sorry guys spoilt by windows phone xD)
But I still love my xplay, as I loved my omnia 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried out Launcher7 on the XPlay... Gives you that WP7 look and feel (at least for the launcher)... Ubermusic gives you a zune-style music player...
The biggest draw of any Android device over any of the other major platforms is customization. If you put the time and energy into it you can make Android do anything you want it to.

Plus this phone can take a bit of a drop and still be good the i phone will just shatter
Sent from my R800a using XDA App

Weudel said:
Have you tried out Launcher7 on the XPlay... Gives you that WP7 look and feel (at least for the launcher)... Ubermusic gives you a zune-style music player...
The biggest draw of any Android device over any of the other major platforms is customization. If you put the time and energy into it you can make Android do anything you want it to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but launcher 7 isn't as smooth. Nothing is as smooth as windows phone. 7 no offense
from tapatalk on xperia play.

Hmm. Stock launcher on r800i I.e mine is as smooth if not smoother , I used to be a WM5 , 6, 6.5 addict. Including 7 , but ... No WM7's launcher or WP7 ISN'T the king.
Sent from my R800i using xda premium

thanks for all the help guys! i would like a good phone but also be able to play games as well (maybe not extensively but i imagine i would use the pad a lot) would you say this is the phone for me or should i get another phone but stick to touchscreen controls? reviews are quite varied, some say its great and others say thats its great only for gaming? could anyone clarify briefly please?
*at the time of posting i have not watched nor read the reviews posted by "TLRtheory" so please excuse me if this was mentioned in one of them*

I recently got an iphone to try since i hear these things organize peoples lives,then got sick of it after i jailbroke it, being on android all these years i felt it was inconvenient just to make ringtones,text tones and with its limited format, then i found out im stuck with that square front page so i gave it to my brother.
then i brought a play, i played it for a few days then placed a listing online to sell it, then pulled out a few days after because i would waste more money getting something better like a Samsung s2
this phone is great it gets used alot more than any cellphone i had, while im waiting around or in public i can just burn some time and play.
At first it wasn't a great phone but then got root uninstaller to disable alot of the services i dont need.
the controls really make this phone worth it, i had sold my psp and missed all those old games, touchscreen controls never went far for me, i couldn't imagine clocking castlevania or many nes roms with it.

There is only one thing this phone can do better than any other: playing games. If you don't see yourself doing that often, you're better off with other options. Buying a Xperia Play is like crossing the Rubicon, as it makes a statement about yourself.

It depends, men are from android and women are from ios.

Well I will be playing games often but I just want to know if it is a good overall PHONE regardless of gaming. I currently have the ZTE blade so maybe that will tell you something..
Sent from my Blade using XDA App

As an overall phone, it's just as good as a Samsung Galaxy S, HTC Desire S or any mid high end Android device: very fluid movement of the UI, so-so camera... It will be a fairly substantial improvement from the Blade, though that's a fantastic device btw. As a phone, it's bulky, but it has a remarkably good external speaker for music, packs a decent battery and the screen has a nice resolution (higher dpi than the blade).

I came from the Blade and find the Play super. Only cost me €7 more then the Blade too. Its a great phone if you can get it cheap.
---------- Post added at 02:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:52 PM ----------
Logseman said:
As an overall phone, it's just as good as a Samsung Galaxy S, HTC Desire S or any mid high end Android device: very fluid movement of the UI, so-so camera... It will be a fairly substantial improvement from the Blade, though that's a fantastic device btw. As a phone, it's bulky, but it has a remarkably good external speaker for music, packs a decent battery and the screen has a nice resolution (higher dpi than the blade).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree with all that, but the DPI is actually lower. Not noticable mind

So is it significantly better than the blade?
I appreciate the answers by the way
Sent from my Blade using XDA App

And what is better about it ?
and what sets it apart from basically being a psp, basically how would you convince someone that it's more than just a psp?
Thanks in advance
Sent from my Blade using XDA App

Do you like your Xperia Play?

As I read around the Internet, I see mixed reviews of the Xperia Play. However, if there is one thing i've learned through forum dwelling, it's that the unhappy are 10 times more likely to speak than the content.
If you don't want to answer any of those questions down below this, at least answer the poll <3
How well does it act as a phone? Are its texting/calling abilities acceptable?
How are the games? Are there emulators that take advantage of the control pad? Are there a reasonable amount of games that use the control pad? How often do you play games on it using the control pad? (I care so much about the control pad because it is the reason i'm considering buying it )
Is it exceptionally far behind recent phones? (Obviously it is behind as it isn't exactly a new phone, but will it still be useable 2-3 years from now?)
How well does Android run on it? Does it run more smoothly on the port of ICS or on its default Gingerbread? Do either of those OS's have a noticeable impact (good or bad) on gaming (compatibility, framerate, etc...)?
Would you buy your Xperia Play again?
Any other comments and experiences you have had are very welcome as well. Thank you for your time! I'm sure this thread will help at least one more person in the future.

Redjericho said:
How well does it act as a phone? Are its texting/calling abilities acceptable?
How are the games? Are there emulators that take advantage of the control pad? Are there a reasonable amount of games that use the control pad? How often do you play games on it using the control pad? (I care so much about the control pad because it is the reason i'm considering buying it )
Is it exceptionally far behind recent phones? (Obviously it is behind as it isn't exactly a new phone, but will it still be useable 2-3 years from now?)
How well does Android run on it? Does it run more smoothly on the port of ICS or on its default Gingerbread? Do either of those OS's have a noticeable impact (good or bad) on gaming (compatibility, framerate, etc...)?
Would you buy your Xperia Play again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) The thing I like the best about Xperia Play is that it's not just good at being a game device. While I'm struggling to have any use for my PlayStation Vita, my Xperia Play's able to be an 'everything'.
2) The games are nice! Which is a very big deal for me. What I feared the most is that this would just be another OpenPandora, GP32, Dingoo A320, iControlPad or Gametel Controller; coming with all kinds of high tech, next-level hardware that people are wasting for all these old-ass games. I don't want to buy new technology for old software. I like seeing games that are actually able to take advantage of Xperia Play's full resolution and all it's methods of this-generation controls. What makes Xperia Play a winner to me is that it has all that. It's an excellent emulator, but you can get a good emulator anywhere... don't mean to be blunt, but that's nothing special. What makes Xperia Play special is that it's actually able to play the upper crust of this-generation smartphone games with dual analogs, high-res graphics and conventions of this generation. I'm playing games on it all the time... and shockingly enough, my shiny new PlayStation Vita isn't compromising that.
3) On paper, it seems like it would be far behind current phones because it's a single core. In practice though, it's running software (game and non-game) just as smoothly as the latest and greatest. Adreno 205 isn't very high-ranking on GPU acceleration, but practice always matters more than concept, and in practice I seldom see dips in framerate or hiccups in everyday use... and since it's got game controls, it's got a merit that those powerhouse phones don't. By all means, it should already be obsolete, yet everytime the next big 'benchmark' game comes out, Xperia Play has it's hands all over it. Then again, the same group of oblivious spec-counters talk **** about how every iPhone released is behind the curve at launch... yet single cores still hold their ground.
4) Android runs pretty silky smooth for me. What I will say is that you may not get the smoothest performance with that crappy standard launcher Sony puts on it's phones. With LauncherPro or ssLauncher, you see the Xperia Play being ridiculously smooth (those two launchers in particular also are a huge battery life savers).
5) I'd definitely buy it again. When I initially got this, it was a toss up between this and the Motorola Atrix. Now I see people with GS2's, Atrix, G2x, Atrix 2, GNotes that all fall in love with this single core phone I have (a few have even offered to trade their stronger phone for my weaker one that has game controls). I'll be able to upgrade again soon, and I'll likely just be using that for eBay fodder. As long as my Xperia Play continues being silky smooth and keeps providing a gaming experience that nothing else parallels, I don't see myself caring how strong phones get.

Do you like your Xperia Play?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the things that I don't like about it are cpu, gpu and ram because they are not appropriate for a gaming device.
but will it still be useable 2-3 years from now?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a gaming device, I think it will not be usuable for games because games in the future will require Android 4.1 + more than good hardware like (1GB RAM - Snapdragon S4 CPU ... etc)
Would you buy your Xperia Play again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
da

TLRtheory said:
1) The thing I like the best about Xperia Play is that it's not just good at being a game device. While I'm struggling to have any use for my PlayStation Vita, my Xperia Play's able to be an 'everything'.
2) The games are nice! Which is a very big deal for me. What I feared the most is that this would just be another OpenPandora, GP32, Dingoo A320, iControlPad or Gametel Controller; coming with all kinds of high tech, next-level hardware that people are wasting for all these old-ass games. I don't want to buy new technology for old software. I like seeing games that are actually able to take advantage of Xperia Play's full resolution and all it's methods of this-generation controls. What makes Xperia Play a winner to me is that it has all that. It's an excellent emulator, but you can get a good emulator anywhere... don't mean to be blunt, but that's nothing special. What makes Xperia Play special is that it's actually able to play the upper crust of this-generation smartphone games with dual analogs, high-res graphics and conventions of this generation. I'm playing games on it all the time... and shockingly enough, my shiny new PlayStation Vita isn't compromising that.
3) On paper, it seems like it would be far behind current phones because it's a single core. In practice though, it's running software (game and non-game) just as smoothly as the latest and greatest. Adreno 205 isn't very high-ranking on GPU acceleration, but practice always matters more than concept, and in practice I seldom see dips in framerate or hiccups in everyday use... and since it's got game controls, it's got a merit that those powerhouse phones don't.
4) Android runs pretty silky smooth for me. What I will say is that you may not get the smoothest performance with that crappy standard launcher Sony puts on it's phones. With LauncherPro or ssLauncher, you see the Xperia Play being ridiculously smooth (those two launchers in particular also are a huge battery life savers).
5) I'd definitely buy it again. When I initially got this, it was a toss up between this and the Motorola Atrix. Now I see people with GS2's, Atrix, G2x, Atrix 2, GNotes that all fall in love with this single core phone I have (a few have even offered to trade their stronger phone for my weaker one that has game controls). I'll be able to upgrade again soon, and I'll likely just be using that for eBay fodder. As long as my Xperia Play continues being silky smooth and keeps providing a gaming experience that nothing else parallels, I don't see myself caring how strong phones get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for your review! You basically covered everything that I have been searching far-and-wide to find. It's good to hear that it can also handle current generation games (for the most part) because it's always nice to have one or two pick-up-and-play mindless games, and the current mobile market excels at that.
I too believe that a device's specs don't mean much unless they are real world, so it's nice to hear from an actual user that it performs well. The main complaints I have read are lag of android and battery life, so to learn that I can improve it (at least a bit) is a very big plus.
Thanks for taking the time to help me out! Where there is one satisfied customer there is bound to be more, but I will stick around to see what others have to say as well.
Xperia-Play said:
Well, the things that I don't like about it are cpu, gpu and ram because they are not appropriate for a gaming device.
As a gaming device, I think it will not be usuable for games because games in the future will require Android 4.1 + more than good hardware like (1GB RAM - Snapdragon S4 CPU ... etc)
da
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really see it as a replacement for a true gaming device. If I wanted to play polygon-packed, particle effect oozing games, I would spring for a Ps Vita (which I probably will get some day). As long as it can run a reasonable selection of game pad optimized games/emulators, i don't mind the lack of specs.

I don't really see it as a replacement for a true gaming device. If I wanted to play polygon-packed, particle effect oozing games, I would spring for a Ps Vita (which I probably will get some day). As long as it can run a reasonable selection of game pad optimized games/emulators, i don't mind the lack of specs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you are right

I've
Sent from my R800i using xda premium

How well does it act as a phone? Are its texting/calling abilities acceptable?
Excellent. 100% a good PHONE.
How are the games? Are there emulators that take advantage of the control pad? Are there a reasonable amount of games that use the control pad? How often do you play games on it using the control pad? (I care so much about the control pad because it is the reason i'm considering buying it )
Games for Android are great. SO many games are Xperia PLAY optimized. Emulator games, imo, are where it's at. Most emulated games just downright play better with physical controls. I <3 <3 <3 playing my PS1 roms on it.
Is it exceptionally far behind recent phones? (Obviously it is behind as it isn't exactly a new phone, but will it still be useable 2-3 years from now?)
I think so. Yeah it will lag a bit, especially as newer Android versions will require newer hardware, but imo we're safe for another year and a half or two. Possibly more.
How well does Android run on it? Does it run more smoothly on the port of ICS or on its default Gingerbread? Do either of those OS's have a noticeable impact (good or bad) on gaming (compatibility, framerate, etc...)?
For me using a custom rom (TrueAncestor) it's *butter*y smooth. Plays my games excellently.
Would you buy your Xperia Play again?
I most certainly would. Actually, I just did, and I am NOT regretting that desicion AT ALL. I had bought a beat up used one first and it died, but I liked it so much I bought it again.

i'll buy it ,
if one day , xperia play 2 comes , i'll buy that too , for any price
game pad is really really special H/W on phone , all i need is game and game support

I brought my play specifically for gaming as I'm sure so did everyone who has got this phone, I think it is a really good phone for gaming although it does struggle with some larger games like nova 3 but all in all the games seem to run lag less and have yet to have any issues with gaming myself, the phone itself excluding gaming is great it runs smooth, looks nice and its awesome when u show it to ur mates then flip out the controller lol, I wasn't sure about buying this phone at 1st as it does have some bad reviews and with it only having a 1ghz single core processor it didn't seem that revealing, anyway I went ahead and brought it and im yet to see any faults with it in fact after seeing mine my bro sold his iphone4 to buy one and my mate sold his sensation xe to buy one aswel which on paper is a huge downgrade, like I said some large games like nova 3 for example do lag but personally I think thats not because the phone can't hack it but that the game itself is just made crappy but a little lag on some games is worth bearing for the fact that u have a controller. This is the phone for anyone who likes gaming and if u install a custom rom and kernel its even better, I love this phone and won't ever change it unless an Xperia play 2 comes out
Sent from my R800i using xda premium

Hi, for me it's the best phone out there not only for gaming cause it can everything what a modern android phone should can. I use it every day as a normal phone and everything is fine and if you are a gamer and retrogame fan like me then there isn't something better.
Of course there a lot of more powerfull phones but as said they're just phones, and yeah i tried to play on others but with touch it's impossible to play a good game!!

Advanced Gaming on The M9

So with the raw power that the M9 has, would it be possible to play console games on it or even PC games? Im talking like dying light, FC4, BF4, etc. maybe through an emulator or something? I would love to play my PC games on my phone

i tried god of war the psp game using psp emulator
its run like 8-10 FPS without any enhancement

aos10 said:
i tried god of war the psp game using psp emulator
its run like 8-10 FPS without any enhancement
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And thats PSP? huh...
So i guess bf4, if it were possible, would get terrible frame rates. bummer.

Quadrider10 said:
And thats PSP? huh...
So i guess bf4, if it were possible, would get terrible frame rates. bummer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
beside , there is no BF4 on android

Quadrider10 said:
So with the raw power that the M9 has, would it be possible to play console games on it or even PC games? Im talking like dying light, FC4, BF4, etc. maybe through an emulator or something? I would love to play my PC games on my phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All due respect mate, if you're talking about emulation, even the ps2 is problematic and that's on a high end gaming rig, the problem is the complex processing it uses whilst not the most powerful processor in the world it is difficult to emulate, as for anything like the the ps3 or ps4, I'm afraid at the moment its not possible and if it were it would be utterly awful and that is on a high end gaming rig.
On a phone it really is impossible, high end games like battlefield 4 would have to be created with arm architecture in mind, and even if they did decide to do that, the phone would die quickly and the game would run like a dying dog.
Sorry mate, for now and the foreseeable future the best you can expect is psx, PSP, n64 and maybe ( and this is a big maybe) emulation for the GameCube and Wii, which has been done to a degree but again, runs like a dog.
The only games which are console like which you may be able to get to run are the ones which have been created for the nvidia shield, like portal and half life 2, hardly mind blowing graphics but a really big deal for mobile gaming, I'm not too sure on the nvidia shields processor or GPU but I do know its superior to the adreno in our m9's with that in mind, even if it is possible to get it to run, you have to expect issues.
The only option you have to play games on your phone is to grab a decent pad like the Moga pro and splash top to stream the game to your device. An nvidia graphics card for your pc is preferable for this and a rock solid internet connection for your phone, even then you should expect a fair bit of input lag on those games, this technique has been around for a few years now.
Sorry its not better news mate I'd love to play black ops 2 or even cod 2 on my phone, LAN parties in work when its quiet would be epic.. I think with games like call of duty 2 its quite possible as the hardware in our phones could probably handle most of the graphics but again it'd have to be created instead of ported.
Apparently doom 3 has been ported, that's quite cool.