Playstation Phone: clues about a dedicated games portal

Sony Ericsson’s Zeus project has been enriched by a video which clearly demonstrates a Playstation icon heading towards a portal.

Engadget was the first to lift the lid on the mysterious Zeus project (Zeus Z1) which is being developed by Sony Ericsson, releasing the first images of an Android Smartphone with a slide out section that reveals a game controller.

These pictures and some information collected from here and there are starting to firm up the rumour of a PlayStation Phone which has been circulating for a few years. While Sony Ericsson has already presented mobiles oriented towards games, this has always been in the pure mobile phone field (occasional Java games).


There will be a dedicated portal
The question which continues to be asked is whether such a handset will support existing mobile games or whether more powerful games will be released, like those found on portable consoles.

In a new video published by Engadget, the PlayStation Phone (which should operate Android 2.3 Gingerbread at its launch) demonstrates in its menu’s a "Playstation" icon heading towards a content portal (empty for the moment) which suggest that there will be a PlayStation games offer associated with this handset, which was to be expected when seeing the button symbols.

The Zeus Z1 will be powerful enough to be able to support an entertaining experience, capable of powering games aimed more for release on a games console than portable. The releases made for Apple mobiles which Steve Jobs regularly pushes during his keynote addresses are therefore, if the device is as powerful as expected, to be left well behind.

Analysts are wondering if such games will be well integrated into the user experience of a mobile phone though. This may pose some practicality issues, with the arrival of SMS messages or calls possibly interrupting a game, even if it is only for a few minutes.

In addition to this, the real weak point of mobiles – their battery life, could also limit the user experience of this kind of device.