In an OviGaming.com editorial, Ewan discusses the dual existence of the (virtually identical) standalone and N-Gage versions of Sims 3 - will this be a problem, will this duality give Nokia and EA much useful information and does it highlight any flaws in the current muddled system?
Just in case you've missed it, Ovi Gaming is now also available as a mobile website at ovigaming.mobi. It contains the same content as ovigaming.com but in a reformatted style which should work on the majority of mobile web browsers and screen resolutions. It should also load a lot more quickly and use much less data, which may be useful for those on a slow connection or with expensive data charges. Have a look and let us know what you think...
What comes after Sudoku? How about KenKen, asks Ewan, as he looks at another Japanese number grid-based puzzle game. Adding elements of real mathematics into the puzzle makes it quite a bit more challenging to the ol' grey matter.
Solving a charging problem chez Litchfield, I was struck by the realisation that all chargers are not made equal. If this seems obvious to you then feel free to skip this chatty tutorial, but otherwise you might like to read how I sped up the charging time on my Nokia N86 by a factor of almost four simply by using the (ahem) right mains charger. Item of trivia: mains charging of a modern smartphone can be up to twelve times faster than microUSB trickle charging - quite a difference.
Nokia has released their Q2 2009 results. Profits were down 66% year on year, but this was ahead of market expectations. Nokia cut its prediction for H2 2009 profitability and market share for 2009, which has driven down its share price. However the underlying results are encouraging, given the economic climate, although some concerns remain in the high end of the market. Converged devices sales (smartphone) were up at 16.9 million, compared with 15.3 million units in Q2 2008 and 13.7 million units in Q1 2009. The 5800 shipped 3.7 million units, while Eseries and Nseries shipments were 4.7 and 4.6 million respectively.
Zum Zum is a lovely mix of arcade action and Tetris-like clearing strategy. While it's been done on countless platforms before, this version of the genre game Zuma, according to Ewan Spence, doesn't make any mistakes in providing a good conversion to the S60 platform.
We've teamed up with Nokia N-Gage to give away a Nokia N96, a license for the N-Gage game Million Dollar Poker and a few Nokia goodies. All you need to do is answer a simple question and give us your name and contact details. Million Dollar Poker is the most recently released N-Gage game.
Spin the numbers around the carousel, add in a Sudoku grid and a touch of frustration, and you have a new puzzle game. Will Rotoku, new in the Nokia Ovi Store, be enough to satisfy Ewan?
Believe it or not, Million Dollar Poker is the third poker game on N-Gage, distinguishing itself this time round with true multiplayer action. Ewan seemed moderately impressed, but rightly berates Gameloft for making the trial version insanely short and for including truly lack lustre graphics throughout. Here's the Ovi Gaming review of Million Dollar Poker.
AMF Bowling: Pinbusters is the latest N-Gage game on the block and Ewan takes it for a roll. Despite a sensible control system, decent graphics and (shock, horror) support for multi-player gaming over the N-Gage Arena, Ewan brands it 'repetitive' and 'ultimately unfulfilling'. Still, at least there's a single-player demo, right?
Almost sixty official games graced the original N-Gage platform, so why aren't Nokia taking the proven hits from that era and bringing them back to the front? Here on Ovi Gaming, Ewan looks back and chooses five that are ripe for re-invention. Why not take a trip down memory lane with him and then ask Nokia very, very nicely...?
What's in a box? Quite a lot if you are a collector. And that's why the move to digital distribution is robbing the gaming world of one of its prize assets. The collectiblity of the box that the game comes in. Ewan explains why the Magpie in him needs something more from Nokia. He also (in a timely fashion) refers to the problems of not being able to take purchases onto a new phone, or even back onto the same phone after a hard reset. Read on...
"Oh dear. Spore as a gaming brand is close to a legend. Created by Will Wright, and released last year to great critical acclaim, you'd think that popping the genetic engineering life-sim onto a mobile would be a sure-fire hit. Err, no." And so begins Ewan's review of this latest N-Gage title here on Ovi Gaming. Spore Origins includes all the elements needed but fails miserably in its basic gameplay and interface.
EA's mobile phone version of the classic board game Cluedo (aka Clue in some parts of the world) rejigs the traditional gameplay into a limited-turn logic puzzle game with an extremely slick graphical interface. Ovi Gaming has reviewed Cluedo for Ovi Store, and we also provide our usual gameplay video and selection of screenshots.
Promised some time ago, N-Gage games have finally been made available through Ovi Store, in the form of free trials which can be unlocked into full versions through an in-game purchase or rental option. Although Ovi Store and N-Gage remain separate brands right now, it might make sense for Nokia to merge them, as discussed below.