Bollocks to it. My £0.02:
Screen's too small, and it's shite. Buttons are in the wrong place. Sound is weak at best. You'd look a cunt pulling that out in a pub (but the GBA SP would still retain it's cool). Tony hawks ain't a killer app. Nokia lost the plot a while ago. Marketing is, er, shite.
And, to add insult to injury, it's not exactly a feature dripping phone. Nothing to see here. Except the blur...
Nokia N-GAGE sells estimated 400,000 units!!!
I'm buying a new cell/mobile phone, and what ever comparison I've done has always resulted N-Gage being on the top. Worst things seem to be its size and the games. But then again, it has fairly good java-implementation, so I can write my own software, and if java is not fast enough, go to symbian.
The difference, I think, I have to many of the other consumers is that I currently don't have a phone. So for me, it's phone and own software first, games second, and N-Gage fits that scene well.
The games have been a disappointment, because they are not games one would ever like to play on mobile, bluetooth enabled gamedeck. Nintendo would never have done a mistake like Nokia did. For example, do you remember the ad, where a bunch of old people were playing Mario Kart together? One of them, sitting in wheel chair, was leading, the second up I think, released his chair's brakes, so of he went. Cruel, but the idea: there were a bunch of people sharing the gaming experience. That's what Nokia should have done. More simple games with "share the experience" attitude. Umm, gaming Unity? But no, instead they go and publish recooked old classics made for non-mobile environments... Knowing some quite bright minds inside Nokia, I think the N-Gage release line-up was decided by markedroids, not by people who know gaming, which is sad...
[Ed: Ups, should have said bad markedroids, good markedroids are a blessing but scarce. Just like good developers...
]
Ok, there's another reason why I'm looking forward to buy an N-Gage. It runs Frodo. Frodo is a C64 emulator. Can anyone guess what's the bunch of games that'll be installed instanteneously to an N-Gage if I ever get one? And should N-Gage flop, I'd still have a portable Llamasoft experience in my pocket (if Llamasoft games run on Frodo with vertical screen orientation, that is).
Umm, come to think of that, Gridrunner++ for N-Gage.... Mmmm! Well, let's hope Yak'll give a thought for this possibility after Unity...
The difference, I think, I have to many of the other consumers is that I currently don't have a phone. So for me, it's phone and own software first, games second, and N-Gage fits that scene well.
The games have been a disappointment, because they are not games one would ever like to play on mobile, bluetooth enabled gamedeck. Nintendo would never have done a mistake like Nokia did. For example, do you remember the ad, where a bunch of old people were playing Mario Kart together? One of them, sitting in wheel chair, was leading, the second up I think, released his chair's brakes, so of he went. Cruel, but the idea: there were a bunch of people sharing the gaming experience. That's what Nokia should have done. More simple games with "share the experience" attitude. Umm, gaming Unity? But no, instead they go and publish recooked old classics made for non-mobile environments... Knowing some quite bright minds inside Nokia, I think the N-Gage release line-up was decided by markedroids, not by people who know gaming, which is sad...
[Ed: Ups, should have said bad markedroids, good markedroids are a blessing but scarce. Just like good developers...
]Ok, there's another reason why I'm looking forward to buy an N-Gage. It runs Frodo. Frodo is a C64 emulator. Can anyone guess what's the bunch of games that'll be installed instanteneously to an N-Gage if I ever get one? And should N-Gage flop, I'd still have a portable Llamasoft experience in my pocket (if Llamasoft games run on Frodo with vertical screen orientation, that is).
Umm, come to think of that, Gridrunner++ for N-Gage.... Mmmm! Well, let's hope Yak'll give a thought for this possibility after Unity...
Jonne
But you you really need a combined device?
You can get C64 emulators for the GBA you know.
(C64, Spectrum, Nes, SMS...)
Buying a GBA, Flashwriter and phone still works out cheaper then an N-gage alone.
(presuming its a pay-as-you go, and not one of those 'we give you a dead cheap phone and tie you down with a heavy contract' deals)
You can get C64 emulators for the GBA you know.
(C64, Spectrum, Nes, SMS...)
Buying a GBA, Flashwriter and phone still works out cheaper then an N-gage alone.
(presuming its a pay-as-you go, and not one of those 'we give you a dead cheap phone and tie you down with a heavy contract' deals)
-
want to read eye-wateringly bad stories? No? Ok.
want to read eye-wateringly bad stories? No? Ok.
C64 emulation for GBA isnt that great at the moment. Splam! is going to get its first public release soon (but knowing the dev, that soon is possibly around 2004). The emu is claimed to have framerate of more than 50fps and full sound emulation, cant wait.Darkflame wrote:But you you really need a combined device?
You can get C64 emulators for the GBA you know.
(C64, Spectrum, Nes, SMS...)
Buying a GBA, Flashwriter and phone still works out cheaper then an N-gage alone.
(presuming its a pay-as-you go, and not one of those 'we give you a dead cheap phone and tie you down with a heavy contract' deals)
Roope
___________________________________
Medals, top 3:
1. Gold
2. Silver
3. Bronze
http://mustilaiton.net/
Medals, top 3:
1. Gold
2. Silver
3. Bronze
http://mustilaiton.net/
I had a play with these at Carphone Warehouse's conference last week. I was the only one who did mind; all the other 800 delegates just ignored the N-Gage stand all together. It was pretty embarassing to be honest.
So; its not a bad games machine, really isn't. But its a bit big and it makes you look like a complete cunt when you use it as a phone because you have to hold it edge-on to your ear. Its ridiculous.
So; its not a bad games machine, really isn't. But its a bit big and it makes you look like a complete cunt when you use it as a phone because you have to hold it edge-on to your ear. Its ridiculous.
koworld wrote: But its a bit big and it makes you look like a complete cunt when you use it as a phone because you have to hold it edge-on to your ear. Its ridiculous.
How true! But as a friend of mine said, anybody talking to himself with a hand on his ear looks ridiculous. Thank Ghnu for the hands-free. Then again, anybody talking to himself loudly a string hanging from one's ear is only begging himself to be straitjacketed and sent to a funny farm (the one without furry animals). HF is not that common yet. Hmm, will HF have an antisocialising effect on the society?I think Darkflame put it quite nicely: for portable gaming, there's nothing better than GBA available. But if you don't want to carry three different gadgets all the time, N-Gage seems to compensate for all of them quite well. And it is quite reasonably priced, considering it has Symbian, MP3 and Bluetooth, USB-cable and MMC included. Surely I'd buy 6600, but it's way too expensive for me.
Would you prefer N-Gage, if BlitzBasic could be used to develop for it?
BTW If anybody has tried Frodo on an N-Gage or 3650, please share your experience with us!
Jonne
I think it depends on how often the game has to be changed. With the current line-up, that might be quite oftenkorruptor wrote:Plus you have to remove the battery to insert the game. Er, how much fucking hassle?!
Or just keep the THPS inserted always...Has anybody tried to rip the gamecard off the GBA and insert a new one while the power is still on?
Jonne
Yes, the screen froze.
Stayed there whatever i put in and out.
Restarted, but the game back in.
Everything worked fine.
Repeated that a few times, sometimes it froze, sometimes it cut off.
Stayed there whatever i put in and out.
Restarted, but the game back in.
Everything worked fine.
Repeated that a few times, sometimes it froze, sometimes it cut off.
-
want to read eye-wateringly bad stories? No? Ok.
want to read eye-wateringly bad stories? No? Ok.
