Over at Mobitopia, theres a nice article on Piracy, Warez and Roms in the Mobile Games Industry. The problem exists, and this is a lovely overview of what's 'grey' out there.
Why not come along to another of the AAS Pub Meetings? Lots of drink, chat and fun people to meet. W're having another prize raffle, another Guest Speaker (who we'll announce later this week) and another Mystery Star Prize Bag. The fun starts at 6.30pm at the Dover Castle, London. Update: The guest speaker will be from Sendo and will be demoing the Sendo X. More details tomorrow.
Russell Beattie (of Mobitopia) has taken time out after a week with his N-Gage to write up why the N-Gage is a Disaster for Nokia. It makes for painful reading, but it's hard to find fault with the symptoms, or the proposed cure.
The price of the N-Gage in the US has been dropped by $100. The new price is available at game stores such as Electronics Boutique and Gamestop. Online retailer Amazon is alsoo offering the N-Gage at the new price. $199 - not bad!
The Register is reporting that the Sun Newspaper (a UK tabloid) is running a special offer whereby you can buy the N-Gage for 1p. You have to sign up for a contract too (£28), but this still represents very good value for money.
fastmobile announced this week that its fastchat service is now available on the Nokia N-Gage. As well as connecting you to various IM services (and allowing you to send photos from your phone), fastchat supports VOIP chat (aka push to talk).
In this Reuters article Nokia say they have sold 400,000 N-Gage in the first two weeks. However other reports have suggested low sales in the UK (though these didn't track sales in phone shops).
Electronics Arts and Nokia have announced that EA will be producing titles for the Nokia N-Gage. This is an important step for industry acceptance of the N-Gage. EA is one of the big games publishers and their production of N-Gage titles will encourage others.
The N-Gage advertising bandwagon has started. You've probably already seen it in your local press, but in the week leading up to launch day you are going to see even more of it according to this N-Gage press release.
On the N-gage site there is an interview with the designers of the N-Gage. It touches on some of the design problems that have been raised (such as the infamous battery / MMC issue). Its an interesting look at the philosophy behind the design.
