I have been lucky enough to be given the new Xperia SP to test. Its a fantastic little mid ranged phone which has everything a consumer could want for the price. One of its main features is the capability to link up with a Playstation 3 game pad to play games. All you need is an official Playstation 3 game pad, an Xperia SP and a small wire which costs several pounds on Amazon or Ebay.
The wire
The wire is simply a converter which connects in to the Xperias micro USB port, then attaches to the USB wire of the Game pad. The wire itself is about 6-8 inches long and once hooked up to the wire of the game pad comes to about 2-3ft. Upon connecting the pad I went on to the new Playstation Mobile (PSM) store to purchase a few games to see what kind of experience it could offer me. The PSM store is Sony's new and exclusive market which offers a selection of games and several apps. Being quite new, the selection is not huge, but still has something for everyone, ranging from Action, Puzzles and Arcade.
Puzzle games - Lemmings
The look and the feel of the PSM store is fantastic. It really feels like Sony have put a lot of work in to this. Its fast, smooth and responsive and Sony make it incredibly easy to purchase titles. PSM however offers very few free game, but there are lots of indie game companies in there which are being promoted rather than a lot of the big mainstream titles like you would expect to see on the Play store. This may please or displease consumers, however it should be noted that if your a fan of both then the PSM store is the way to go. Only Sony will offer you both the PSM and Play store on one phone. Not to mention if you include Emulators then you will have access to three difference sources, the mainstream/big titles on the Play store, indie and amateur titles on the PSM store and then classic/retro titles on the Emulators from your collection. Either way the Xperia range really is becoming the first choice mobile phone for gaming, especially when you add the Playstation game pad compatibility. Oh and when I say there is something for everyone on the PSM store, I really mean it.
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Not only that but there are apps on the store for things such as music makers and online music players. Sadly at the moment there are only three apps to chose from but I look forward to seeing what Sony add to the future. I was disappointed by the fact that the PSM store isn't the same software as the Playstation Store which I have on my Playstation 3. I was hoping that eventually as technology improves in mobile phones that more games on the store would be available on mobile phones, such as Playstation 1 and 2 games, perhaps adding "Xperia" to certain "Vita" games or being able to purchase games on my Playstation then have them available for me to play on my phone also. I assume this is something in the pipe line but not around currently, but hey, its early days and the PSM store is still young.
PSM only works in landscape mode. It only works on the side with the buttons pointing up which means the wire which connects to the phone on the other side is going underneath. This makes it very awkward for you to place the phone down while playing so you might want to try and find a way of keeping it up right while playing. The game pad is supposed to be able to connect to the phone through bluetooth in a wireless mode according to my phone, which naturally would solve the problem of propping the phone up right while playing. Sadly I came in to problems with pairing the two in practice. This would have been a fantastic feature because it would have freed up the port to use with Sony's new MHL to HDMI cable which lets you hook your phone up to a HD TV, therefore turning your phone in to a mini games console! Wow!
Not only that but there are apps on the store for things such as music makers and online music players. Sadly at the moment there are only three apps to chose from but I look forward to seeing what Sony add to the future. I was disappointed by the fact that the PSM store isn't the same software as the Playstation Store which I have on my Playstation 3. I was hoping that eventually as technology improves in mobile phones that more games on the store would be available on mobile phones, such as Playstation 1 and 2 games, perhaps adding "Xperia" to certain "Vita" games or being able to purchase games on my Playstation then have them available for me to play on my phone also. I assume this is something in the pipe line but not around currently, but hey, its early days and the PSM store is still young.
PSM only works in landscape mode. It only works on the side with the buttons pointing up which means the wire which connects to the phone on the other side is going underneath. This makes it very awkward for you to place the phone down while playing so you might want to try and find a way of keeping it up right while playing. The game pad is supposed to be able to connect to the phone through bluetooth in a wireless mode according to my phone, which naturally would solve the problem of propping the phone up right while playing. Sadly I came in to problems with pairing the two in practice. This would have been a fantastic feature because it would have freed up the port to use with Sony's new MHL to HDMI cable which lets you hook your phone up to a HD TV, therefore turning your phone in to a mini games console! Wow!
Error! No syncing up through bluetooth for me
Lemmings - Probably the biggest and most famous of the games on the PSM store.
Snake - Currently the only game on the PSM store which I can get working with the PS3 game pad.
I opened up my emulator to see how the game pad would work in there. I was plesantly surprised to see that the pad worked from the word go. I tried numerous titles such as Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Zombies Ate My Neighbours and Crono Trigger. The pad was incredibly responsive and it was as simple to use as plug in and play. I didnt need to tweek any settings other than turning off the touch screen buttons which blocked my view of the game. I really couldnt be happier with the results in this instance. Sony really need to pull their finger out here as a free bit of software with free games is out performing their PSM store in terms of compatability with their own OFFICIAL hardware.
Street fighter 2 Turbo works like a charm.
Zombies Ate My Neighbours is fast, responsive and as exiting as the days of playing it on my SNES with the PS3 game pad.
More to follow
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