Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and Arc making a play on Vodafone

Vodafone is playing up the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. It's now taking orders for the PlayStation phone and its playmate the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc.

Both phones will be in shops on 1 April -- but they're no joke. The Play lets you fire up retro Sony PlayStation games, including classics from the PSP and PSOne, as well as new titles. It offers a 4-inch screen and slide-out gaming controls. Vodafone will give you one for free on a hefty two-year, £35 per month contract with 900 minutes, 750MB of data and unlimited texts.

That's slightly cheaper than the 16GB iPhone 4, which is £89 for the phone plus £40 per month for the same contract. Less costly contracts are available for the Play, with a £25 monthly deal requiring £199 upfront.

The first 1,000 orders get a dock for their new phone and all orders placed before the end of March get free calls to other Vodafone customers.

The Arc, meanwhile, packs an 8-megapixel camera, 4.2-inch screen, 720p video and HDMI connection. A free Arc will cost you £30 per month for 600 minutes and 500MB of data.

Both phones run Google's Android software, so you can add apps to customise your phone. They both run Android version 2.3, the latest version available for phones.

The Arc and Play make a play for our hearts in less than two weeks from today. Orange and T-Mobile will also sell the Play and Arc, as will Three. O2 will sell an exclusive white version of the Play.

Are you tempted by the Xperia Arc, or are you hot for the gaming thrills of the Play? And which network deserves your cash? Let us know in the comments -- play on, playas.