Well, the rumors turned out to be true, and gamers are about to have their dearest smartphone wish granted. Sony Ericsson (News - Alert) today unveiled the Xperia PLAY, the latest phone in its Xperia range of Android (News - Alert)-based smartphones. What's different about it? The PlayStation integration. The phone will offer smartphone functionality paired with the kind of immersive gaming experience usually found only on cutting-edge game consoles, according to the company.

In portrait mode, it's an Android smartphone with a five megapixel camera, a four-inch multi-touch screen and built-in social networking features. Slide out the gaming control, and it becomes a mobile gaming console. The slide out game pad reveals a digital D pad, two analog touch pads, two shoulder buttons and the four PlayStation icons: circle, cross, square and triangle. Qualcomm’s (News - Alert) optimized Snapdragon processor with a 1Ghz CPU and embedded Adreno GPU graphics processor deliver 60fps play-back 3D mobile gaming and Web browsing with minimal power consumption with longer battery life and game time.

Rikko Sakaguchi, executive vice president and chief creation officer at Sony Ericsson, commented, “Today is a very proud moment for Sony Ericsson as we bring something truly revolutionary to the market. Living up to our vision of Communication Entertainment, Xperia PLAY will forever change the way people think about smartphones and mobile gaming.”

Xperia PLAY will run on Gingerbread (version 2.3), the latest version of Google’s (News - Alert) Android platform. The Xperia PLAY will also be the first PlayStation-certified device. 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.

Kazuo Hirai, president of Networked Products and Services Group at Sony Corporation, said, “I am delighted to see Xperia PLAY as the first PlayStation Certified smartphone to hit the market. Xperia PLAY provides a unique consumer offering and is yet another example of great products and services coming to market that leverage Sony's strong assets.”

Sony Ericsson has partnered with game publishers to create the phone's ecosystem, making available many popular game titles that can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace. Popular franchises coming available to the phone's users include EA’s Need For Speed, Sims 3 and a multiplayer version of FIFA 10 for mobile. GLU Mobile/Activision (News - Alert) will be bringing Guitar Hero while Gameloft’s titles include Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell. Sony Ericsson is also partnering with Unity Technologies, using its development platform to ensure a continuous flow of 3D game titles.

Sakaguchi added, “The launch of Xperia PLAY could not have been possible without the close collaboration of both Google and Sony Computer Entertainment. The commitment of so many industry leading game publishers further demonstrates that Xperia PLAY will deliver on the long-held expectations from consumers the world over.”

The Xperia PLAY will be available in some markets in March 2011.