Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Discussion

[dataDave]

I've still not managed to get any SNES stuff running 100% perfectly. I'd say it's at 99%. I notice the odd frame-skip here and there, if I force 0 frame-skip I get funny/missing sound.

GBA emulation is perfect however.

As a phone I don't know what to comment on. I can hear people loud and clear, and they can hear me. Signal is always at 3/4 strength, even on the MRT. The only negative being I get face grease all over screen if I speak on it later in the day.

[k0pp0]

Stock rom needs frameskip of 1 or so and lower rate or no sound for n64/snes/gba (not all games though). Everything else runs lovely (PCE games are ace).

Phone is fine for calls etc, wireless seems to struggle a bit with WPA2 encryption on a router though, connection would need to be restarted all the time. Fine with WPA though. All the other apps you can get are good too, and if you like a bit of android gaming it's a nice platform too.

[mekanor]

Thanks guys, I'm going to go have a look at one in the shop tomorrow night just to have a go and see how the buttons feel etc, and then I'll probably grab one online. They're $960 to buy outright over here - as opposed to around $300 unlocked on ebay! Madness.

Also Dave if you can ever be bothered with a list of recommended emulators one day that would be great! I'll be able to find my way around installing cyanogenmod etc, but it sounds like you're pretty picky as far as quality of emulators go so it would be good to know what you've found that works.

[mekanor]

Picked up one of these today! Haven't had much time to play with it yet, but I'll try and get cyanogenmod installed and sorted before I make the switch from my old phone. Just not sure if I should wait for the stable release of CM7.2 that looks to be just around the corner.

Like I said, I haven't had much play yet but I jumped into crash bandicoot. I know its the official emulator and all but I was really impressed. Can't wait to get stuck into some old games once I get the emulators sorted!

[dataDave]

I've been on CM7 for months now and it seems stable enough to me. Not had one single issue. Not even arsed about upgrading it to be honest.

[mekanor]

Had a bit of time to play around with this now and it is fantastic. Still mucking around with emulators, but anything ending in "oid" (nesoid, gbcoid, gameboid etc) is pretty solid. I've been playing through the original Mother (or Earthbound Zero) and am loving it. As far as I can tell the emulator works perfectly too.

I've not tried any snes stuff yet, but N64 emulation is a bit hit and miss. I've tried N64oid and mupen64+AE. So far N64oid seems to be a bit more reliable, but it's a case of trying games and hoping for the best. Even when it does work though I've found a lot of games suffer from a bit of slowdown, which is disappointing. Here's hoping the emulators keep improving. However, Diddy Kong Racing seems to work a treat and to be honest that's nearly justifies the phone on its own!

I've also got scummvm going, and although it seems to work perfectly, I don't seem to be able to get the aspect ratio right. Obviously these games are all 4:3, but it stretches them by default. If I untick fullscreen mode it drops back to 4:3, but instead of black boxes either side it mirrors the game for that small section of the screen... Its a shame as even though everything works its practically unplayable.

Anyhow, fantastic machine overall, with improvements to the emulators it will be even better too!

[25.05.2005]

Glad you're enjoying it dude.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread. I completed Zelda: OOT on my Xperia Play, and the mere thought of doing that on a mobile phone back in the day when I was scrambling to get my paws on the actual N64 game, is just ridiculous.

I've had my XPlay about a year now, and I still can't get enough of it. So much so that any thoughts of a Vita or a 3DS don't even enter my mind.

[MisterBubbles]

Anybody know where i can pick one up cheap, ie no more than 150?

[bash]

Mate, check out (and join) Avforums and gumtree is worth a try as well.

[bash]

Ok, I got one of these now, some fucxer on Avforums seems to have hit and run on me. Said it was mint, paid him the dosh and its flipping full of scratches like you wouldn't believe.

So I was kindly pointed to this ->http://androidcommunity.com/xperia-p...ched-20110525/ via one of the Avforums Mods (my trade is now in disputed section, unlikely to ever get resolved)

Were you guys aware that theres a factory screen protector on all Xperia plays? I just clocked mine and took it off, needed a pin and some patience . . . . . at one point I thought I was making it worse but finally took it off and BOY! Not only have all the scratches gone with the cover but the screen is soooo much clearer now.

I say go for it, although the real screen is a real finger print magnet now.

So can anyone point me in the direction of what new customer rom to install thats best for emu's? I see Play.com also have a 64gb card for ?45 but none in stock.

[dataDave]

That factory-applied screen protector is actually shatter protection for your screen should it ever drop. Just be careful with it, and be sure to get an anti-glare protector on it - that's all personal preference though.

I'm still running Cyanogenmod7 on mine.

You might want to check if they can support 64gb cards yet, last I checked they didn't.

[bash]

Cheers Dave, yes I was aware of the whole screen shatter thing but Im the sort of guy who doesnt use phones cases, leaves his screen brightness on full etc. I cant stand people getting their gadgets and then hindering them by making them chunkier or preserve battery life by going to crazy measures and restrict the actual joy of the hardware. I find it maddening.

http://www.xperiablog.net/2011/12/14...-memory-cards/

That link seems to think its ok, although looks a bit dodge. That very same card is the one avaliable on play right now (awaiting stock) depending how I get on with emulation this week will dictate whether I order one. Currently got 4gig but if this handheld can handle mame then I might go a little crazy with the torrents and . . . . . . well who knows where we'll end up!

[bash]

DOUBLE POST BOLLIX

[mekanor]

Cyanogenmod is great. Also officially the Xperia play can only take 32gb microSD cards, but by all accounts it has no trouble at all with a 64gb card.

[25.05.2005]

I cant stand people getting their gadgets and then hindering them by making them chunkier

For me, adding a case has been a huge advantage for this very reason. I found the Xplay a little on the small side, and even though my case only adds a little bit of chunk, it is certainly a much more pleasant grip.

One 'issue' I've had, and I wonder if this is just me...is that I use a d-pad with the flat of my thumb. I kind of 'roll' my thumb around it (imagine doing a combo in Street Fighter or something if you can't understand what I'm saying). However, the 'up' on the XPlay is very close to the top sliding part of the phone. It means that I cannot use the technique I've used all my life and instead have to switch to using the 'tip' of my thumb. Perhaps I'm just being stupid, but anyone else felt this?