EA produces its traditional annual update for one of their major titles. But have they done enough to warrant an upgrade? Ewan Spence decides to leap in and play 'spot the difference' from the 2008 version in his review over on All About N-Gage...
Electronic Arts' football simulator FIFA 2009 is now available on the N-Gage platform. Just open your phone's N-Gage app, go to the Showroom section, select "Options" and then "Update Now" to see it. (It should also become available through the N-Gage website over the next day or two, if you prefer to install games through your computer.) This release is a bit of a surprise, as it had only just been announced a few weeks ago and hadn't even made it into N-Gage.com's upcoming games list. Obviously EA were working on this a long time before they announced it.
The retro tank game My Little Tank has now been released for Symbian S60 3rd Edition devices (sorry, no UIQ3 version this time). You can download the demo or purchase the full game from Astraware's website, the game costs $9.95 which is around 8 euros or 6.5 pounds.
Geography enthusiasts rejoice! The long awaited quiz game from Herocraft - the makers of such great titles as Robo, Revival and Stolen in 60 Seconds - has finally arrived to keep the smart player happy for hours to come. Read on for the details.
Over on All About N-Gage, an editorial ponders whether Nokia's obsession with online rankings is ruining their Arena online gaming service by alienating both hardcore and casual users. Reports of cheating in a recent ONE high score tournament haven't helped matters either.
A lot of news over on All About N-Gage, with updates to the N-Gage app and new phones added to the platform, sales charts released, a new games announcement, and a couple of very interesting videos published. See below for the relevant links.
The N-Gage platform's client is now available for the Nokia N78 and 6210 Navigator. The easiest way to get it is to visit n-gage.mobi/d (note there's no "www") on your phone's web browser, and select your phone from the list, which lets you download and install the app directly. Alternatively, you can download the app from the official N-Gage website and install using PC Suite. (Other phones compatible with the platform include the 5320 XpressMusic, N79, N81, N81 8GB, N82, N85, N95, N95 8GB and N96.)
Over on All About N-Gage, Ewan Spence has been getting frustrated with the relative lack of games for N-Gage, arguing that Nokia should open up the system to Java and other more generic titles, to increase the variety and depth.
In May of this year there was quite a fuss when Nokia confirmed that new N-Gage games were locked to one phone forever. They then responded to the dismay by saying that transfers would be possible after all through Nokia customer services, but it now turns out that this can only be done once: you can transfer N-gage games from one phone to another, but they are lost forever if you move onto a third phone. In a follow-up editorial, All About N-Gage takes a closer look at this policy, and wonders where on earth Nokia's promised multi-transfer solution has got to. When will N-Gage users get the same transfer rights as Nokia Music and Nokia Maps users?
In All About Symbian Podcast 99 (Insight #46) we talk about the N96 which has received mixed reviews from initial users. In the second half the podcast Ewan provides his first impressions of One, the latest N-Gage game, before we move on to discussing manufacturer commitment to the Symbian Foundation and what the future may hold for UIQ.
Possibly the most long-awaited game on the new N-Gage platform, the 3D beat-em-up ONE (sequel to the original N-Gage game of the same name) has been reviewed on All About N-Gage by our very own Highlander Ewan Spence. He's pretty darn impressed by the gameplay and graphics, but is that enough to win it the Mega-Game? Click on the link to find out...
There have been quite a few new games announced in connection with today's Nokia Games Summit, including FIFA09, Need For Speed Underground, Spore Origins, Monopoly Here & Now World Edition, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Boom Blox and The Sims 3 from Electronic Arts, Tomb Raider Underworld and Pandemonium from Eidos, Nokia's own Dance Fabulous, and Gameloft's Asphalt 4: Elite Racing and Real Football 2009. You can find out more about all of these by heading over to our sister site All About N-Gage.
Today, at the Nokia Games Summit in Rome, Nokia announced the forthcoming availability of Dance Fabulous, a new firsty party game title for N-Gage. It is a dancing / rythmn game where you create and customise a dancer (avatar) and then lead it through dance moves. The games has built in community and sharing features and comes with a set of music created by Dave Stewart and sung by Cindy Gomez.
The long-awaited 3D fighting game ONE is out now on the N-Gage platform. Go to the Showroom section of the app and select the Update Now option to see it. For more info see All About N-Gage's ONE game page, and the official trailer is visible below.
This compendium of card solitaires hit N-Gage in the last week and our very own Tzer2 has been playing through the games, declaring DChoc Cafe Solitaire to be 'a nice slice of classic entertainment', though with reservations over the non-standard online social elements.