9mm Xperia Play Review

9mm is Gameloft's homage to the Max Payne series. You play as  John "Loose" Kannon, a cop who shoots first and asks questions...never. He actually resembles Mark Walburg, so that's even more of a nod to Max Payne. It also has the iconic "bullet time". The game looks pretty good and the controls are fine, but it has many flaws that make it forgettable.

Graphics and Gameplay
The graphics in the game are pretty slick. The game really looks very good. Character models and scenery are smooth. Graphics look similar to a PS2 game, and on a 4 inch screen thats not bad. Bullet time plays a large role in 9mm. It is activated by pushing the left trigger button. Then you dive or run in slow mo while picking off your enemies. Does it work...yes but it's not a perfect system. John has a difficult time understanding that you want him to dive and not run. Another problem I had was that Gameloft left in some touch screen controls. There are quick time events where you have to touch the screen. This is not an easy task with the X Plays controller slid out. You also have to touch the screen to open any door in the game. This is just pure lazyness on Gameloft. There were buttons that were not even used on the controller.

Story and Voice Acting
I'm glad when a mobile game has full voice acting. It makes it feel more like a console game. However 9mm has some of the worst voice acting I've ever heard. Everyone is extremely over the top. At one point there is a pimp who sounds like Chris Tucker mixed with Chris Rock. It's funny but they aren't trying to be. John's young daughter sounds like a middle aged woman...it's horrible!
The story is even worse. It's the typical angry cop story. John "Loose" Kannon is sick of all the drugs on the street. He then starts to kill every Mexican drug dealer/ gang banger he sees. They go after his family, he's betrayed by a friend, he kills everyone...The End. There is also a lot of swearing. So much that it sounds like a 12 year old boy trying to impress his friends with how much he can swear. It never feels like it belongs.

Online Play
Yes there is an online mode. You have Free for All, and Cops and Robbers. I never could get a sucessful online game to work. Either it was terribly laggy, or I would get disconnected.

Bottom line
9mm has good visuals and some okay gun fights. Other than that it's a piece of junk. Is it playable? Yes, but why would you want to?

Dead Space on Xperia Play

If you ever played any of the Dead Space games before then you know what to expect. Dead Space is a claustrophobic horror game. You are by yourself and you're always looking behind your back and around the next corner just waiting for something to pop out at you. So how does Dead Space wprk on the Xperia Play?
Let me start off by saying I played this game for a few levels on the Iphone when it first came out. I was impressed by the production value and the graphics were console quality. The problem I had were the controlls. While they did work, I didn't want to play a console style game without console controlls. So I never played it more than a few minutes.
Now its on the Xperia Play(and it's free for a few months) and I have to say it's fantastic. If you wanted to sell anyone on how well this phone works as a gaming device this would be the game to use. The touch pads work as well as any analog stick I've ever used. The other buttons and triggers work perfectly. I really felt like I was playing a game console, not a phone. Seriously I can not praise this game enough. If you own a Xperia Play download this game! It's the most fun I've had on any mobile gaming device.

Battle Field 2 Xperia Play Review

Battle Field 2 for Xperia Play is now free on the market. Since it was free I downloaded the game and let me say...it's okay. When I first fired it up I was impressed by the graphics. The game looked crisp and I thought "wow, this is going to be great". Then I saw the first enemy and how N64 he looked compared to everything else in the game. They don't look horrible, but they could look much better. I expect more from games these days (even mobile games).
Now the controlls is where the game stutters. You move your character with the left analog pad, and controll the camera with the right analog pad. Aiming down the scope and firing are done with the triggers. Other actions are done with game pads other buttons. The problem I had is with the right analog stick. It doesn;t respond with your movements well. It's overally sensitive and there is no way to adjust it. At first it was unplayable, but I stuck with it. The more I played I realized that it auto aims as long as you are pointing near the enemy. This does make the game playable, but takes away any real challenge since you really don't have to aim.
Overall Battlefield 2 is a mixed bag. It does mix up sequences such as driving tanks and maning a machine gun. This keeps the action from being the same old run and gun. If the controlls were tweaked I would say I love this game. Since they aren't at this time I can only say...I played the game...and then deleted it from my phone to free up space. Of course it is free as of right now(and will be for a few months), so give it a try.

Xperia Play 4G Review

I've now had my Xperia Play for over a week, here is my opinion on the gaming cell phone. For starters as a phone it functions fine. I've had no trouble with calls. Android 2.3 runs well on the device. The camera on the back side is a 5 mega pixel camera with flash. It's not going to wow you with mad picture taking skills...but it's fine.

As far as gaming goes, I bought this device to hopefully replace my Nintendo 3DS. Has it so far...yes it has. The controlls on games made for the Xperia Play are great. Of course it's up to the publishers to actually use the controller. For instance Madden 11(not Madden 11 HD? WTF) came preinstalled on the Play. It's bizarre because some actions you'll still have to touch the screen for. However Dead Space on the Play both looks and plays amazing. It plays like an actual console game. So in the end it comes down to will the publishers take advantage of these awesome gaming controlls.

There are PS1 classics for the Play. It comes with Crash Bandicott preisntalled. I have played it a lot and it works great. The other list of PS1 games available so far doesn't impress me. I'm really hoping for Metal Gear! Keep our fingers crossed.

If you want a cell phone that plays games like they are made to be played, then buy the Xperia Play.

Sony Xperia Play 4G

I went out on day one that AT&T released the Xperia Play 4G and bought one. I'm hoping this will replace my very lame Nintendo 3DS. I'll keep everyone posted.

Nintendo 3DS right thumb stick?

There's a rumour going around the web right now saying that the 3DS may have a new attachment soon. It would be a right thmbstick that attaches to the body of the 3DS. Now as I said this is still a rumour...but I hope it's true. I bought my 3DS on launch day and I can honestly say I've hardly touched it. There just aren't enough games that I want to play for the device. If Nintendo can figure out a way to make this work I think it would give developers a lot more to work with. They could possibly even port Playstation Vita games to it(they'd have to downgrade the graphics). It reminds me of Wii motion plus, an add on accessory that some games required. Now the motion plus comes standard in the controller. It would make sense for Nintendo to do the same with the 3DS. If its successful they would just add the right thumstick in the next redesign.