It seems that several years of taking their lumps on the long road to mobile gaming success has hardened the boys and girls at Nokia just a bit, and they're ready to come out swinging. The target? Fellow European manufacturer Sony Ericsson, of course, which has been rumored for eons to be cooking up some sort of PlayStation- or PSP-branded handset to go head to head with the likes of Nokia's N-Gage service. The head of Nokia's games division went on the assault at a recent press event for its brand spanking new N-Gage client, saying "I'm not scared about anybody. The real question is how do they do it? Can they create a link between the PSP games and a phone? Can they do the multiplayer and online stuff? We've been doing this for two years and it hasn't been easy." In other words: bring it, Sony Ericsson, because we don't think you can do it. Kind of funny to be lashing out against a product that hasn't been announced (much less launched) though.

[Via Tech Digest]

ZodTTD has made good on a promise to release their psx4iphone app to the public just a handful of days after announcing the project, meaning that the iPhone could very well end up taking a slot beside the PSP as a premier destination for portable PlayStation gaming. We're still not entirely convinced that the transition from PlayStation controller to touchscreen is going to be an easy one, though we're pretty sure hardcore gamers have overcome even greater obstacles in the past in the name of emulation. The package is being billed as a 0.1 release, meaning that it may not be the most solid build in the world -- but then again, it's not like you're getting your PlayStation jollies from Sony Ericsson any time soon, right?

[Via Mobilewhack]

Those of you who have already loaded up like 1,000 NES ROMs on your iPhone will be excited to learn that an even more powerful emulator is on the horizon, this one for the original PlayStation. Called psx4iphone, and currently in pre-beta, the software is being developed by ZodTTD, the same programmer responsible for the gpSPhone GameBoy Advance emulator for the iPhone and iPod touch. According to ZodTTD, if enough people donate, the program could be out within days, complete with sound implementation and memory card support, along with compatibility for a claimed 75% of titles. Still, we've played with the DualShock a time or two before, and considering how difficult FPSEce playback is on Windows Mobile devices with full QWERTY keyboards, we're not sure how well all those buttons, triggers, D-pads, and analog sticks will translate to the touchscreen experience.

[Via pspsps]

Well, that didn't take long. Just shortly after Sony Computer Entertainment co-chief operating officer Jim Ryan opened his mouth and rekindled rumors of a PlayStation Phone, Sony has now shot back and flatly denied that any such device is in the works. According to ComputerAndVideoGames.com, Sony says, "Jim Ryan was in fact misquoted by the Economic Times of India about this issue," adding that, "We do have talks with other arms of the Sony family about various topics but I can confirm we are not currently working together on the creation of a PlayStation Phone." So, that certainly seems to put a damper on that idea for the time being, although we suspect it won't take all that much longer for the rumor to crop up once again, at least as long as Sony is in the business of making both cellphones and video games.

As far as rumors go, this one is about as thin on the deets as they come, but Cnet Asia is reporting that Sony Ericsson senior VP of Product and Application Planning, Rikko Sakaguchi, actually alluded to plans for a game-playing phone at a recent press event in Sweden. During what was presumably the Q&A portion of a media conference in honor of the merged company's fifth anniversary, Sakaguchi reportedly answered a question about a theoretical PSP phone (most decidedly NOT pictured above) by saying simply that Sony Ericsson "is working on something," but that "the surprise must be kept for the future." Yeah, we know, not too much meat here -- Sakaguchi did mention that the objective was to integrate gaming and communications functions, not to create a dedicated gaming device (whatever that means) -- however, after the relative success of its Walkman and Cybershot lineup of handsets, it certainly makes sense for the company to leverage the PlayStation brand in this market as well. Sony Ericsson would be wise, though, to learn from Nokia's experience with the N-Gage, which is that, well, people don't like the N-Gage. So, here's to hoping that the Ericsson side of the equation can knock some sense into the Sony side of the equation, or else we may end up with a bulky, side-talkin' handset which uses even more proprietary formats that no one is interested in.

[Via Maxconsole]