Xperia Play PlayStation Phone following Nintendo 3DS with price cuts?

It’s proving tough to be a new gaming handheld in 2011 it seems. Just last week we reported that Nintendo would be slashing the cost of its glasses-free 3DS handheld following slow sales. Now it seems that Sony’s Android Phone/gaming handheld hybrid the Xperia Play may be taking the slow walk to the bargain bin too.

In what appears to be an attempt to keep sales of the device flowing in the wake of the 3DS price cuts, Expansys are cutting Sony Ericsson’s phone down from £500 to £289. Similarly, Play are dropping the price to £299.

So what’s causing this decline for a once lucrative area of the gaming market? Some feel both the Xperia Play and Nintendo 3DS hardware are a little underwhelming (with the Xperia Play feeling a little off as both a phone and a gaming handheld in our review, while the 3DS’s 3D capabilities haven’t won everyone over either).

But what about the elephant in the corner; Apple’s App Store? Great games are being churned out for iOS devices every day at pocket-money prices. Is a quality smartphone (or tablet) the ideal gaming/productivity/social jack-of-all-trades these days? One device to rule them all? Perhaps – our top 50 iPad games list certainly delivers a strong argument in that respect.

Via: The Register