With the Mobile World Congress 2011 (MWC) now in full swing, we have a clear vision of not only the many leaked products from Sony Ericsson, but their exact specs, offerings and release date information. The most infamous product over the last several months from Sony Ericsson has been the Xperia Play. Before we knew the details of the phone, many had though that the device would be a fusion of Sony’s PlayStation and Ericsson division, thus calling it the PlayStation Phone but things are now much more clear. First, the nitty gritty specs of the phone and then we will dive deeper into the games being offered, as well as some video and pictures of the device.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play spec include:

• Android 2.3 Gingerbread (the latest Android OS)
• 1GHz Snapdragon processor with Qualcomm Adreno 205 graphics processor
• 4-inch, 854 x 480 multi-touch LCD screen
• Quad-band GSM or CDMA and EV-DO antenna chipset, depending on your country and carrier
• 5-megapixel autofocus camera
• LED flash
• Stereo speakers
• Bluetooth and WiFi
• 400MB internal card (comes with an 8GB Micro SD card)

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is going to be the first Android certified phone to run the PlayStation Suit when that becomes available later in the year. Sony hasn’t been real clear on the exact time frame on when the PlayStation Suit will make its debut on Android though Fall seems to be the consensus. Still, with Verizon Wireless being Sony’s exclusive partner in the United States and with March as the launch window, Sony isn’t releasing the Xperia Play without catering to the gamers.

After all, the Xperia Play is catered to those who want a smartphone, but also value gaming when they are on the go and want something more then just touch screen gaming; though the Xperia Play will obviously have the same access to Android games that include touch screen. Still, where the Xperia Play shines is with the built in slide out keypad that PSPgo users will very familiar with. This keypad not only gives you a dedicated D-pad and other traditional PlayStation buttons, but a dual thumb-pad area, perfect for gaming. With over the air multiplayer gaming, as well as local co-op and multiplayer games, the Xperia Play is really catered to the play first, work later crowd.

As I mentioned, the Xperia Play will have full access to the Android Market and the games it offers, but the real draw of the phone will be exclusive PlayStation games with the PlayStation Suit. Still, with the PlayStation Suit not set to debut till later in the year, Xperia Play owners will have a special section that they can access to get PlayStation games till the Suit fully launches. Knowing the crowd that the device is being catered to, the Xperia Play will come pre-loaded with Asphalt 6, The Sims 3 and Tetris with another 50 titles from 20 different publishers set to be available at launch which include games like Guitar Hero, Assassin’s Creed, Dead Space and Reckless Racing and Dungeon Defenders Wave 2. With games being able to run at a smooth 60fps while still achieving 5 1/2 hours of game play, with the right marketing, Sony Ericsson has a great product to help them differentiate from the overly crowded Android market.