Sony is taking every opportunity to market the new Xperia Play. They just announced that the Android powered PlayStation phone is now the official handset of Major League Gaming. Sony will be present at all of the 6 MLG Pro Circuit events in the U.S. this year. Sony “will feature demonstrations, game challenges and giveaways” for those in attendance. In addition they will sponsor a few select gamers; Dave “Walshy” Walsh and MLG Coach Andy “JT Bravo” Dudynsky.
It is clear they want to get the word out and become a major force in the mobile gaming arena currently dominated by Apple. Check out the Press Release bellow and tell us what you think about the Xperia Play.
Press Release
Sony Ericsson and Major League Gaming Announce Strategic Partnership Bringing Xperiaâ„¢ PLAY to Gamers Nationwide
Sony Ericsson Xperiaâ„¢ PLAY to be the official mobile handset of Major League Gaming
SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2011 — Sony Ericsson and Major League Gaming (MLG),
the world’s largest professional video game league and provider of
cross platform online videogame competition, today announced a
partnership making Xperiaâ„¢ PLAY the official mobile handset of Major
League Gaming.“Sony Ericsson is redefining mobile
gaming with Xperiaâ„¢ PLAY. It’s designed to give you everything you need
from a fully featured smartphone and the one thing you want- the
ultimate mobile gaming experience,” said Peter Farmer, Head of Marketing
for North America, Sony Ericsson. “We know that Major League Gaming’s
community of gamers will put that gaming experience to the ultimate test
and we’re looking forward to connecting with this highly engaged global
community.”MLG is the premier property for video gaming
competition and is the exclusive sanctioning body for both competitive
professional and amateur gaming competition. It operates a rapidly
growing digital platform with a community of approximately 8 million, as
well as the multi-city Pro-Circuit tour. The 8th
season of the Pro Circuit will include competitions in six major U.S.
cities and will be streamed live online. With more than $1 million in
prizes and player stipends, this will be the largest season in MLG
history.To showcase the
extensive capabilities of Xperiaâ„¢ PLAY, each MLG Pro Circuit event will
feature demonstrations, game challenges and giveaways, kicking off at
the season opener on April 1 in Dallas. Sony Ericsson will also sponsor
MLG Pro Player Dave “Walshy” Walsh and MLG Coach Andy “JT Bravo”
Dudynsky for the 2011 season. Later this year, Sony Ericsson will also sponsor a new video segment on MLG.tv highlighting must-have apps and games.“At
MLG, we aim to showcase the latest technology that will benefit our
community of gamers,” said Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO, MLG. “Xperiaâ„¢ PLAY
is an amazing smartphone and a stellar gaming device bringing the best
mobile capabilities to our audience.”Xperiaâ„¢ PLAY is powered by the latest version of the Androidâ„¢ platform (Gingerbread version 2.3) and will also be the first PlayStation® Certified smartphone. This means it will have access to PlayStation® game content provided through the PlayStation® Suite initiative, currently under development by Sony Computer Entertainment and due to launch later this calendar year.
In addition to the PlayStation content from the PlayStation® suite framework there will be more than 50 games from various Android publishers optimized for Xperia PLAY available
at launch. Users will have a best-in-class gaming experience with many
popular titles, including Asphaltâ„¢ Adrenaline 6, Bruce Lee, Star
Battalion, The Sims 3â„¢ and Tetrisâ„¢. Other leading franchises available
at launch include, Guitar Heroâ„¢, Assassin’s Creedâ„¢, and Splinter Cellâ„¢.A
pre-loaded application will enable users to easily discover and
download titles that have been optimized for game play on the Xperiaâ„¢
PLAY, access recently played games and see information about the games
they have downloaded.About Major League Gaming
Founded
in 2002, Major League Gaming (MLG) is the dominant media property
exclusively targeting the approximately 40 million consumers in North America
who have a passion for playing video games as a competitive social
activity. The company exclusively represents the best professional
gamers and gives millions of aspiring gamers around the world an
opportunity to compete, improve their skills, and socialize through our
thriving online competitive community and live Pro Circuit competitions.
For more information: www.majorleaguegaming.com.About Sony Ericsson
Sony
Ericsson celebrates its 10th year as a joint venture between Sony
Corporation and Ericsson in October, 2011. Over the years the company
has brought together the best communication technologies with superior
entertainment user experiences to create its Xperiaâ„¢ line of the most
entertaining smartphones in the mobile handset industry. With its global
corporate functions in London, Sony Ericsson has sales and marketing
operations in all major regions of the world, as well as manufacturing
in China, and product development sites in China, Japan, Sweden and
Silicon Valley, California. For more information, please visit: www.sonyericsson.com/press.
Source: MobileSyrup