The two touch-sensitive thumb pads worked, but they weren't accurate enough to use in games that required you to act quickly. In , movement and block placement were clumsy; more often than not you'd fall off ledges because the thumb pad did not properly register your input. If you plan on playing a lot of games on the Play, I'd recommend using the directional pad over the less than functional thumb pads.

Arc Launcher and Other Software

The Xperia Play on Verizon shipped with stock Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The Play 4G still comes with Gingerbread, though it's also running Sony's Arc Launcher overlay. I personally don't mind the Arc Launcher, since it wasn't as heavy as HTC's Sense or Samsung's TouchWiz overlays. I liked the animation of the app drawer and the ability to order apps based on how often you used them, though I would have preferred Sony had swapped out the stock Android camera app with something better since it lacks in features (and is somewhat of an eyesore).

The Xperia Play 4G is rather light when it comes to bloatware. Besides the usual bunch of AT&T branded apps, you get a handful of games that show off the usefulness of the slide-out game pad. The included games are: Asphalt 6, Crash Bandicoot, Dungeon Defenders 2nd Wave, Madden NFL 11, Star Battalion, TBloxx My City, and the Sims 3.

Performance