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Xperia Play launches in March with 50+ titles and exclusive embedded PS1 title

US to get the handset first, launching with Verizon

Xperia Play launches in March with 50+ titles and exclusive embedded PS1 title
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At tonight's pre-MWC press conference, Sony Ericsson finally spilled the beans on the latest worst kept secret in the mobile world, the Xperia Play.

During a short presentation, it revealed the handset would launch sometime in March with a line up of over 50 initial titles, from over 20 publishers.

Titles mentioned included FIFA, Guitar Hero, Dead Space, Assassins Creed, Reckless Racing, Galaxy on Fire and Battlefield.

There will also be a classic PS1 game pre-loaded onto the device, since announced as Crash Bandicoot.

Sony Ericsson confirmed the Xperia Play would be the first device to feature the Playstation Suite for Android devices.

Although the official PlayStation Network store won't be launching till later in the year, exclusive downloads will be made available for Xperia Play via Android Market, including more classic Playstation titles.

Bring your friends
In addition to Sony, Sony Ericsson also gave a shout out to publishers EA Mobile, Gameloft, Glu Mobile, and developers Fishlabs, Trendy Entertainment Polarbit as supporting the initial launch.

It also announced a partnership with development platform providers Unity Technologies, which will add Xperia Play features to its Android development framework, as well as help existing content to be ported as part of its new publishing initiative.

We'd expect this to particular focus on support for multiplayer gaming; something Sony Ericsson believes will be an important feature for Xperia Play.

Indeed, according to Sony Ericsson, the version of FIFA released for the device will be the first mobile FIFA with multiplayer.

Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, bossman Chris is up for anything – including running Steel Media (the madman).