EA's racing game Need For Speed: Undercover is out now on the N-Gage platform. You can find it in your phone's N-Gage app: to see it go to the showroom tab, select Options, then Update Now. (For a list of compatible phones and other info, see the All About N-Gage FAQ.)
Long-time Arena user Clintonjeff has been one of the first in the world to receive the new business-oriented Nokia E75 smartphone. This is the first Eseries device to be compatible with N-Gage, and CJ has looked at how well it copes with gaming. Apparently not very well. There are quite a few "issues" such as the N-Gage icon being hidden too deeply in the menu system (in the "Media" folder!), restricted gaming key options, and a client that doesn't work in horizontal mode. Check the link out for more details and see below for CJ's E75 N-Gage video. It's a real shame that N-Gage is making such a disastrous debut on Eseries. If anyone from Nokia is reading this, take a look at CJ's article and make note of what needs fixing (the problems would mostly be very easy to fix too).
Gameloft's action adventure Prince Of Persia is now available on the N-Gage platform. Go to your phone's N-Gage application's showroom tab, select "Options" and then "Update Now" to see it. For more info about the N-Gage platform including a list of compatible devices, see All About N-Gage's FAQ section.
In All About Symbian Insight 62 (AAS Podcast 118) we briefly discuss the recently released S60 5.0 SDK (and consider broader uses), follow up on kinetic scrolling on the N97, get Ewan's view point on Monopoly for the N-Gage. In the last part of the podcast Steve and Ewan relate their experience of video recording on the N85 versus the N95. You can listen to AAS Insight 62 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
The upcoming Ovi Store application is due to replace Nokia's existing Download!, MOSH and Software Market services, and there has been speculation about what else it might absorb. However, Nokia has now gone on record to say the N-Gage application will be kept as a separate service, at least for the moment, though they also said that their medium term goal is to "converge everything into a single distribution channel".
Nokia have released Monopoly, Here and Now: The World Edition for the N-Gage platform. Bringing the classic property trading board game into the next generation gaming platform, the EA published title allows up to four players to play on a board populated not by streets, but by the major cities of the world.
In All About Symbian Insight 61 (AAS Podcast 117) we look back at some of the software highlights of MWC (including a quick N97 mention), discuss the Nokia Netbook rumours / ideas, talk about Ovi Contacts and go over the latest N-Gage developments. You can listen to AAS Insight 55 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
It's going to be a common sight as on-device App Stores become more popular on smartphones, but SEO and potential Black Hat techniques to boost an applications likelihood of being found in a search could be just as important as development skills and making good banner ads. Pocket Gamer has an interview with Digital Chocolate (the name behind N-Gage titles such as Cafe Solitare) on the listing techniques that show them pushing the envelope.
Over on All About N-Gage we've been covering quite a few stories lately, here are some of them: Fishlabs have just announced five games for N-Gage including the next gen's first RPG, AAN has started its own Twitter channel, a selection of N-Gage games have been greatly reduced in price, there are several N-Gage contests where you can win holidays, phones and games, the S60 Ambassador programme is giving away N-Gage games in a new campaign, and of course Nokia's recently announced six new N-Gage-compatible phones.
The next gen N-Gage shoot-em-up Space Impact Kappa Base has been updated to add support for online clans and instant messaging in the game's "World Battle" section. Current owners can update to the new version for free, and people who haven't bought SI:KB yet may like to know the game's price has been dropped to 5 euros. Current owners can find full instructions for updating to the new version below.
Tzer2 has ripped into Gameloft's Asphalt 4 for N-Gage (on S60) over on our sister site All About NGage, criticising its lack of innovation and jerky frame rates. The title is even described as feeling "dangerously close to shovelware", with the developers being "lazy". Despite the above, there's plenty in Asphalt 4 for getting an instant arcade racing gaming fix and doubtless the title will sell as well as its predecessor.
To promote the N-Gage game Resident Evil: Degeneration, Nokia and Capcom have set up a dating site for the undead called Zombie Singles, which invites people to upload a photo and then "zombify" it with the site's online zombification tool. All Zombie Singles profiles are automatically entered into a contest to win a trip for two to the Tokyo Game Show in Japan, along with two Nokia N96s and a visit to Capcom.
It's Digital Chocolate's second N-Gage title and one which again plays things very much by their own rules and style guide rather than Nokia's. Ewan Spence has been whiling away the last week playing it and finds it a good introduction to the puzzle for newcomers, while probably not appealing to hard core sudoku fans...
The puzzle game DChoc Cafe Sudoku has arrived on the N-Gage platform, you can download it from the N-Gage application if you go to the Showroom tab on the far right of the screen, select "Options" and then "Update Now". It's from the same people who did DChoc Cafe Solitaire, and you can see a video trailer below.
In All About Symbian Insight 57 (AAS Podcast 110) Rafe reports back from the UK launch of the Nokia 5800 launch at Nokia's flagship store on Regents Street, London. The team discuss Q4 finanical results from Nokia and other consumer electronics company before Ewan updates us on two recently announced N-Gage games and Steve highlights Jomtris.