Iphone Games - Are They Really Any Good?

Just recently alot of my friends have gone Iphone crazy - not exactly sure why, as i still like My N81 - espically now that the N-Gage is in full swing with online modes and tournaments (such as the upcoming Medal Games), however when getting to work today my friday showed me his new Iphone (thats 3 in total at same place of work that have one) - but his was filled with Iphone Games - most noticeable one being Crash Nitro Kart.

First Impression was "Oh My God!" - The Sound was loud and clear, much like a PSP, the Screen was nice and bright, Much like a DS and the game lagged slightly like some poorly coded N-Gage games, however the overall product was amazing!

Out of the Few games he had on his Iphone, Crash Nitro Kart was the only one that stood out with the best Graphics which (in my opinion) could easily rival some PSP games and the way the game is play is simple, fun and amazing, as to turn left you would tilt the phone left, or to turn right you would tilt the phone right - simple as - if you want to use a power-up you would tap on the box on screen (located bottem right) - tapping it would activate the power up. Its very simple and fun - kinda like alot of Wii & DS games.

The other games i played on looked like Web-based PC games of old retro games like "moon lander" - the object of the game is to place the spaceship on the pad without crashing it, the quicker you do it, the more points you get - sounds easy enough, but even the old arcade game was hard and this is no exception, as you have to tilt the phone left or right (to move left or right) then then to go up you would tilt the phone backwards and to go down you would tilt the phone forwards, tilting too much or not enough could end up crashing the spaceship, as i said before very simple - but annoying and fun.

Iphone games cost around £4 - £8 each, similar prices to N-Gage titles, however NO ONLINE Modes are available - but some of the games are decent (such as Crash nitro Kart), but others are a waste of time - the one thing Iphone does have against N-Gage is the amount of games as apparently over 500 titles are available (or currently in development) which is alot more than N-Gage, but at the moment N-Gage has more quality titles.

So Are Iphone games any good? - well Crash Nitro Kart is a great game to play, but the others arent that decent - so ill stick to N-Gage, plus i love playing games against other people online.

N-Gage Summer Medal Games 2008!

The Olympic's may have ended, however the N-Gage Medal Games is about to begin!

The N-Gage Medal games is a chance for N-Gage users to compete in various different games (including Trivias) to win medals, prizes and glory.

The Original N-Gage Medal games were around 3 years ago and they were a BLAST, prizes such as brand new games, phones (even N-Series Devices), special kits and clothes were given out - but the most valuable prize were the Medals and they are back next month - it also showed you were the best arena players were at that time, players such as Theoddone, Skroq, Kusia_7 and Deegg were just a few highlights, so it will be very interesting to see if they will take part in this years events.

So What are the prizes for this years event? - well theyare vary as the overall prizes are:

Overall First Place -- a real Gold Medal, a choice of any N-Gage Supported device, 1000 N-Gage Points, and an Activation Code for every N-Gage game released throughout the year 2008.

Overall Second Place -- a real Silver Medal, 800 N-Gage Points, and an Activation Code for every N-Gage game released throughout the year 2008.

Overall Third Place -- a real Bronze Medal, 500 N-Gage Points, and an Activation Code for every N-Gage game released throughout the year 2008.

Plus, all three Medal winners will also recieve a special N-Gage backpack to carry their medals in.

however for the individual events (i.e. each event on each day) the prizes will be:

First Place -- a real Gold Medal, 200 N-Gage Points, plus one free game Activation Code

Second Place -- a real Silver Medal, 150 N-Gage Points, plus a free Activation Code

Third Place -- a real Bronze Medal, 100 N-Gage Points

So their is plenty of chances for you to either win points, or games in he new 2008 Medal Games. The N-Gage 2008 Medal Games begins on 2nd September 2008, so dont be late. For more information regarding the rules and prizes then click here.

Dogz Now Available On N-Gage

The latest Pet Simulator for the N-Gage has arrived and this time its the Ubisoft's (Gameloft for the mobile world) Dogz - just like The Sims 2:Pets you get to take care and raise of a dog of your choice.

The "Z" franchise as i like to call it is also available on PC, PS2, Wii and Nintendo DS - but the most sucessful (and recignisiable) is the Dogz game and it is now available on the N-Gage Platform.

I Havent had a chance to play Dogz yet, however the download size of Dogz is 1mb and the full installed size is 1mb , another thing to note is that this game costs £6 (For unlimited license), £4 for 7 Day License or £1.50 for a day license, so its one of gamelofts cheaper n-gage titles (but is the game worth the money?).

Dogz is now available on both the N-Gage Application and on the Showroom via the N-Gage website, however if your still not sure about the game then check out the trialer for it below.

Dirk Dagger Arrives onto N-Gage Platform

Another Week and another N-Gage game, Dirk Dagger and the Fallen Idol is the latest N-Gage game to be released onto the mobile platform and for once it isnt a port from a java/sis game.

I havent had chance to play the proper game myself, but i did manage to view the comic preview (for phones) - basically it was a comic/picture slideshow that showed the comical value and artisic style of the game - aswell as being introduced to a few characters and villians of the game - the comic was a nice preview to what the game was going to be about and it look good.

The Game itself however is only 20mb (another decent sized n-gage game in my opinion) and should take around 2 - 5 minutes (if not less) to download via Wi-Fi, once installed the game will take up 23mb of your memory card.

I do have to say that Dirk Dagger is the first N-Gage game ive downloaded and failed to install, as everything was done normally and then i randomly got the "unable to install error", however after deleting the icon on my screen and re-downloading it again it worked fine.

Dirk Dagger costs £8 (or £4 for 7 day trial, 1.50 for a 1 day trial) so its one of the "high-priced" n-gage titles, but i think it will be worth it.

Dirk Dagger and the Fallen Idol is now available on the N-Gage platform and can be downloaded onto your phone directly from the N-Gage Application (connection to the internet is needed).

80GB PS3 Arrives In UK On Friday!

During E3 Last month SONY announced that it would be releasing an 80GB PS3 Console worldwide which would re-place the current 40GB PS3 and retail for the same price.

Originally a majority of people thought it could not be true, however it is! The 80GB Version of the PS3 Will be released this friday in Europe (and possibly sooner in the USA), at the moment the japanese all-reader have it, if they bought it bundled with Metal Gear Solid 4 (MGS4) as it was a special edition pack.

The 80GB Version will replace the current 40GB Version (which hasn't even be out a year) and the most annoying prospect is that it will be the same price and it will include a DUALSHOCK 3 as standard - so if you have recently bought a 40GB PS3 - Id get your money back!

I originally bought my PS3 (60GB Version) for £312 back in march 2007 with Resistance, Casino Royale, HDMI Lead and PS3 Remote and even i start to get a little bit ticked off. At least microsoft had the kindness to wait awhile beofore bringing new units (i.e. the 60GB) and they even keep the older versions availe (Core aka Arcade & Elite) so that you have a variety of different pricing options, depending on how much you want to pay.

The PS3 80GB (including DUALSHOCK 3) will be released on Firday 22th August (UK / EUROPE) and will retail for £299.99, or you may find package deals with 1 game for £309.99 - so it is a decent price for such a big beast!

Block Breaker Deluxe - Coming Soon To Nintendo Wii

Last Year gameloft released a java game called "Blockbreaker Deluxe" and it proved to be a gaming hit for the mobile community and when the N-Gage 2.0 was launched an updated version (or mainly a port) of the java version was ported onto the N-Gage with online score submition, N-Gage Points and better gaming layouts.

Well now Gameloft have decided to release Block Breaker Deluxe onto the Nintendo Wii via the Wii-store (or wii-ware). The Game will cost 800 Wii Points, which is the same as around £9 (give or take depending on how much your Wii Points cost you), which is a few quid more than the N-Gage version (which was £3 more than the original java version).

So whats the difference?, well apart from a few graphical updates, a new "hud" design and maybe (not definate) a motion sensor option for the wii-mote - apart from that the gameplay, design and story (strange one) are all the same. The only other benefit is that its on a bigger screen! But if you have an N95 you could play your N-Gage Version (or java version) on a bigger screen anyway.

No release date has been said - but im guessing it will be released later this month, for me - ill stick with the N-Gage version, mainly for Point Pickups.

Xbox 360 60GB Edition Arrives In UK!

Last Month at E3, Microsoft announced that the 20GB Pro console will be replaced with a 60GB Version and they said it would happen within the coming months, but i never expected to see the change this soon.

This Mourning's delivery at my real job (im not as sad as you 1st thought) came a shipment of 8 Brand New Xbox 360 60GB Edition Consoles, the packaging is exactly the same as the previous Pro consoles, except on the side (as shown in the blurry picture) that it says 60GB HDD.

The Reason microsoft did this was to counter-attack sony's 80GB PS3 thats phasing out the 40GB PS3 (similar to the 40GB phased the 60GB PS3). However Sony have yet to send any stock out of their new 80GB PS3, so it looks like Microsoft has won yet another mini-battle in the on going price war.

The Price on the system for the 60GB 360 has yet to be reduced down (as it says £499), but i suspect this will come down either on friday or when majority of the old 20GB Stock has been sold, and when the price does go down it should be the same price as the original 20GB 360.

Another reason why microsoft have released 3 Different 360 packs is a good one, if your a casual gamer that likes to play the odd game like Halo 3, then you buy the arcade pack - comes with 5 arcade games and a memory card to save your data on at a cost effect price, if your a gamer that wants to play a few demos and watch some videos you get the 60GB Pro pack - comes with everything you need and a nice big storage. However if your a dedicated gamer (like me) who wants to download every video, every demo and every arcade game then you go for the elite with its 120GB HDD. 3 Great packages, 3 reasonable prices - no its sony's time to make a move.

Bounce Bounces Onto The N-Gage Platform

Other than ONE: Who's Next, Space Impact and Mile High Pinabll, Bounce: Boing Voage was one of the first New N-Gage titles i first saw and it looked rather interesting as it reminded me an old PS1 Demo i played but it never got released.

Well Bounce was released onto N-Gage last night and alot of people on the N-Gage Arena are playing it, however the majority of users are still busy playing Reset Generation and Who can blame them its an awesome game.
I Havent played the game yet, so i can not tell you what its like however i can tell you that the download size is 5mb and the install size is 7mb. The FULL Game costs £6 and for a 7 Day pass it costs you £4, a 1 day pass would cost you £1.50. So some pritty reasonable prices to say that the game is 3D-ish and looks pirtty decent.

Well if you want the game its now out on the N-Gage Aplication and as always the showroom will be updated (with a direct purchase link) in the next few days. Have Fun Bouncing thoose balls!

Reset Generation Now Available And Its Awesome!

The most anticipated N-Gage Game has finally arrived, yes its RESET GENERATION (originally known as Project White Rock).

Reset Generation was officially launched on the N-Gage platform today, however the PC Version (full version) is due to be released soon - and i can easily say its the BEST N-Gage game out so far.

Originally no-one knew (other than the developers, Redlynx) what Reset Generation (RG for short) was going to be, then screenshots and characters were released in small picture previews, people then started to get an idea, then it was announced it will be a turn-based board game - which sounded a little bit boring but its not.

After having downloaded and tried Reset Generation its easy to say its alot of fun and addictive, the characters are spin-offs of ones we all know and love, for example the plumber being mario and hedgehog being sonic.

The Game itself is 27mb to download and 30mb install, so its one of the bigger titles, however alot is crammed inside, as their is talking (not just text) during cutscenes, and their are fully animated cutscenes (cartoon style), the game itself is similar to old turn-based games that used to be on PC - its all very clever, very simple and works very well!

Reset Generation costs £8 for the FULL (unlimited Access) version, or if you can pay £4 and have the full game for 7 Days or £1.50 and have it for one day - but if your going to buy any FULL N-Gage Games this month - it should be Reset Generation without a doubt, as it is the BEST N-Gage game out at the moment.

Creebies Trailer - Another Interesting Game For N-Gage!

Creebies is one of thoose N-Gage games that

you've heard of, but never seen, well its time to lift the darkness over this cute little portable N-Gage game, which will hopefully appear on our N-Series devices later in the year.

You may ask "what is creebies and what do you do" - well the simple answer is im not exactly sure. However what i can tell from the screenshots and video clips ive seen (trailer at the bottem of this post) is that you create a creebie (from a selection) and you take care of it, aswell as play various mini-games and walk around a virtual hometown - in short its a larger more fun version of EA's - The Sims Pets - and alot more brighter!

Full Details on the game (such as storyline, online modes) have yet to be confirmed or even announced, as the Creebies gamepage on the N-Gage Showroom hasnt even been made yet, but it should attract alot of attention from various amount of people - espically the younger generation of gamers or young chilren.

PS3 Platinum Titles Now Available!

Announced at E3 Last month (as it is August After all), Sony Announced it will be releasing its biggest selling PS3 Games into the platinum collection, basically this means the games will be re-packaged into the silver platinum box and will come at a reduced price of around £19.99, some online retailers (and currys superstores) are selling the platinum titles for £17.99.

The platinum collection has been officially released in the UK, which consists of 5 of the best PS3 Games (and for once i agree). Titles include:

* Resisance: Fall Of Man
* Motorstorm
* Heavenly Sword
* Uncharted Drakes Fortune
* Ratchet & Clank: Tools Of Destruction

The last 3 games on the list have only been out for a few months (6 months if that) and are still selling for around £30 - £35 brand new in some shops, so you can really get a bargin! - i bought uncharted myself (at the budget title price) - as i have always wanted it, after playing the game for a few hours i wish i had bought it sooner - but at least i saved a fair amount of money.

More PS3 Platinum titles will be released over the coming months, however the best games only qualify for platinum, so id expect Metal Gear Solid 4 to be in it within the next 2 years.