35 replies to this topic

[Catsmasher]

Posted in another thread - but bumped up to get others opinions...

I like the idea of handheld emulation, but have struggled finding a decent device - until now.

I own a Dingoo that I have been using for about 3 years and also one of the new Yinlips that I have owned for about two months. They are each OK, but not great. The Dingoo screen is too darn small and it has issues with SNES and N64 performance - it just isn't there. My Dingoo seem to love to lockup.  I am constantly sticking a toothpick in the reset hole.  The Yinlips seems to have enough power, but it is a pain to use, the touchscreen sucks, the wifi kept dropping out like it had noooo antenna which makes it necessary to download aps and games onto a microsd card and side lode them onto the device, and the battery life is horrible (at least on mine).  The Yinlips is a basically pretty cheap piece of Chinese crap.
A week ago I went into the Verizon store to upgrade my old phone and saw the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play phone. Instead of a keyboard it opens to reveal a gaming control pad. Game over! I now have a brand new android smart phone that is also a handheld gaming device that is stable, fast, made with quality, and has a warranty. I can download emulator apps that work well without having to go through all the rooting or Dingux crap. It also provides newer games made just for it - the asphalt 6 game rocks. I have installed Atarioid, Nesoid, and Snesoid and all seem to work smoothly with no problems. This is what I have been looking for all along!!!
With a two year plan and rebate it was even way cheaper than a Dingoo, Cannoo or Yinlips.   Without a plan and the rebate, I think it was about $150 - comparable to a Yinlips.

Hey - I needed a phone anyway.  Why not get one that lets me play Mario Cart, Earthworm Jim, Crash Bandicoot, Berzerk, and all my other favorites.

The only downside is that there is no 'video out' so you cant hook it up to a tv or monitor. But that is the only downside I have found so far.

Check it out. There are also a lot of videos on you tube about it as well.

Finally - the more gamers that get this phone, the better chance Sony will stick with it and other emulators and dedicated games will be developed for it.

Anyone else own this phone?  What do you think?

http://www.knowyourm...powerhouse.html

Edited by Catsmasher, Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:19 PM.

[Austin]

Thanks for the info regarding the emulation. It sounds like it's pretty solid. If this was available through a contract-less carrier, I would buy one in a heartbeat.

[Rex Dart]

You know what?  I was looking to replace my old Nokia E71, and I just ordered the Xperia two days ago.  Supposed to arrive tomorrow.
I'd played around with one over the weekend at a BBQ and was really impressed. It's like the N-Gage QD I owned years ago, but modernized. Android instead of Symbian, but same apps are gonna be installed.

Man, the shoulder buttons are NICE, that was a shock.

[Austin]

Well if Rex says it's good, it must be good!

[Shannon]

Is there anyway to get PSX4Droid on it although Sony had it removed?

Funny how they don't mind emulators from competing companies on their system.  

[toptenmaterial]

To the OP: did you buy it used or refurbed? $150 is a very good price. I have been curious about the Xperia Play for a while now, and as far as I can tell, it is the only device which can access marketplace that has an actual gamepad.

[LarcenTyler]

Do you have to download the ROMs from the web browser or can you load them another way?

[Rex Dart]

ROMs?  Any old way; it's just an android machine.

[LarcenTyler]

I just downloaded the APX file but have no idea what to do now.

[Catsmasher]

toptenmaterial, on Sun Apr 1, 2012 6:51 AM, said:

To the OP: did you buy it used or refurbed? $150 is a very good price. I have been curious about the Xperia Play for a while now, and as far as I can tell, it is the only device which can access marketplace that has an actual gamepad.

Got it new at the verizon store.  Had a rebate.
Am running Ataroid, Nesoid, SNesoid, and GBCoid now and they work great.  Just download, install and run like any other app.
I download the emus from the marketplace (playstore), and SlideME.  The roms i get off the in internet and then put them on the sdcard in sep directories.

[LarcenTyler]

I can't find it on the Marketplace.

[Rex Dart]

LarcenTyler, on Sun Apr 1, 2012 6:37 PM, said:

I just downloaded the APX file but have no idea what to do now.

Which one, and do you mean APK file?  If so, just run it (it's an installer) from any file manager on your phone/device.

[jhd]

What's the battery life like?

[Catsmasher]

jhd, on Mon Apr 2, 2012 2:44 PM, said:

What's the battery life like?

I recharge every night.  No problems  so far.  Like a typical smart phone.

Edited by Catsmasher, Mon Apr 2, 2012 4:14 PM.

[LarcenTyler]

I installed it, as I'm still getting used to this silly thing.  But getting connected is another story...

[Rex Dart]

LarcenTyler, on Mon Apr 2, 2012 4:13 PM, said:

I installed it, as I'm still getting used to this silly thing.  But getting connected is another story...

Please, tell us what "it" is, and not just about "it".

Battery life... mine lasts about two days. I haven't let it run until it shuts off, but I haven't needed to charge it at the end of a single day just yet.  Seems to get about two point five days per charge with normal use.

[toptenmaterial]

So, here's the big question... can it access the Marketplace, AND play those games with the gamepad?

[Rex Dart]

Yeah.


edit:  ...though the games must be written to either recognize the device, or have user-assignable controls.

Edited by Rex Dart, Tue Apr 3, 2012 7:59 PM.

[eightbit]

I received mine about two weeks ago. It is GREAT! But, you do have to do some things initially. You must root it, as the internal storage is horribly small and without root you cannot use the neat Droidsail Super APP2SD to move your games to the SD card I chose to unlock it as well (verizon model, paid $24 to have this unlocked) and installed Darkforest 3.0.5 and Doomlord's custom 1.6ghz kernel. EVerything runs smooth as butter. Emulators are excellent as was expected, Xperia enhanced games are super, and Digital Leisure's Dragons Lair port is to die for. Yes, this is the handheld you want in your pocket (that is also a phone)!

[eightbit]

toptenmaterial, on Tue Apr 3, 2012 5:58 PM, said:

So, here's the big question... can it access the Marketplace, AND play those games with the gamepad?

Why wouldn't it? I am on the marketplace and download games constantly. I downloaded Pew Pew 2 (which is super on the Play btw!), DL, Pac Man Championship...and some others. They actually add themselves to the Xperia Play game select screen as well. Very cool. LOTS of games are already gamepad ready.

BTW: I got it from Amazonwireless, for a PENNY with new contract. Not a bad deal I must say. After using a phone with game controls with such high quality as this I can never go back. Just hope an "Xperia 2" is available when I have to renew/upgrade

Edited by eightbit, Sun Apr 8, 2012 11:17 PM.

[Austin]

I'd get this in a second if I could use it with Virgin Mobile. I can't picture myself going back to a contract with companies like Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile though.

[toptenmaterial]

If I get this, I'm gonna buy it straight cash (when and if I have that much) and use it strictly for gaming.

[Catsmasher]

toptenmaterial, on Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:12 PM, said:

If I get this, I'm gonna buy it straight cash (when and if I have that much) and use it strictly for gaming.

Why?  I use mine as a phone, email, text messaging, surf the web, facebook, digital camera and video recorder, run other android apps (like ebay, banking, fandango, pandora, maps, etc), emulation and game apps that can be installed directly.  I don't see any reason to carry anything else.

Edited by Catsmasher, Sun Apr 15, 2012 8:24 PM.

[Rex Dart]

It kinda stinks as a phone. At least on AT&T in my region.  Audio during calls goes out often, lousy reception in general, and MMS/SMS tend to stick in "queued for sending" rather than ever sending.  Oh, and it'll often alert me of a new message, only to read "message not downloaded".  Thanks, phone.      

Great for gaming, but my N-gage was a better phone.

[Desfeek]

Catsmasher, on Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:17 PM, said:

I now have a brand new android smart phone that is also a handheld gaming device that is stable, fast, made with quality, and has a warranty. I can download emulator apps that work well without having to go through all the rooting or Dingux crap. It also provides newer games made just for it - the asphalt 6 game rocks. I have installed Atarioid, Nesoid, and Snesoid and all seem to work smoothly with no problems.

eightbit, on Sun Apr 8, 2012 11:01 PM, said:

You must root it, as the internal storage is horribly small and without root you cannot use the neat Droidsail Super APP2SD to move your games to the SD card I chose to unlock it as well (verizon model, paid $24 to have this unlocked) and installed Darkforest 3.0.5 and Doomlord's custom 1.6ghz kernel.

I also recently ordered this awesome-looking phone (its on its way, $.99 with 2-year upgrade), and am confused by these two posts...is there a way to drop ROM files (which I already have) onto my SD card, and access them through the downloaded emulators, without having to "root", "jailbreak", "unlock", or modify my phone in any way?  It sounds like Catsmasher got retro emulation to work without voiding his warranty...Did freeware ROMs come with Atarioid, Nesoid and Snesoid?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.