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N-Gage: Show Some Respect!

open_mouth_

insert_foot_
N-Gage is quietly putting together a solid (at least on paper) line-up of games to combat the DS and PSP. At least they are improving their product and not bailing out.

Discuss.
 

u_neek

Junior Member
open_mouth_ said:
N-Gage is quietly putting together a solid (at least on paper) line-up of games to combat the DS and PSP. At least they are improving their product and not bailing out.

Discuss.

When I look at your posts I always laugh because of your avatar....

... this time I didn't need to look at your avatar...
 

Deg

Banned
laugh.gif
 

Fusebox

Banned
I love my N-Gage, I just dont have the time or opportunity to use it lately - it dumps on my GBA SP from a great height, that's for sure, it was only AUS$150 and I've got like, all the latest retail games on one memory card along with some MP3s and DiVX clips.

If only they had turned the screen orientation to landscape. :(
 
NGage game library and hardware suck a big one, but their current TV commercials are cracking me up! "Get off me! GET OFF ME!! *girly sobbing sounds*
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
Ok. Since Project midway doesn't seem to be around, I collected some stuff that interests me.

So, some Ngage exclusive games, pics and info. Props go to n-page.de for hosting and updating a crapload of info and pics. It's almost like the Nintendojo of Ngage!

Pathway To Glory (first party)
Strategy
Online multiplayer gaming, voice comms, text comms, global military ranks
ptg.jpg
ptg1.jpg


ONE (first party)
3D Fighter
Global ELO ranking (virtual replica of your fighting style), Character Creation
924442_20040915_screen001.jpg


Pocket Kingdoms (Sega)
Strategy
Massive Multiplayer Online Game form Sega, text communication, community
pocketkingdom6.jpg
PKOTW_Battle05.jpg


RIFTS (first party)
RPG
Online multiplayer gaming, first rifts videogame ever (iirc)
rifts6.jpg
rifts5.jpg


Snakes (first party)
Puzzle
Rumoured to be freely distributable, global online scoreboards
snakes5.jpg
snakes02.gif
 
open_mouth_ said:
N-Gage is quietly putting together a solid (at least on paper) line-up of games to combat the DS and PSP. At least they are improving their product and not bailing out.

Discuss.

I just got one free from work and...it's pretty neat. Needs some better games but the N-gage area setup is cool. Cell phone online gaming is here, just a little rough around the edges. Now to wait a month for Worms N-gage: Online; will I ever be able to stop.
 

belgurdo

Banned
A year (has it been that long?) ago I remember being unimpressed by a half assed port of Tony Hawk; a month ago I see a QD with Ashen running on it and I was actually sort of liked it (enough to play it for 10 minutes in the store anyway.) I really wished this thing had taken off in the beginning
 

Ranger X

Member
N-Gage is getting stronger so it will be prepared to survive the hard throw it the garbage bin without breaking and then maybe some homeless people will be able to play a videogame. (if the batteries all still good of course)
 

fse

Member
N-Gage isn't that bad, it will have a niche market maybe with the older crowd. I guess the new N-gage (not the QD) coming in some years will be better, maybe a bigger screen, better buttons, hopefully better games.
 
Chittagong said:
Snakes (first party)
Puzzle
Rumoured to be freely distributable, global online scoreboards
snakes5.jpg
snakes02.gif

I gotta admit, this does look sorta cool. Though I'm a fan of Rez, Internal Section, and Amplitude. But enough to buy the phone? Nope.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
RIFTS looks pretty cool, in a Fire Emblem sort of way... and the snake game looks pretty nice, too... but the flaws of the hardware really destroy a lot of the potential for the system. The screen is too small, buttons are too hard to press, etc.
 

aoi tsuki

Member
Agreed with djtiesto. THe problem is that it tries to be both a game system and phone in the same form. They should've made it like the Communicator where the two modes of operation used different foms.

i think what they should've done is made it more of a traditional rectangle with four or so action buttons. When switched to phone mode, the action button portion would slide outward, rotating the screen 90 degrees, and revealing a keypad.
 
After spending 30mins with it at their HUGE N-Gage truck at a Chicago street fair this summer, I cannot say I would ever use it.

Clun-ky!
 
I agree with Mr.Furious. The Ngage is a steaming,festering pile of shit and has no right being sold anywhere.

The games are awful, the phone functionality is a joke, the cost is too high for system and games alike.

Hell Target here is STILL sitting on the launch systems. They sold a grand total of......2 since it's release.

Open_mouth you sure you're not Reirom in disguise? That fat, ignorant BRazilian is the only dumb ass I've ever seen defend this abortion.
 

Fusebox

Banned
jecclr2003 said:
The Ngage is a steaming,festering pile of shit and has no right being sold anywhere.

You're totally clueless.

For $150 I've got a portable FM radio/Mp3/DiVX player that supports java games and lets me run multiple retails apps on one MMC card, but some non-N-Gage-owning GAF prat thinks it shouldnt be sold anywhere.

Oh, okay, quick, pull it from the shelves before somebody else accidentally buys one and enjoys the functionality it has to offer.
 

Datawhore

on the 15th floor
jecclr2003 said:
The games are awful, the phone functionality is a joke, the cost is too high for system and games alike.

You're clearly on crack. The whole purpose of this thread was to highlight that there are some games coming out that are actually quite good. The Gamespy, IGN, and Gamespot coverage of the upcoming lineup can atest to that.

In fact, I would expect that Pathway to Glory will be a much better strategy game than anything available on GBA when it ships (that includes Advance Wars). Good gaming is good gaming, regardless of the platform. Sure the N-Gage has its limitations (which are numerous), but when it takes advantage of its unique capabilities (always with you, with the ability to network from nearly anywhere), it opens up a lot of new gameplay opportunities. In that sense, the N-Gage is capable of just as much innovative gameplay as any other mobile platform.

As for the phone functionality being a joke, you clearly have never used QD. It's a great phone for any gamer, and is the least expensive Series 60 smartphone on the planet. Cost too high? You can get it for 49 Euros with a game in some markets. If 49 Euros or $99 USD is too much money for a handheld or a cell phone, then you're either ten years old or the ultimate cheap ass gamer.

(and to say that the cost is actually higher because you have a monthly cell phone payment is nonsense, because most gamers 16 - 34 years of age would have that expense anyways)
 
yeah, Pathway to Glory is totally awesome....I have playing the demo over and over again. I'm waiting for PTG, Fifa 2005 and Rifts....Rifts is supposed to have Laser Squad -like gameplay:

game4505img1095289893.gif
game4505img1095289912.gif
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
rifts5.jpg


WTF. The franchise I have been waiting to hit gaming for god damn ever is hitting N-GAGE as some fruity cartoon strat game... the hell?
 
Gamespot has reviewed Ghost Recon for N-Gage
In the final analysis, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm is a great game that dramatically raises the bar for N-Gage developers in several areas. Gameloft has stuffed Jungle Storm full of cool gameplay features, a console-like multiplayer mode, and lots of great audiovisual touches. There may have been a little more the French developer could have done to increase Jungle Storm's scope, but it's obvious that Gameloft brought its "A" game to the table here, and this level of effort has produced one of the N-Gage's few must-have titles. Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm fits the bill for FPS action on the N-Gage, and it serves as an example of what Nokia's mobile platform has that's above and beyond what's on offer for the GBA.

8.3
919267_20040714_screen002.jpg
918785_20040511_screen002.jpg
918785_20040511_screen003.jpg

918785_20040511_screen004.jpg
918785_20040511_screen007.jpg


http://www.gamespot.com/ngage/action/ghostreconjunglestorm/review.html
 
aku:jiki said:
pocketkingdom6.jpg
PKOTW_Battle05.jpg


What's going on with the text in this game?

Either way, it rules and I want it.
Its an online game... you are fighting against real people and you can chat with them. But yeah, those captions are hilarious. They are even on the official N-gage site. lol.
 

Fusebox

Banned
Once again, people need to look beyond their 30 second experience on a demo-pod, and realise that there's a lot of non-advertised functionality, and for the price point its at its unbeatable as a tech-gadget.

Mind you, I dont know anybody who uses it for a phone, its more of an uber-gameboy where all my games fit on one MMC cart and it also has Bluetooth, WAP, GPRS and Infra-red connectivity and plays DiVX films, MP3s, FM radio etc all through the inbuilt speaker. Seriously, it's the ultimate travel entertainment kit; so haters keep hating, you're only revealing how little you know.

Edit: As an aside I'll mention that it also ships with its own stereo headset, an N-Gage to your headphones adaptor, and an N-Gage to your stereo adaptor, all of which have come in handy many times since I bought it - greedy fat-cats at Nintendo plz take note, this is how you look after people who pay good money for your product.
 

u_neek

Junior Member
Fusebox said:
it also plays DiVX films...
... coz it's so cool watching movies on a tiny screen

Fusebox said:
MP3s, FM radio etc all through the inbuilt speaker.
yeah, but 3.4 MB isn't excactly ideal for MP3 storage and the sound from the inbuilt speaker is crap...

Fusebox said:
Seriously, it's the ultimate travel entertainment kit.
not really...

Fusebox said:
...you're only revealing how little you know.
....yeah..
rolleyes.png
 

Fusebox

Banned
Sure the screen is small - but all small portable devices have small screens, so I'm not quite sure what point you're trying to make. Short shows like The Simpsons etc are great to watch on it.

Also, the inbuilt speaker is surprisingly loud and clear, I'm not sure if you knew that, but its perfect for listening to the radio or music in a hotel room for example. Also, you're obviously unaware that I've got 512meg of storage in my N-Gage, not 3.4 meg.

belgurdo, lol. :D
 

Keio

For a Finer World
The only game I have played to the end of N-gage's woefully inadequate battery life has been the Pathway to Glory demo. But to say it will be better than Advance Wars or even Fire Emblem is stretching the expectations much too far.

The inherent limitations - small screen, oriented the wrong way; bad 3d performance; lack of shoulder buttons and too many face buttons; convergence meaning it might be the jack of all trades but master of none (much happier with my iPod/GBA SP/Tungsten3 combo) - are just too much to overcome in the current generation.

I'll give Pathway, Pocket Kingdoms and Rifts the benefit of a doubt, though. Anyone notice: they are all basically 2d. 3d just doesn't work on an N-Gage, just as it does not on a GBA.

But maybe the next gen one will do better. They do have a lot of smart people working on it at Nokia.

its perfect for listening to music in a hotel room for example.
I guess we all define "perfection" in different ways :p
 

u_neek

Junior Member
Fusebox said:
...Also, you're obviously unaware that I've got 512meg of storage in my N-Gage, not 3.4 meg.

Probably, but it's almost cheaper to by a portable cinema and game console then...
 

Fusebox

Banned
Keio said:
I guess we all define "perfection" in different ways :p

Well when you're in a hotel room in another state on your own, bored, and with no other way of listening to music and you have an N-Gage in your bag - then it's a perfect solution. ;)

u_neek said:
Probably, but it's almost cheaper to by a portable cinema and game console then...

N-Gage - AUS$150 with Tony Hawk and $30 worth of pre-paid phone credit
512 MB MMC card - AUS$110

xe.com Universal Currency Converter ® Results
Live mid-market rates as of 2004.10.06 13:16:11 GMT.
260.00 AUD = 187.569 USD

I thought Xbox haters were clueless, but you N-Gage haters really take it to the next level.
 

human5892

Queen of Denmark
The people extolling the massive functionality of the Ngage are ignoring the fact that the Ngage doesn't perform any of its functions particularly well. As a handheld game machine, the controls are poor and the library is extremely limited; as a phone, the shape is inferior; as an MP3 player, it is limited by capacity; as a portable movie player, the screen lives much to be desired, etc.

If you absolutely need all of these devices but don't have the money to pay for them, the Ngage is good enough for you, I suppose. But I suspect for most people, the hassle and cost of carrying around multiple gadgets that excel at the one primary function they were designed for outweighs the relative convenience of carrying around one substandard piece of hardware that tries to cram all of them into one place.
 
I went into Gamespot yesterday and gave the N-Gage a try. But I couldn't figure out how to get out of the pause screen and into the game so I gave up and walked away. I pushed everyone of its 50 buttons but it would just take me somewhere else. Nothing seemed to work.
 

Fusebox

Banned
Coz I'm bored and cant get to sleep, sorry for the formatting, this is in reply to humans post.


>>As a handheld game machine, the controls are poor

The controls are fine for me, I have the original N-Gage, not the QD and imo the buttons are all easy to press and I never accidentally move in the wrong direction or anything. Dont forget all new controllers feel strange until you use them for a while and then you usually get used to them, so if you're basing that comment off a short demo-pod play then I can understand why you'd think that.

>>The library is extremely limited

Not withstanding that you can only play one at a time, I've got a truckload of N-Gage games on mine. It also supports series 60 java games and even has emulators for the Megadrive and SNES etc.


>> as a phone, the shape is inferior;

Granted. I did mention I dont use it as a phone, but the times I did I used my BT handsfree and didnt even need to take the N-Gage out of my bag.

>> as an MP3 player, it is limited by capacity;

512 meg, more than most flash based players and easily enough for 7 or 8 albums, thats enough for me.


>> as a portable movie player, the screen lives much to be desired, etc.

Sure, thats also granted, but dont forget its limited by the size of the device as well - for the record I've never had a problem seeing the screen, even all the small detail in something The Sims is always clear and easy to see.
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
If you absolutely need all of these devices but don't have the money to pay for them, the Ngage is good enough for you, I suppose. But I suspect for most people, the hassle and cost of carrying around multiple gadgets that excel at the one primary function they were designed for outweighs the relative convenience of carrying around one substandard piece of hardware that tries to cram all of them into one place.
The main reason why I just can't bring myself to buy an iPod. As good as it is for it's music playing capability, I find that it's ultimately limited by it's functionality/size ratio for me to cary around, considering that I have to bring a cellphone and a Pocket PC as well. In a nutshell, PPC is smaller, does SO much more, and plays music, the only limitation being the amount of music I can put on it. Sorry iPod, and other music players, but you are too focused for your own good.

I seriously believe that convergence devices are the way to go, as far as far as handhelds are concerned, as long as they don't mix unnecessary ingredients into the design. Modern cellphones are perhaps the best example of this. They have everything and a bag of chips in them, and people love that. As their MP3 playing capabilities improve (and they will, they already do), I don't see too many people choosing anything else for music playback. Cellphones will always be bound by their small screen and key setup though, so dedicated entertainment devices will have their purpose, at least for the foreseeable future.

3d just doesn't work on an N-Gage, just as it does not on a GBA.
Maybe, but 3D on nGage still looks a hell of a lot better than 3D looks on GBA. I think it's the clumsy controls, and game design that cripple it more than anything.

Also, what about emulators on nGage? Isn't there a Genesis emulator already available for it? I know there are NES and Master System emulators.
 

human5892

Queen of Denmark
Fusebox said:
The controls are fine for me, I have the original N-Gage, not the QD and imo the buttons are all easy to press and I never accidentally move in the wrong direction or anything. Dont forget all new controllers feel strange until you use them for a while and then you usually get used to them, so if you're basing that comment off a short demo-pod play then I can understand why you'd think that.
I'm glad you don't find them too difficult to navigate, but the majority of opinions I've heard state the opposite for both models of the Ngage.

Not withstanding that you can only play one at a time, I've got a truckload of N-Gage games on mine. It also supports series 60 java games and even has emulators for the Megadrive and SNES etc.
I'm only talking about official Ngage games, of which there are very few out now and very few slated for release, especially when compared to a traditional handheld like the GBA. Emulators don't count because they're technically illegal.

512 meg, more than most flash based players and easily enough for 7 or 8 albums, thats enough for me.
As with the controls, it may be good enough for you, but when compared to dedicated MP3 players such as the iPod (which was the point of my original post), it just doesn't measure up.

As I said, the Ngage may be good for some people who don't mind its deficiencies, and I'm happy you're satisfied with it. In comparison to dedicated devices, though, it falls extremely short.

That's not really an Ngage-specific problem, incidentally -- most convergence devices suffer from this. It comes with the territory, I guess.
 
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