Hey! Have you heard about the PlayStation Phone? Sony’s totally making a PlayStation Phone! No, really! PlayStation Phone! PlayStation Phoooone!

Yeah, that didn’t happen. The NGP might turn out to be something like a PlayStation phone, but the slide-open, gamepad-equipped, Android-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is most definitely not a PlayStation phone. In fact, it proves that the whole “PlayStation Suite” and “PlayStation Certified” thing is basically bullcrap. All is not lost, though. This phone is surprisingly awesome in its own way, just not with any real Sony game presence on it. Find out more in our gaming feature review of the phone.

Sony Ericsson isn’t even technically a division of Sony; it’s a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson and has as much to do with Sony Computer Entertainment as Ford does. That said, it’s “PlayStation Certified,” has a little square-triangle-circle-X logo in the corner, and comes loaded with Crash Bandicoot. Also, there’s this little gem on the Xperia Play web page:

There are implications that go unfulfilled.

If you want a phone with PSP functionality, look elsewhere. Currently, Crash Bandicoot is the only Playstation game available on the Xperia Play, and the whole Xperia Play interface is just a frontend for downloading the same Android games you can get on the Android Market or Amazon App Store. There are some fun games there, but it doesn’t really extend beyond the reach of “casual gaming.” No, you can’t download PlayStation Portable games, or even PSone Classics. In fact, that’s not in the cards at all for the Xperia Play, until SCEA decides to put some weight behind the portable.

All is not lost, though. The Xperia Play is still a great handheld gaming system, just not because of Playstation. But before I explain that, it’s time to set a few ground rules. Neither Aggorgate.com nor myself endorse the use of emulation or roms, and do not recommend seeking out copyrighted material outside of legitimate and legal channels. The information below is for informative purposes and does not explain (nor does it recommend) how to find illegal content, including rom files for video games. Don’t pirate games, and floss regularly. Okay? Okay.

The Xperia Play is what happens when you combine an Android phone with a GP32x/Wiz/Caanoo. It’s an Android phone with all the hardware you need (sans a genuine analog stick) to play classic games. The direction pad, four face buttons, start/select buttons, and shoulder buttons are all you need to play classic games from the early 80s to the mid-90s. Several emulators are available on the Android Market that offer manual button-mapping, so getting NES or SNES games to play like they should on the gamepad is easy. These emulators run very well on the Xperia Play.

Currently, NES, SNES, and arcade (specifically, Capcom CPS1 and CPS2) emulators work best and are easiest to legitimately acquire. Nesoid, Snesoid, and Tiger Arcade can all be downloaded from the Android Market (save state support in Nesoid and Snesoid require upgrading to the premium version, and Tiger Arcade doesn’t have save state support). Other emulators include, from the developer of Nesoid and Snesoid, GameBoid, GBCoid, and Ataroid (see a pattern?). In terms of legitimate emulators (for homebrew content, of course), these are your best choices.

The buttons feel great, but they’re a bit shallow (the face buttons) or wiggly (the shoulder buttons), so the experience isn’t quite console-perfect. Still, it’s leaps and bounds better than touchscreen controls. You can actually play action-oriented games without cranking the difficulty down or dying all the time. It actually feels like a solid gaming experience.

If you’re looking to get a new phone, want Verizon Wireless service, and (ahem) are enthusiastic about homebrew content based on past-generation console hardware from the 80s and 90s, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is the best phone on the market. It’s a true gaming phone, even if Sony doesn’t offer much software to really support the “gaming” aspect to the satisfaction of hardcore gamers.