[Xperia Play Themes and Apps] sufy1000:
An interesting read :

Xperia PLAY is dead; it was dead on arrival

As an Xperia Play owner, the last few weeks were not easy for me.

Yesterday Google Play was finally granted one of the biggest mobile gaming titles for the past months - Dead Trigger, developed by Madfinger - the infamous creators of Shadowgun and Samurai Vengeance.

As usual, the game came earlier for iOS devices, but at least this time android users did not have to wait for too long. Madfinger is a developer with solid reputation within the Xperia Play community, as their previous titles were well optimized to make use of the hardware controls of the phone.

What an unpleasant surprise it was to find out that not only isn't Dead Trigger Xperia Play optimized, but the game does not even run on Sony Ericsson devices at all.

More information about the problem can be found here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1691864&page=4

Initially the game was available on Google Play for Xperia Play owners to download, but was pulled out after a couple of people rated the App one star due to the fact that it crashes after being launched.

Currently the game appears as incompatible with Sony Ericsson's gaming phone.

After receiving a few emails from Xperia Play owners, Madfinger representatives admitted that the game was not tested on SE devices.

Some of you might say, "it's not such a big deal, they will fix it, an updated version will be released". The problem is in the bigger picture. Let's take a look at it...

1) May 2012 - Xperia Play owners will not receive an update for ICS (Android 4.0) on their devices.

http://pocketnow.com/2012/05/25/son...ria-play-but-does-its-explanation-make-sense/

This is not so much Xperia Play's fault, but an Android issue in general. Apparently it was made clear that ICS and gaming do not go together very well. Considering the fact that the Play is a gaming phone, the decision to keep it on Gingerbread might look ok at the present moment, but raises questions about the future. Is this phone future proven? What would happen if major developers drop support for Gingerbread and start optimizing their games for later versions of the OS?

2) Sony Ericsson struggles to keep market share, dominated by Apple and Samsung.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20116858-94/is-sony-closing-in-on-takeover-of-sony-ericsson/

Here is an article explaining the recent struggles of Sony Ericsson as a competitive smartphone manufacturer.

The numbers presented in it clearly show that the overall sales numbers of SE smartphones are in decline.

If we ask ourselves, how many of the 7.6 million devices sold last year are actually Xperia Play phones, we would come to the conclusion (based on pure but logical assumption) that the Play is not very popular...

Simple translation of the above information would look like this:

Xperia Play is owned by a handful of people = the time it takes to optimize a game for the device is not worth it because the optimized apps / games do not sale.

Another problem that needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that piracy is a huge issue with Google Play games. A lot of Xperia Play owners do not really support the device by buying their games.

Most Play owners probably remember how few weeks ago EA released Mass Effect Infiltrator without Xperia Play optimization. The "red lamp" in my head was already "on". For most people this was considered strange at the time, because in the recent past EA released few high end games that supported the physical gamepad and even the touchpads - Dead Space and NBA Jam were both great. Looking back at MEI's release without Play optimization, I think this was one of the first clear signs that developers are not willing to spend the extra time and effort any more... Now my suspicions are pretty much confirmed by a respected developer like Madfinger. The only logical explanation (for me) that they did not test their latest game on a SE device is that they are dropping support for the brand, and the only logical explanation for that decision is the financial motivation (or in this case - the lack of such). There is always the possibility of a rushed project, but based on their previous games, i believe it is safe to assume that they do not release half-baked apps.

Why would i go as far as to say that Xperia Play was dead on arrival?

For a lot of people such statement might be a stretch. I also had high hopes for the phone and wanted to believe that it might be the greatest portable gaming platform, combining genuine gaming experience with everything that a smartphone can do.

Unfortunately, looking back at it now, I have to say I blame Sony Ericsson for their decision to put a single core CPU in the device. Single core smartphones with 1ghz CPU are already outdated and the sad thing is, they were becoming outdated even last year, when the Play was released. There are plenty of examples of games that have frame rate issues on the Play (Battlefield BC2 has serious frame rate drops, NBA Jam is another example, GTA 3 is barely playable). I am aware that a dedicated developer can take the time to optimize a game to run on the Play without issues and still keep the pretty visuals (Shadowgun is a great example) but, as already mentioned multiple times, people are not willing to spend extra time to do it. It is a problem similar to the one that the PlayStation3 has (or at least - had in the recent past) with multiplatform titles.

Combining the weaker CPU with lack of internal storage made things even worse. Months ago I bought a 32gig micro SD for my Play. I was hoping I can put all my games on the phone but I was disappointed when I realized I cannot do it due to...lack of internal storage. Even when you move apps to the SD card of the phone, part of the application remains on the internal storage. This is a huge problem with Gameloft games, which sometimes take over 20mb of internal memory even when they are moved to the SD. Releasing the Play with only 400mb of internal storage, half of which is already eaten by pre-installed apps that can be removed only with root (voiding your warranty - no thanks) is a mindblowingly stupid decision.

I also need to mention that my first Xperia Play got bricked just a couple of months after I bought it when it was auto-updated from Android 2.3.3 to Android 2.3.4 and the touch screen effectively stopped working, so I had to return it and be given a new one (imagine if I had rooted my phone and could not get a new one!). Quick research over Google showed that I am not the only one who experienced this problem...

My predictions for the future of the Xperia Play are grim. I believe that very soon all major developers will drop support for it and the games will not be compatible (either due to lack of OS update or due to the weaker hardware). The phone remains a great device for oldschool emulation, but it all ends here. I am sure that a handful of dedicated people will keep releasing home-brew apps and tweaks for it, but on a global scale it will become just a memory of a smartphone that had great potential, but was crippled by poor decisions by the manufacturer...

p.s. Few minutes ago I saw the new Gameloft game - The Amazing Spider-Man hit Google Play too.

The sad yellow box below the blue "buy" button says "This item is not compatible with your device". The description box does not contain the magic words "Xperia Play Optimized". Nothing else to add here...