Sorry, but I love my N-Gage

[Matt Horne]

The real issue is the price.. but its going to be that high due to the mobile phone within it.

Mobile phones are not cheap period, we in the UK are far to complacent when it comes to mobiles.. ppl whinch when they do not get there next upgrade free.. and they do not sem to realise the real worth of the phone.. no wonder phone insurance is comparatively expensive.. ("lost your P800 sir.. that'll be ?400 please!")

?200 for a sim free phone is not expensive (considering the spec of the phone -- Tri Band/GPRS/Bluetooth/Symbian OS etc etc) esp as the 3650 for example (which is the ngage is built apon) still costs ?256 sim free.

Nokia should have placed this product as a gaming phone rather than trying to take on Nintendo.. and as has been said if they really want to break into the younger market the sim-free price has to drop.
But as the networkign features use GPRS and this is a relatively expensive solution I cannot see many parents buying them for the kiddies!.

Nokia should stick to adult games.. as quite frankly we are the only ones who can afford the contracts/GPRS charges and therefore make full use of the technology.

As to the range of games.. its always the same.. the product has been out 2 weeks and everyone is complaining.. sounds like the PS2 all over again.

Me I am enjoying TR again for the first time in a few years.. might even complete it this time..

If anyone wants one.. get it on crontract.. you might as well use the free minutes/texts you will get and in the end you will still pay less than the sim free price.

If you have not interest in the symbian platform or a mobile phone then buy a gameboy SP.

Now I'm off to encode some movies for my N-gage in case the train is delayed again

Matt

[Burai]

Bit like the PS2 when that came out then?

No. The PS2 had titles of some merit and a guarantee of better titles on the horizon.

I mean, what the **** have n-gage owners got to look forward to on the horizon?

[JibberX]

I am leaning towards look at one of these, maybe, running the Symbian Series 60 platform (my personal 2nd favourite OS) it rocks, but then I am thinking of getting the Siemens SX1 naturally not a "real" games machine but looks damn wierd and will still use my MMCs. Choices, choices.

[charlesr]

I mean, what the **** have n-gage owners got to look forward to on the horizon?

Not a lot apart from constant derision and laughter?
Will they have to bury all the handsets in the desert next to ET?

[Burai]

Hmmm. Well according to Nokia's website, this is what's on the n-gage release schedule into spring 2004:

FIFA Soccer 2004
Coming in 2003!

NCAA? Football 2004
Coming in 2003!

Pathway to Glory
Coming in 2004!

Sega Rally Championship
Coming in 2004!

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Coming in 2004!

Why on Earth would anyone with any sense at all buy an n-gage?

[Matt Horne]

I guess you do not like it then ?

Basically its the best gaming phone currently available.. its not just about the ngage specific games.. there are hundreds of symbian/java games and apps available for it as well.. You can watch movies on it, listen to the radio, play music, surf the web, check your email, use the phone anywhere in the globe (triband).. etc etc.

If the only reason you are buying one is for pure gaming then you wold not as you are paying for the mobile technology...

Its no different to buying a PS2 to use as a DVD player.. of you only wanted DVD's why get a PS2.. spend the money on a better player.

I also have a palm Zire 71.. which can also do the same sort of things as the Ngage (other than make calls) but the Palm though suited to apps and movies is not as hot on Games due mainly to the lack of keys and a good joystick.

So it that respect the Ngage is a good option for the mobile gamer as it is laid out with a proper gamepad and plenty of keys.. I have a T610 as well but theres no point in playing Java games on it as its too small...

Matt

[Shimmyhill]

So i had a go on a N-Gauge the other day (before i was ill hmmm did i catch it of it :S )

I went in ready to hate it, and it didnt let me down.

Ill not attack the obvious game loading or phone usage .

But what in hell is going on with the screen, granted its very clear + sharp and works well in all lighting situations, but a) its too small - others have not mentioned this as much as the aspect but for the size of the unit it really is too small. b) the aspect, now i know older macheines had similar aspect screens but in a world of widescreen tv's + gba aspect screen's it felt weird.

The pad isnt as bad as it looks but its still not great and the buttons feel horrible (much like the original xbox pad buttons - designed with all the ergonomics of a london bus)

The games i tried where 1)tomb raider, after the initial wow at the 3d on a handheld its a very poor conversion - much worse gfx than the psx game (and we are talking about a tiny screen with mucher lower res etc) horrible slowdown when turning during action and bland textures. As a conversion its poor as a game its average at best. 2) Tony Hawks - being a huge fan of both the ps2 and the gba version i was again very dissapointed with this. Felt clumsy and again very poor compared to the original. 3) Some god awful snowboarding game. Take cool boarders, remove any hint of gameplay, lower the gfx add possibly the worst music/effects ever and you get the picture.

As a phone is typical nokia, so not very good then. I use a P800, the mp3 player on the sony is pretty poor as is the one on n-gauge so i not gonna worry about that. The hands free isnt bad but good lord its funny uning it sideways !

The positives.

Its alot lighter than i was expecting.
I havent got one.
A work friend has so we have bait for months.

I was prepared to hate it as i was with the Xbox. The Xbox won me over this has not and it never will atm

[Clown Shoes]

Hmm, I don't really see what the problem is.... I have a GBA, an Mp3 walkman and a perfectly good mobile but get this - I just got an n-gage too. Why? Cos it was free!
I phoned up my service provider, renewed my contract & job done I've got a free phone.

So now when I am stuck on a train on the way home from work I can play Tony Hawks instead of having to wait till I'm back at the flat.
I've also got a PS2, Game Cube & a PC and as far as I'm concerned the more the merrier lets face it - every one of them has good & bad points. If I'm away for the weekend I'm sure I'll stick the GBA & MP3 player in my bag.

However, I'm not going to have all that stuff with me when my girlfriend calls up to say she's "accidentally gone shopping" & is running late. No problem now though - out comes super monkey ball! (Complete with monkey target, which you don't get on the GBA version).

I have also ordered an in ear bluetooth headset for ?40, so I don't even need to get my phone out my jacket to use it (thus resolving any screen smearing/large phone issues).

Oh & the Hawk rules in an old school way.

[Burai]

Oh & the Hawk rules in an old school way.

I'm glad to hear it. If Nokia's release schedule is anything to go by, you'll be playing it for a while...

[nonny]

Its like I said a few posts up, its all about the games... to be a successful games platform the physical design of the system in second.

Ok so its screen is too small, its awkward to remove the games when you want to play something different and its a bit stupid looking holding it to your head to use as a phone. These are small factors compared to the games currently available and those coming down the track.

Tony Hawk is the only game on the system that has achieved respectable scores and looks the part.

In comparison the original GBA has a crap non-lit screen, cramp inducing shoulder buttons and less face buttons... all annoying design flaws. What it did have though was top class games on release day (F-Zero, Mario etc...) and a steady release schedule of quality titles following soon after. That is the main issue here.

Without these games the N-Gage isnt a games platform, its a mis-designed phone.

[Afterbirth]

The actual resentment is not of the people that buy the thing, but for what it is.
Its underpowered for the price and will, judging by the future line up, host games already available - OR - those that sell loads, IE, those already available on a PS2 (at least).

So, whats the point. The PSP will be a more powerfult machine (for around the same price) and has more chance of hosting orignal titles that really are worth playing (at the moment, you can only play whats out, which is SFA. Its highly unlikely to be a machine known for doing anything in gaming, mobile or otherwise, unlike the GB series.

[kona]

Didn't want to start another thread on the NGage, so posting this here...
You can now get it for a penny! (ok, yeah you have to sign up with Voda for ?28/month:

http://www.edirectory.co.uk/thesun/pages/moreinfoa.asp?pe=BCJDFHJQ_+Nokia+NGage+Cross+Network+100+Text&cid=1214

(thanks to the Register for providing the link)

[charlesr]

Take cool boarders, remove any hint of gameplay

Surely none there to remove?

[Jakeway]

If you ask me it needs Mr Driller
All in all tho, it seems ok I need a new Phone and an Mp3Player/Radio. Im sure they will drop to ?100 by the summer so I will get one then

What is mokey Ball like?

[Shimmyhill]

Take cool boarders, remove any hint of gameplay

Surely none there to remove?

Exactly

See what i dont get is all the defence its getting.

Ill tell it how it is :

1) Its a **** phone - p800 + p900 much better Symbian based phones.
2) Its a **** games machine. There are actually much better Symbian based games that are either free or very cheap. so as a games phone its no better than others (mapping the keys doesnt work in many symbian based games as nokia are using older compile) as a games machine its very poor. The launch games are poor and the future looks even poorer.
3) Mp3 playback and video support are much worse than third party apps on p800, the screen is too small and the wrong aspect so again other phones do it much better.
4) Ive not tried, but apparently the new opera doesnt work on it, so again the best web site viewer that works on p800 is lost.

Its not even a jack of all trades master of none.

It doesnt do anything better than devices that are over a year old. take into account the poorly designed hardware, and some ridiculous decisions on Nokia's behalf (i.e. to market it as a games machine, removal of battery to change game etc) Something that doesnt get mentioned much is that the idea of these all in one phone's etc is that u can hotswap mem cards for different purposes. for example, on my p800 i have apps stored on a 16mb card, music on another card and i want a 128mb card to put a movie on. Evey other device that allows this can do it on the fly so i pull one card out and put another in. Something again that is totally flawed on the n-gage.

Finally, i would say that at the end of the day its a huge shame that it is so poor. The actual concept behind it is very good and something that would certinally appeal to me. Its the conviction of it thats the problem, not the fact that people hate it just for the sake of it. I feel that had sony or Nintendo or even microsoft been involved the end product would have been much better thought out and not a stop gap product that i see it as. Remember that Nokia have been very much behind the other phone players of late in terms of product design and even sales in the top end market so im not totally surprised by the product.