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Nokia's panel of experts has deliberated and ruminated on the subject of innovative mobile gaming and decided to award the top prize in the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge to Ghostwire.
Sturgeon's Law states that "Ninety percent of everything is crap". I don't think I am being too controversial by suggesting that if Theodore Sturgeon had ever encountered mobile phone games he would have revised upwards.
The ZeeMote JS1 is a nunchuk-like Bluetooth analogue controller that we first covered back in October last year.
It was a nice idea, hampered slightly by the fact that games had to be rewritten to add support for the thing. Now Nokia has decided to embrace the ZeeMote by releasing downloadable software to let the controller work with almost any S60 app or N-Gage game.
The ZeeKey app is available for free download from the Nokia website and the mobile manufacturer has promised to bundle the app with selected handsets (presumably its more entertainment focused N-Series models).
Zeekey app for Zeemote available for Nokia phones [Pocket Lint]
PocketGamer got a look at a new accelerometer-based mobile racing game from Firemint.
As you can see from the video, Real Racing runs on the iPhone — and certainly confirms our hopes for that platform's gaming prowess — but Firemint also have it up and running on a Nokia N95 (all the recent N-series phones have motion sensors built in).
Multiplayer races can take place over a wifi link, and your racing stats are automatically uploaded to the Firemint web site. Brilliantly, the game will also upload videos of your best times to YouTube and share your rankings via Facebook and OpenSocial into the bargain.
GCDC 2008: Firemint shows off awesome iPhone racing game [PocketGamer]
I'm not really sure how they do things in the US, but down here, standard mobile phone contracts last for two years. Once that time's up, 99.8% of people go and get a new phone. Simple plan, everybody wins. OH. Except for anyone with a Nokia phone who actually buys games over their new N-Gage platform. See, the games are locked to the handset you purchase them on. If you break your handset, you'll get them reissued, but if you upgrade to a new phone, you lose your games. Nokia's explanation?
Our policy is that the N-Gage activation codes only work on the device where they were first activated. As with any digital media there is a potential risk of piracy and this policy is one of the ways we are dealing with piracy and ensuring our partners receive their rightful revenues from our platform.Way to go, Nokia. Didn't think anybody could have a worse DRM track record than Microsoft, but then, records are meant to be broken.
Gamers 'angry' over new N-Gage's DRM [Develop]
Nokia's second attempt at N-Gage-ing mobile gamers has unofficially gone live, with the official N-Gage blog announcing that the revamped platform is now available for download. If you have a Nokia N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95 or N95 8GB, you can bask in the warmth of the new N-Gage, bringing a try-before-you-buy, Xbox Live-like experience to your phone. Offerings from Gameloft, EA and others are available now or coming soon, which don't look too terribly bad. Yeah! That was kind of a compliment. We won't even make a sidetalkin' dig!
While I was lazing about the house working hard yesterday I received a Fed-Ex delivery. Not that this is anything unusual, I get Fed-Ex packages fairly regularly but upon looking at the slip I noticed that there was nothing filled in in the senders area. But it clearly said To: Flynn De Marco - Kotaku so I figured it was some kind of game thing. After getting over my initial fear that it might be the head of Gwyneth Paltrow, I opened it to discover a small Nokia phone. No note, no press release, none of the things that usually accompany such things. So I figured I'd go ahead and plugged it in and left the house for the day. Upon my return I heard an unfamiliar jangling and realised it was the phone informing me that I had a text message. I checked it to discover the following missive.
The last two N-Gages were a mess. And that's being kind. The third, a software platform that will feature across a number of Nokia handsets, is more promising, but still far from a proven concept. So are Nokia worried that Sony are looking more and more likely to enter the mobile gaming market and walk all over them? No. No they are not. Nokia games boss Jaakko Kaidesoja:
I'm not scared about anybody. The real question is how do they [Sony Ericsson] do it? Can they create a link between the PSP games and a phone? Can they do the multiplayer and online stuff? We've been doing this for two years and it hasn't been easy.No, it hasn't been easy! Then again, maybe you just weren't doing it right...
Christmas isn't always a time for cheer. It can be a time for crushing disappointment, too. So don't take the news too hard that Nokia's new N-Gage platform, which was due to rollout right about now, has run into unforeseen difficulties and won't be out until the new year. No explanation was given, but even if it had, would that make a Christmas spent staring blankly at a participating Nokia handset any less bleak? No, no it would not.
New Update for N-Gage First Access [N-Gage] [Image]
It's low-key in comparison to the last N-Gage's launch, but hey, maybe that's a good thing. Starting from next week, anyone who owns a Nokia N81 or N81 8GB will be getting access to the "pre-release" version of the new N-Gage platform, as well as at least one new game. Users with access to the service will then be encouraged to leave feedback on Nokia's forums. Anyone with a Nokia phone who's been left out, calm yourself, this is a beta by any other name, and you'll be included in due time when the service launches for real.
Get Ready for N-Gage First Access [N-Gage Blog]
