What many of us hoped wouldn't happen has happened. Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer has been delayed until May. No word yet on why, but the three April game releases have now all been pulled. Given that we've had a review copy of Marcel Desailly now for some time, we're not sure what's going on with Nokia. One thing's for sure. There's a lot of angry customers out there, and many of them may not come back to the system, even if the games begin appearing.
Nick Alexander has been appointed by Nokia on a consultancy basis to promote the N-Gage to UK Gamers (reports Games Industry). We wish Nick luck, and reading his CV (he used to be at Sega UK and Virgin Interactive) he's got the background knowlegde to succeed. And it's nothing if not a challenge. Perhaps an intereview with All About N-Gage staff might be a good place to start?
Chris Rydberg has news from Taito. Their Retro Arcade fest of Taito Memories has been suspended and will not be released. Along with that news, their other N-Gage plans have 'not been determined.' The N-Gage software scene is not good at the moment, with Sega delaing apps, Taito pulling out and EA commenting that the N-Gage isn't the greatest of machines. Let's hope April the 14th doesn't turn into a wake.
Now we hear that The Sim's Bustin Out (on N-Gage MMC) has been pushed back from its late April release slot into May. With only Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer left out of the three pronged April Attack, the hoped for return of the N-Gage MMC Games into the marketplace has left a bad taste in the mouths of all those waiting. It's all very well Nokia announcing great new games, but the console has been here since October 2003 and we've only had a few releases in December beyond the launch titles. Not good enough.
Our friend over at Allack have been told that Sega Rally, due out on April 9th, has been delayed idefinitly. The other release on that day, Marcel Desalliy Pro Soccer, is still due. With no N-Gage MMC releases since December, a lot of people are getting very anxious. And now Nokia only have 9 months to hit their much publicised 80-100 games by Christmas 2004. Neep!
It's finally here. The All About N-Gage MMC Games Database is now online after its period of testing. With screenshots, info, links to reviews and more, the database is sure to be your central point of reference for existing, new and rumoured N-Gage Games. The latest additions to the database are always carried on the Front Page of All About N-Gage. Comments on how we could improve this are more than welcome.
Various webmasters attending the Games Conference in San Jose have confirmed with the Nokia team what's going to be new on the N-Gage 2. The spectator sport of Side Talkin' is no more, with a speaker being placed on the face of the machine. THe oft-requested Hot Swapping of MMC's is here as well (no more MacGyvering the machine into its component parts). And the biggie? It's staying backwards compatible with N-Gage 1. Which isn't surprising given that it'll still be a Series 60 machine, but still, hats off to Nokia for finally doing something about the N-Gage. Now let's get some games released for it, chaps?
According to Indie Magazine and Gaming Headlines Nokia is inviting people to a pre E3 event in London on April 14th. Although Nokia aren't saying what it is about the smart money is on N-Gage 2. Looks like Nokia are trying to get a clear publicity run.
Christopher Rydberg reviews NCAA Football, a USA Only N-Gage game. It's the FIFA Football (sorry soccer) but based around American Football (sorry, Rugby with padding). Given it's hard to find, the review is a good in-depth look at the game.
It's not 100% clear from the Nokia and Sun Press Release, but Q3 2004 should see the Nokia SNAP Mobile (Scalable Network Application Protocol) ship in Sun's Wireless Toolkit to "expand the mobile online multiplayer experience to the wider Java gaming market." Read into that what you will. Here's the full press release.
N-Gage owners buy more games over the air than regular phone users. See, the N-Gage is making a killing in one if the marketing sectors it was targetted at. David Thomson digs a little bit deeper...
Now this is more like it! Pocket Kingdom is Nokia's first real title that is going to make the N-Gage desirable! It's a massive multiplayer RPG set in the land of Ulgress, where you start off as a single traveller, and eventally raise an army and conquer the land. That's if the 999 other players using the N-Gage Arena feature don't beat you to it... No release date yet scheduled, but here at AAN we'd expect Q3 to be realistic.
Ewan's been taking a look at Symbianware's latest game, Powerball. Updating classic arcade action is an area fraught with danger. Have they managed to pull it off? Read the review to find out.
In an interesting development for Emulation Fans, Nintendo have asked Crimson Fire to stop the publication of their Gameboy Emulator for the Tapwave Zodica gaming machine (based around Palm OS). While not directly affecting Symbian OS yet, the fact that Nintendo have a Patent on emulation could have repercussions over the whole principle of emulation. (Thanks to wshwe on the Forum for spotting this one)
