[Xperia Play General] ClioCreslind:
Hello OP,

You have the "maker" attitude and that's fantastic. I too share the dream of a successor to the Xperia Play.

But you should not be making a smartphone. Bite off what you can realistically chew! Make a slide-out game pad attachment and ride on the shoulders of the smartphone giants instead.

Analysis:

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At the end of the day, what makes the Xperia play SOOOO much better than other implementations (Attachments/Bluetooth gamepads/nVidia Shield) available today? :-

1.) "Business on the outside, Gaming tucked underneath" - inaccurately quoted from someone's response I've read but failed to find now, but I couldn't have put it better. This (a "Business-friendly" Aesthetics in general) is actually VITALLY IMPORTANT! It means the owner CAN treat it as a primary device, it will be always at hand, and the owner won't be getting strange stares at work. It is a core-concept one should ALWAYS keep in sight when designing a smartphone. Remember "on-person" gadget storage space is highly-competed between wallet/keys/tissue and gadgets. You'll want your product to be the "work AND play daily-driver". The whole project has no reason to exist if it is seen as a tertiary device, it simply won't be around when the user needs it.

2.) The Xperia Play is a ONE-PIECE solution. Meaning you don't need a third hand to hold the device while both your hands are occupied with the gamepad. You can also break/continue with gaming in a pinch, there's nothing to attach/detach. "Open-to-play, pocket-when-finish."

3.) The Xperia Play is supposed to have a larger user base than other implementations. It means more supporting games, better chance of something really compelling, and new games for longer.

Focus (and stay focused) onto these:

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1.) Choose ONE phone to build around, and REALLY, I mean REALLY make it fit like a glove, REALLY "Business-friendly" and look REALLY nice and distinctive. It'll make your project stand out from all others, creating a niche not filled at the moment.

2.) Make sure the end-result is a "ONE-PIECE" solution, even when not playing games. Nothing to plug/connect when start playing, and nothing to unplug/detach when finish playing. Simply "open-to-play, pocket-when-finish".

{I suggest making the attachment around the Galaxy Note 2 to start with. It is immensely popular, which means you may actually be able to sell a couple of the attachments; It has generous screen size for even greedy gamers; It has remove-able battery for prolonged gaming; It has decent specs; It's price is starting to come down; And the stylus is just cream on top, it gives yet another form of input to the device, which game-devs may find unexpected chemistry when coupled with a slide-out gamepad.}

Here's what you need (I think):

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- Source for a USB HID controller chip, (Maybe an Arduino would work?)

- Source for buttons, D-Pads, Analog snubs, micro-usb connector

- Find someone who can program the USB HID chip to take input from the buttons and presents itself as a HID gamepad to android

- Make a "wires-all-over-the-place" prototype.

- Find someone who can give the attachment a nice design when installed onto the target smartphone.

- Compromise between the design/physical components/ergonomics, repeat previous steps if necessary, until you get a good-looking business-friendly design that can fit all the components and offer good ergonomics.

- Source for manufacturing capability of the circuit board & plastic parts.

- Make a "tidy" prototype and tweak! tweak! tweak to the highest standards.

- Follow through the manufacturing process with manufacturers.

Finally:

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No matter how you look at it, this project is almost certain to be loss-making.

But this would really be a valiant and pioneering effort to show SONY and everybody else what the Xperia Play is really about, and perhaps ever-so-slightly altering future smartphone design directions.

And I am totally behind the "maker" attitude: if others are not making the things you need, find ways to make it happen yourself, if you could.