Verizon Wireless customers will soon be getting their gaming fix with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, a new gaming-centric smartphone available for pre-order May 19.

The Play runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and comes loaded with seven Sony PlayStation game titles, including: Madden NFL 11 (EA Sports), Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior (Digital Legends), Asphalt 6: Adrenaline (Gameloft), The Sims 3 (EA), Star Battalion (Gameloft), Crash Bandicoot (Sony PlayStation) and Tetris. 

According to a press release, 50 game titles initially will be available for download on the Xperia Play via V Cast Apps. The Sony Ericsson Play features a slide-out game pad, revealing a directional keypad, dual analog touch joystick, two shoulder buttons and the four iconic PlayStation symbol keys: circle, X, square and triangle. 

The Xperia Play features a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon II processor with Adreno 205 GPU, support for Adobe Flash, 4-inch multitouch display, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, VGA front-facing camera for still shots and video chatting and mobile hotspot capability for up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices

The Xperia Play will be available for pre-order online beginning May 19 and in stores on May 26 for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.

Sony Ericsson first confirmed the Xperia Play prior to the Super Bowl and ran multiple ads showcasing the phone during the game.