PlayStation Phone Now On Sale with 60+ Games

Sony's certified PlayStation Phone has officially launched across the globe, just not in the United States.

The wait if finally over: the hot-n-sassy PlayStation-certified Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY smartphone has finally arrived to retail. Packed with Google's Android 3.0 "Gingerbread" OS, over sixty games available in the first week alone, and a slide-out gaming pad, gamers will surely forget about those other fruity and kiddy mobile platforms... at least until the NGP arrives this holiday season.

But don't go chucking that tired and boring old smartphone into the trash-- the PlayStation Phone isn't available in the United States just yet. As of this writing, it's currently rolling out in the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It will also arrive in Spain, France, Finland, Singapore, India and Portugal within the next few weeks.

As announced at Mobile World Congress last month, Xperia PLAY will be in stores in the US market with Verizon Wireless "this spring." Nope, this isn't an April Fool's joke... we're dead last in the distribution list. Or at least, Verizon wants to hack into it and load up Verizon bloat and limitations first before unleashing the phone to anxious subscribers.

According to Sony Ericsson, the phone arrives with a few exclusive titles under its belt including N.O.V.A. 2, Dungeon Defenders Second Wave, Backstab and Asphalt 6. Other optimized games include Assassin's Creed Altair's Chronicles HD, Need for Speed, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Gun Bros, Galaxy on Fire 2, Zenonia 2 and more (see list below). All of these will be downloadable through the Xperia PLAY launcher application, and not via the Android Market.

Of course, the big hype around this PlayStation-sanctioned phone is the ability to actually play PlayStation One games. Crash Bandicoot will come pre-installed within the PlayStation Pocket app, with five additional games available to purchase and download including Cool Boarders 2, Destruction Derby, Jumping Jack Flash, MediEvil and Syphon Filter. More games will be added on a regular basis and will likely mirror what's already available for the PSP and PSPgo.

"It’s great to get Xperia PLAY into consumers’ hands at last," said Dominic Neil-Dwyer, Head of Market Development at Sony Ericsson. "This is just the start and the future is exciting based on all the interest and support we have from the game industry. A steady stream of fresh innovative content will be coming to Xperia PLAY over the coming months."

In addition to the announcement, Sony released a list of games that will become available within the first week of the Xperia PLAY's launch, and those that will already be pre-installed, depending on the territory:

• Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior from Digital Legends (pre-installed)
• FIFA 2010 from EA Mobile (pre-installed**)
• Sims 3 from EA Mobile (pre-installed**)
• Star Battalion from Gameloft (pre-installed**)
• Tetris from EA mobile (pre-installed**)
• Asphalt 6 from Gameloft (free to download)
• Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave from Trendy Entertainment
• Galaxy on Fire 2 from Fishlabs
• Assassins Creed from Gameloft
• Need for Speed SHIFT from  EA Mobile
• Worms from EA Mobile
• Nova 2 from Gameloft
• Modern Combat Black Pegasus from Gameloft
• Guns n Glory from Handygames
• Reckless Racing from Polarbit 
• Real Football 2011from Gameloft
• Gun Bros from Glu Mobile 
• Racer Luma from Arcade/Unity 
• Cordy from SilverTree Media
• Aporkalypse from Handygames
• Brothers in Arms Global Front from Gameloft
• Guerrilla Bob from Angry Mob Games/Unity
• Let's Golf 2 from Gameloft
• Zenonia 2 from Gamevil 
• Cyberlords from Handygames
• Guitar Hero™ Warriors of Rock Mobile from Glu Mobile 
• Age of Zombies from Halfbrick Studios
• Spectral Souls from HyperDevBox Japan 
• Splinter Cell Conviction from Gameloft
• Air Attack from Art in Games/Unity
• Armageddon Squadron from Polarbit 
• Uno from Gameloft
• InfeCCt from Handygames 
• Spiderman total Mayhem from Gameloft
• Millionaire City from Digital Chocolate
• Avatar from Gameloft
• Raging Thunder 2from Polarbit
• Homerun Battle 3D from Com2us Games
• Aftermath XHD from Jakyl 
• I Must Run from GameLion
• Baseball Superstars 2011from Gamevil
• Ground Effect Pro from Jakyl 
• ZeNonia from Gamevil
• Super KO Boxing  2 from Glu Mobile
• Farm Story from Team Lava
• Wave Blazer from Polarbit
• Soccer Superstars from Gamevil
• Battle Bears from Skyvu 
• Tower Blocks New York from Digital Chocolate
• Super Dynamite Fishing from Handygames
• Iron Sight from Polarbit
• Toonwarz from Polarbit
• Restaurant Story from Team Lava
• Escape from AMA
• Raving Babies from AMA
• Bakery Story from Team Lava
• Denki Blocks! Deluxe from Jakyl 
• Rollercoaster Rush from Digital Chocolate

* In France Syphon Filter™will be pre-installed on Xperia PLAY.
** Pre-install may vary by territory