Nokia are giving away FIFA08 for N-Gage-compatible phones absolutely free to a limited number of people in Europe (we don't know the exact figure but it's in the thousands at least). It's on a first-come-first-served basis, so the quicker you act the more likely you are to get the game free. The most reliable way of getting the game free is to install the FIFA08 demo directly on your phone in the N-Gage application, then go to the special N-Gage Play site (play.n-gage.com) on your computer's browser to get the activation link sent to your N-Gage phone as a text message. When the message arrives, just click on its link to activate the game. UPDATE:If you couldn't get it activated on the mobile site, try again through the PC site!(via Symbian Web Blog)
The official N-Gage blog has announced that third party publisher Gameloft will be answering your questions at a future event. You can submit the questions by posting in the reply section of this N-Gage blog post. Questions can cover anything, including their current games and future plans for supporting N-Gage, or you can ask about other mobile platforms as well.
The recent availability of Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake in Symbian-friendly guises got Ewan wondering how easy or hard it would be to get Quake working, in all its majesty, on a Nokia N95. Here's his Quake for S60 tutorial, with appropriate links and tips. Have a blasting weekend, everybody!
Forget all the new fangled brain games, Steve has turned to the
classics - Chess. Odesys Chess promises a challenging AI opponent, as
well as a strong online multi player environment. Steve is impressed,
but not enough to tell us his ranking, in our latest review.
As the new N-Gage platform has finally (and properly) launched, All About N-Gage has updated its Frequently Asked Questions section to answer our readers' most common queries. If you can't find the answer you want in the FAQ, post about it in this item's comments thread and we'll try to get back to you.
Turning out to be a busy day! N-Gage just went live. Phew. There's a 7MB .sisx client to install via the usual PC Suite route. Here's the English Download link. (via p@sco). Initial observations, device compatibility and screenshots of the only new game, Brain Challenge, below. All other announced games are still shown as 'coming soon' on the web site. All comments welcome, of course.
Recently added to Nokia's Download! for some devices, Brain Genius is actually widely available for all phones and smartphones. How does this daily mental exercise work and how has it been implemented on the Download! version? Find out in my review of Brain Genius.
Fed up waiting for N-Gage to go live? Console yourselves with this brand new games compilation from PDA maestros Astraware. After yesterday's announcement, and after a week or so of actual pre-release gameplay, Ewan presents his review of Astraware Boardgames, for both S60 3rd Edition and UIQ 3. Summary: classic games, well pitched and well implemented, Boardgames only falls short of Megagame status by a gnat's whisker.
Astraware, arguably THE top name in PDA gaming, has finally started releasing titles for Symbian OS, with the simultaneous launch of "Boardgames" for both S60 3rd Edition and UIQ 3, supporting all the usual devices. The games include Chess, Reversi, Backgammon, Snakes and ladders, Nine Mens Morris and Checkers. Ewan's been playing with an advance copy for a while and he'll have a full review tomorrow, hopefully. See below for some screenshots and the full press release.
In Insight #18 (AAS Podcast 67) Rafe, Ewan and Steve talk about this week's news (N-Gage First Access closing and Comes with Music). Rafe and Steve discuss their first impressions of the Samsung SGH-i450 and Samsung SGH-i550 (S60 phones) and afterwards Ewan talks about how he recorded and broadcast video on his trip to the USA.