N-Gage Attending GDC 2009

It has been confirmed that "N-Gage" will be attending, as well as supporting, the Games Developers Conference (GDC) this year in san francisco, which takes place between March 23rd and March 27th.

No information on what kind of news will be announced at this event, however i suspect a fair amount of new games will be announced, and maybe even videos relating to the already announced games, will be shown at this conference - but thats only my guess / expectation.

Not only that a few Nokia PRs, including Executive Vice President Tero Ojanpera will be there to discuss what has happened so far in the first year of the N-Gage Service, as well as what he expects for the future.

For more information on GDC, head over to the official website here.

Is The New House Of The Dead Good, or Just an Overkill? - My Impressions

As most of you know im a huge fan or Arcade games, including ports on consoles - so im always glad to hear when a new arcade title hits the console, espically one such as good as "House Of The Dead".

Well the new game "House Of The Dead: Overkill" got released over a week ago and throughout the past couple of days ive been spending some time with it, or should i say "wasting" my time with it.

As you may know (or may not know) House Of The Dead: Overkill is a "console-made" game meaning it never got released in the arcades, its probably to fill the gap for the awesome HOTD4 which, in theory, shouldve been released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 by now (please sega make it happen!).

The Reason the game was named "OVERKILL" as the game literally takes the piss (or makes fun of) out of all the other HOTD games - by having dodgey voice actors that swear all the time, a plot that makes no sense, and having an old "50's carnival feel" to it - heck even the game itself is not "clear" it has picture grain on it to make it look even older and can sometimes make it difficult to play. Reloading and gun shooting take awhile to work aswell and boss fights dont seem as fun as the older games.

Even though the game tries to be something its not, it does have its decent moments, mainly just blasting the zombies with your standard magum, but as soon as you get upgrades the game pace just seems so much easier! Not to mention the game does not have credits, if you get killed your can continue your game by cutting your points down in half so in a sense you can definately complete the game in 1 long sitting.

The actually "House Of The Dead: Overkill" game in general isnt very good but will provide a few hours of entertainment for anyone that likes HOTD Games, but id rather buy and play the "House Of The Dead 2 & 3 Return" as that is a hell of alot better - but games aside the new "Hand Cannon" by BigBen Interactive which was designed for "House Of The Dead: Overkill" is a stroke of amazement!

The official "House Of The Dead: Hand Cannon" is a Wii accessory designed for lightgun fanatics (like me) in mind, the acessory actually looks like a gun, its nice and strong and feels good to use when playing any lightgun type gun on the Wii, it actually makes you feel like your back in the arcades!

The only trouble-something to do is to calibrate it correctly, just go to your settings in your games and turn the "cursor" off, then go to calibration and calibrate it like you would a normal lightgun - if done so correctly it will work and feel like a lightgun on the PS2/PS1 or like in the Arcades.

So to sum up, the House Of The Dead: Overkill game is bad and to be honest should be avoided, go get Ghost Squad, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles or House Of The Dead: Return if you want a lightgun style game, but if you still want it - then wait! However the "Hand Cannon" is a definate must for any lightgun fanatic, as to be honest i never liked them, but as soon as i started playing the HOTD game with this accessory i felt like i was back in the arcades again.

Nintendo DSi to Arrive In Europe on 3rd April

Nintendo's new and improved (3rd Gen) Nintendo DS, called the "Nintendo DSi" (aka DSi Lite) will arrive in Europe on 3rd April.

The "Teaser" Website with a look at the device and its features has also gone online this mourning.

Even though the Nintendo DSi got released a few months ago in Japan no interest (as of yet) has been sparked up, but if your woundering what the differences are between the two devices then let me tell you.

The major differences from the DS and DSi is that the DSi has two built in cameras, one on the back of it and one in between the two touch screens, another important feature to note is that the DSi is REGION LOCKED, so any games bought from japan can not be played on your UK Device, or Vice Versa, however standard DS games remain unaffected.

Other differences include built in Opera based web browser, similar to that of the Nintendo Wii, a SD Card slot - which is used for viewing pictures on it, also the DSi has a direct link to the DS-Ware, a portable version of the "Wii Shopping Channel" which, according to nintendo, will have downloadable DS Games, Retro-classics and customisation items to be used on the DS (most likely themes or wallpapers).

Once release the nintendo will also change the "Wii Points" scheme into "Nintendo Points" (or something similar) so that points store in your Wii account can be linked to your DSi and used to buy things from the DS-Ware shop.

Now here comes the tricky bit, Nintendo are still going to be making Nintendo DS's and will still be publishing DS Games when the new DSi (and its games) are released, however DSi games will not work on a DS Console, due to its new feautres (i.e. Camera) - another note to mention is that the GBA port (slot 2) has also been removed - so no more playing GBA Games on your DS or even play the recent Guitar Hero Series on the DS.

if you want some more information on the DSi then head over to the official nintendo DSi website here. At the moment no "pricing information" has been released, however im expecting the DSi to be around £130, im also guessing that pre-orders will open up very shortly aswell - so if you want it PRE-ORDER IT!

Nokia & Fishlabs sign Games Agreement With 5 New N-Gage Games Announced For the Platform

Mobile Phone games developer (Java / Sis games) Fishlabs has recently signed a deal with Nokia to release games for the N-Gage Platform.

With this agreement 5 new games, from the developer "Fishlabs" have been confirmed for a 2009 and 2010 Release, and these games are just a few from their recent back catalogue.

Fishlabs is a well respected gaming developer (in the mobile community) so we should see some interesting things from them in the futre.

The following games that have been confirmed with this agreement , and the year of expected release are as follows.
Games for 2009 Release:

* Powerboat Challenge
* Rally Master Pro
* Snowboard Hero

Games For Early 2010 Release:

* Galaxy on Fire
* Blades & Magic

The images of the games is taken from the "Java/ Sis" versions of the games and Fishlabs have confirmed that the N-Gage versions will have improved graphics, gameplay and exra features - "All titles will be significantly improved in terms of graphics and sound quality and will be enhanced with additional features. With the powerful multimedia capabilities of N-Gage compatible mobile phones, FISHLABS can now offer an even better gaming experience."

To view the full "Press Release" by nokia you can read it here.

Clan Battle Mode For Space Impact Now available on N-Gage!

After several months of waiting, and hardly any information, the new “CLAN BATTLE” mode for Space Impact Kappa Base on the N-Gage platform has arrived and better yet its FREE!

Instead of being a “Add-on” or DLC, the “Clan Battle” Addition comes pre-packed with the new version of Space Impact, so all you have to do is to download the game and install it as normal via the N-Gage App showroom or via the N-Ggage Website on your PC. If you already have the game installed, just highlight it and select “Remove Game” - then go to the showroom and re-download it - simple and effective.

The clan battle mode itself is, as what everyone hoped it would be, an online mode - so you and 3 other friends can all help fight the and defeat the online levels and your best scores will be tracked online, new members can be invited and you can track rival clans at the simple touch of a button. Not to mention that you can also play as 2 additional characters in the story mode (a girl and an old guy - forgot their names) just to relive the old experience.

If you havent already got Space Impact Kappa Base - then id suggest you get the game now (full game) mainly for two reasons, as the game has been reduced to 4 GBP, When it was originally 6 GBP and the game can bring hours of entertainment offline aswell as online!