According to reports, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – which happens to be the highly-awaited and much-rumored ‘PlayStation Phone’ – will become available via Verizon Wireless beginning May 26. The handset can, however, be pre-ordered from Thursday, May 19 onwards.

The Xperia Play, to be priced at $200 with a two-year contract, will feature a sliding screen that reveals touch-sensitive directional pads and buttons that make it possible for the users to play video games on the handset.

Being touted as the first "PlayStation certified smartphone," the Xperia Play will enable users to download games for the handset through the Google Android Marketplace as well as the Verizon V Cast app store.

The phone, officially announced at Mobile World Congress in February, will be powered by a modified version of Google's Android ‘Gingerbread’ operating system. In fact, Sony has already disclosed its plans for using Android as the OS to power its next portable PlayStation gaming console, presently nicknamed the NGP.

The Xperia Play handset boasts seven pre-loaded games in the U. S., including: Madden NFL 11; Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior; The Sims 3; Asphalt 6: Adrenaline; Tetris; Star Battalion; and Crash Bandicoot.

Sony has also revealed that over 50 other games will be available via V Cast once the handset is launched; and that the earlier PlayStation games will soon go on sale in the Android Marketplace, in the form of Android apps.