Archive for the 'Games' Category

So Nokia’s N-Gage is out - but what is it exactly?

Published by Fraser MacInnes on April 7, 2008 in Games. 0 Comments

n-gage-n81_medium.jpgDue to our almost preternatural powers of news detection (and the fact that we spend almost every waking hour slumped infront of our laptops) we got wind of the N-Gage’s launch late last week, ahead of its official announcement.

Nokia has gone and caught up with us all by letting loose a press release about the launch and just in case you haven’t gleaned every printed fact about the service from our sister site, Pocket Gamer, already, we thought we’d break down a few of its essential features for you here.

Continue reading ‘So Nokia’s N-Gage is out - but what is it exactly?’



N-Gage is go, go, go!

Published by Fraser MacInnes on April 4, 2008 in Games. 0 Comments

picture-2.pngIf your thumbs have been twiddling impatiently in anticipation of the official N-Gage launch,  then fear not, it’s here, at long last, it’s here.

After a delay, an information drip feed and the conspicuous absence of any sort of a marketing campaign, the service has been switched on. There are four titles available so far: Asphalt 3: Street Rules, Brain Challenge, World Series of Poker Pro Challenge, and Creatures Of The Deep and they will all work on the N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95 and N95 8GB. The site recommends that PC users download Nokia’s PC Suite to install the application on their phones, although it’s apparently not essential.

Despite the muted launch, expect the service to be very busy over the weekend. Indeed on of the readers of our beloved sister site Pocket Gamer commented that due to the presence of up to 17,000 guest users, signing in has been problematic initially, though at least its a healthy indication of enthusiasm.

Head here to get started and get climbing up those N-Gage Arena rankings.



Use a Wii controller with S60 and UIQ phones with MobiPad

Published by Stuart Houghton on April 1, 2008 in Games and Other stuff. 0 Comments

mobipad.jpgPlaying games on a mobile can be a frustrating experience - N-Gages aside, few phones are built for the the precise controls that any decent action game requires and fat-fingered players won’t know whether they are running or jumping.

Sure, there are specialist game pad add-ons available, but these are not cheap and few but the most dedicated mobile gamers would actually pay for one.

MobiPad lets Wii owners use their magic wands with their UIQ or S60 mobiles.

The app pairs your phone and a Wii controller via Bluetooth and runs on all Symbian OS S60 3rd edition and UIQ3 devices.

In practice, the Wii controller works like as standard ‘Gameboy style’ D-Pad and button combo. The Wii controller’s motion-sensors are supported by MobiPad’s code but the developers are still figuring out what to map it’s controls to on the phone. Perhaps as we see more accelerometer based games appearing this feature might come into its own.

MobiPad is a free download, available here.



Nokia N-Gage delayed further by ‘unexpected difficulties’

Published by Chris Leonard on December 21, 2007 in Applications and Games. 0 Comments

03_n811.jpgGuess what? Nokia’s N-Gage service has been delayed YET AGAIN! It was originally going to be launched this week with much fanfare and a sigh of relief from expectant mobile gamers.

Now it seems it won’t be launching this side of Christmas after all. A post on the official N-Gage blog says that despite teams of people ‘around the world, literally, working overtime’, there are still some ‘unexpected difficulties’ with the N-Gage First Access software.

Apparently an internal test run with over 1,000 testers found an undiscovered issue with the service. Thankfully the games and service in general are apparently working okay but N-Gage First Access isn’t.

Now it looks like the New Year at the earliest. Damn.



Sony announces 2007 Content Awards Winners

Published by Chris Leonard on December 20, 2007 in Applications, Biz & Tech, Games, Mobile internet, Music and Other stuff. 0 Comments

seca-2007.jpgSony Ericsson has announced what it thinks are the best content and applications of the year in its Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2007.

Announcing the winners on a special micro-site, the manufacturer has announced the best third-party apps and content available for its mobile phones, split into five categories.

Each was judged by a panel of industry professionals considering ease-of-use, entertainment, innovation, functionality and audio performance.

Without further ado, the winners:

Gaming: RealNetworks’ Mobile Games Studio Mr Goodliving – Playman Extreme Running

Imaging: BitCycle – Pull Face Image Manipulator

Productive Mobility: Opera – Opera Mini 4.0

Music & Audio: Gracenote – Track ID

Themes & Graphics: Metronize/Clavitones – The Geeks themes and graphics

The winning entries don’t actually really win anything, but do at least get some recognition and kudos in the development community. Mind you, Opera’s new browser (Mini 4.0) has been getting plaudits and awards by the handful anyway, but they probably don’t mind another pat on the back from a manufacturer.

On the site, you can find out more about these apps and see the full list of nominees.



Orange opens on-device games shop on Sony Ericssons

Published by Chris Leonard on December 17, 2007 in Games and Handsets. 0 Comments

1705_orange.jpgOrange has rolled out its new on-device games portal making games available directly from your handset. Portal Booster, powered by Mobile Scope, will make Orange’s games catalogue available within a few button presses on certain handsets, avoiding users getting lost in menu hell as is usual when browsing operators’ mobile internet portals.

 

The first handsets to be released with this built-in are the brand new Sony Ericsson W910i and the K850i.

Hopefully this will drive consumers to search for and download games from Orange, further improving take-up and hence increasing its mobile data revenues  at the same time. It’ll also help mobile games firm In-Fusio, which is behind Mobile Scope, who will be delighted more users will be encouraged to pay for its games from their handsets.

[Via Mobile Entertainment]



Nokia launching Tamogotchi-like Creebies on N-Gage

Published by Chris Leonard on December 14, 2007 in Applications and Games. 0 Comments

05_nokia_n81_lowres-copy.jpg

Following the news that the N-Gage service launches the week before Christmas, Nokia’s also announced that Creebies - 3D virtual pets – will be available through it in the New Year.

Each player will get their own 3D Creebi to care for, entertain, feed and even breed. With a little bit of virtual cash, you can customise your pet with accessories, helping the little Creebi develop its own personality and appearance.

So far, so Tamagotchi, but via the magic of mobile technology, you’ll be able to let your Creebi can play games and breed with other Creebies via Bluetooth technology.

Better yet, if you get fed up with your Creebi or its little rug-rats, you can send them to Adoption Centre in the N-Gage Arena. So far so nice, but Nokia hasn’t said what will happen to those unfortunate Creebies who don’t find a new home in the Adoption Centre. Is there going to be a virtual vet ready with a big needle?



Nokia N-Gage finally arriving next week… at least on the N81

Published by Chris Leonard on December 14, 2007 in Games and Handsets. 0 Comments

03_n81.jpgThe official N-Gage blog has announced that the new N-Gage service launches next week (Yay!) Unfortunately it’s only on the N81 for the time being (Boo!).

While Nokia’s keeping to its promise of a pre-Christmas launch, the restriction to N81 and N81 8GB will surely disappoint N82 and N95 8GB owners hoping for some gaming action this Crimbo.

There’ll only be a few games available at launch and won’t be the full version of the service, but it’s a start. Those who want to leave feedback (i.e. complain) about the lack of support can do so on the First Access forums, which will also be opened for business.

Looks like we’ll all have to wait until 2008 for a full service on the rest of Nokia’s Nseries handsets.



Psx4iphone Playstation emulator for iPhones emerges

Published by Chris Leonard on December 13, 2007 in Applications, Games and Handsets. 0 Comments

untitled-1.jpgJust weeks after Sony first hinted, then rubbished plans for a Playstation phone, programmer ZodTTD has unveiled his very own PS1 emulator for the iPhone.

Called psx4iphone, it’s currently at pre-beta stage, but is already looking promising. You can already get NES games for your iPhone but an original Playstation emulator could be huge considering how many of the little grey boxes were sold.

ZodTTD has some form in iPhone emulators, having already produced the GameBoy Advance emulator or iPhones and iPod Touches. He’s said it’ll have sound, memory card support and compatibility with around 75% of PS1 titles.

ZodTTD has said that if enough people donate via PayPal to him, he’s pretty much ready to release psx4iphone, so if you want it, get donating.

It sounds great, but the crucial differences between the iPhone’s
touchscreen controls and the PS1’s joypad might hamper enjoyment somewhat, even if he is offering onscreen controls.

You can find out more and (hopefully) download psx4iphone at ZodTTD’s site here.



Doom maker focusing on new mobile games

Published by Chris Leonard on November 19, 2007 in Games. 0 Comments

full04.jpgWe all remember first Doom then Quake on PCs, don’t we? Spending hours running down tunnels blasting pixelated aliens or networked multiplayer when we should have been working at school or college.

Well, the creators of these classic games are finally bringing them to mobile phones. New company id Mobile is now developing direct ports of the old classics Quake and Wolfenstein to mobiles, as well as a sequel to Doom RPG.

Id Software’s first Doom-related mobile game, Doom RPG, has already sold over one million copies, but in reality it wasn’t quite the same as the old Doom games. It was developed externally by Fountainhead Software and released by Jamdat. The new games will come straight from id Software.

“The whole reason we are in the mobile arena now is I was just really appalled at how bad (cellphone games) were,” Carmack says. “We’re already making profit on 2 million units of games (sold), but we are kind of holding out this hope there might be a breakout moment when the industry gets five to 10 times larger.”

Here’s hoping he’s right.

[Via USA Today]



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