AmazonWireless is selling the Xperia Play right now for $.01 for new customers and $50 if youre a current Verizon customer. The Verizon site and physical stores are still selling it at $200. I pulled the trigger and it is getting shipped two-day. I'm finally giving up on BlackBerry. While i like the keyboard, the apps for the BlackBerry OS are sparse and shitty.
I looked at a lot of other Android phones, but i didnt want one with a huge screen or with a bunch of bloat that HTC and other companies install over Android. It seems like they are all 4.5 inch screens nowadays, which is is pretty big, and every handset maker adds their own overlay to work with Android. This Play phone has a 4 inch screen, although a little thicker due to the slideout keypad, and has the latest vanilla 2.3 Android while a lot of other are still using 2.2.
I got it because i like the idea that this is a solid, clean, and latest and greatest Android phone that happens to have some PlayStation elements. It isnt a Sony PlayStation phone with a crap and completely new OS or weak Android experience. Hopefully it will be fun to game on while on the metro or in line at places, etc, for 5-10 minute type situations. I've never carried around my PSP for things like this, but the phone will be right there. I'll have to accept to adopt touch screen typing, but it will still take a while to get used to touch screen gaming, with this i dont have to worry quite yet, but can also get those games if i want to. Should be a good mix and it isnt too bulky. If it sucks, well, i've lived with BlackBerries forever and it cant be all that bad.
EDIT: The games list is already damn impressive and it ships with Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior, Madden 2011, Sims 3, Star Battalion, Tetris, Asphalt 6, and Crash Bandicoot. Some notable latest additions are:
Lumines by Connect2Media
Minecraft by Mojang
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 by Electronic Arts
Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6: Shadow Vanguard by Gameloft
Desert Winds by Southend Interactive
Ruined by Bigpoint
Icebreaker by NaturalMotion
Sleepy Jack by SilverTree Media
Cracking Sands by Polarbit
Armageddon Squadron 2 by Polarbit
An unnamed fighting game from Khaeon Gamestudio
Pocket Legends by Spacetime Studios
Star Legends: The Black Star Chronicles by Spacetime Studios
Eternal Legacy by Gameloft
Guns 'n'Glory 2 by HandyGames
Dungeon Hunter 2 by Gameloft
Pocket RPG by Crescent Moon Games
D.A.R.K. developed by Gamelab
Samurai II: Vengeance by MADFINGER Games
Vendetta Online by Guild Software
Order & Chaos by Gameloft
Happy Vikings by Handy Games
A Ball Game by Trendy Entertainment
I take a shit everyday at work, this phone will be perfect. I'm getting pretty tired of solitaire and brickbreaker on the blackberry.