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For $38, the Sony Xperia Play could be the perfect emulator machine

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So the Sony Xperia Play isn’t the new kid around the block. In fact, it’s probably one of the oldest (so much so that it’s still stuck on Gingerbread with 2011 hardware). But it’s the main attraction in 1Sale’s daily deal, and they’re giving you the chance to buy it for a mere $37.95.

Why would you buy one? Well, if you’re in need of a backup phone or know someone who could use a smartphone (albeit not the latest and greatest), it’s not a bad buy.

But we also think gamers could get a nice kick out of this by installing one of the many emulators out there for Android. Its hardware, while long in the tooth (400MB of RAM, 1GHz Snapdragon 2 processor), is still good enough to play some of the 2D classics and even a decent amount of 3D games.

With full face buttons, a directional pad and virtual analog sticks tucked neatly beneath the display — and shoulder buttons to flank all of that — it’s a nice alternative to mobile gaming than having to shell out for something like a Nintendo 3DS or a PlayStation Vita. Want one? Be sure to grab it right here, but they’ll be gone after today so act fast.

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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17 Comments

  1. This is pretty cool. Think I’m gonna pick one up.

  2. Thats a great price

  3. That’s phones bad bruh lol

  4. If you’re gonna carry a 2nd gadget for gaming just get a PS Vita or Nintendo DS.
    Or for classic gaming grab a MOGA controller for your modern phone …

    1. I carry around an old hacked PSPGo, which was super easy to hack, and has tons of emulators available for it.

      1. Same here. Still a great device full of great games, a 32GB memory stick can hold 30-40 games…

  5. I just use an old hacked psp to play emulated games. And it would most definitely be the best option for someone looking to just play emulators instead of a second phone

  6. this is a lame story . this site is so fucking lame now. No real news just real ads

  7. Verizon. :(

  8. I had this phone when it was brand new. I hated it so bad I returned it.. But for $40 I think I can use it as an emulator machine especially since its a refurb

  9. Also does anyone know if there’s a way to get a better version of android on it?

  10. Wow, those specs bring back ancient memories of Android. Guessing there is probably a CM rom to take it past Gingerbread.

    1. There is a lollipop cm build available with most things working

  11. I just checked it and it just for Verizon :(

  12. Got it for free ($.01) from best buy for son (he chose), paid for the guaranteed trade in value deal, returned phone in 6 months because it was so bad, got $300 back from trade in. One of the few deals I came out ahead on. Suffered from the same problem all early Androids had, no app storage space. You maybe could have 2 games on it, with no other apps.

  13. don’t waste your time. I had this phone and the last update that was pushed to it broke email notifications. You have to manually check your gmail to see if you got new email. Not too mention it’s got a ton of bloatware and the pre installed games all require additional downloads. realistically youll only be able to have one of the freebie games fully installed at a time.

  14. This is a great communications device and gaming device. I’ve had 2 of them and going on a 3rd.. What I had to do with this little marvel was- backup all of the stock apps that come with the phone to your computer or cloud service. Download remainder data to only 3 or 4 games at a time, guys. Any android apps you don’t use? Uninstall.. period. You can get them back guys, as they are remembered by the market! :P Just recently they added swipe, bigger buttons on the QWERTY, but no updates to it’s Gingerbread which sucks. The screen breaks very easily (only real problems I’ve had with them) so I suggest you get a hard case for it. There are many great games for this phone, including the stock games. I favor all of the pre-installed games plus- Battlefield BC2. Nova 1,2, and 3. StarBatallion is a great game to play over Wi-Fi in a VPN. Not every game supports the game pad. Not good as an emulator though :( Wait… I think I just wrote a product review lol ;)

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