If you ever wanted to play Breakout with human beings — or just wanted to see Nokia throwing some more support behind N-Gage — you’ll want to check out this new viral video thingy called Get Out and Play!
It features a “chiseled bloke,” in the words of Pocket Gamer, starting a giant Snakes procession through an unnamed metropolis, and includes an interesting stop-motion version of the classic tile breaking game.
What are your reactions?
Normally I’m not one to believe in the paranormal or the mysterious, but I thought I would pass this one along. A colleague of mine up in the Vancouver office recently sent me this panicky email:
I just got this video from a N-Gage fanatic in Asia!?!?! Seems something is approaching and he captured this video… Can mankind be saved?
Along with the email, he attached the video, which I’ve uploaded to our server. What it all means, I’m not sure, but it could be the start of something big…
We were busy today installing some new office equipment to help with our N-Gage research (see picture), so let’s do a quick roundup of the news:
• I added six new Space Impact Kappa Base videos today. An exciting side-scrolling arcade shooter, SIKB was available in First Access and is expected back in the Showroom “real soon now.”
• Ewan Spence over at All About N-Gage has got Quake 2 shareware running on his N-Gage compatible Nokia device! Definitely for the more technically inclined amongst you, and remember, it’s totally unsupported and unofficial.
• Pocket Gamer has launched a new “industry insider” column called “The Bee.” It’s all very mysterious: “Who is The Bee? I am The Bee. I am busy with the video gaming industry. My name is private so I am The Bee!” No N-Gage tidbits yet, but this might be one to watch.
• I got a note RedLynx today, whom you know as the creators of Pathway to Glory and High Seize for the original game decks as well as the mysterious “Project White Rock” for the new generation. They tipped me off about a totally different game they’ve created, RedLynx Trials 2 Second Edition. It’s a full-fledged 3D PC game, not a mobile game, but there’s a free trial you might like.
• Redrum was sent home today for disciplinary reasons. There was only one donut left on the kitchen counter, and as everyone knows, the last donut belongs to Congested. Nah, just kidding. RR took a much needed personal day. Have a good one, bro, and bring us back more donuts.
And all of you out there have a great weekend!
We are live! The games, the devices, and the community are all here for you to finally get your teeth into. The Forums are back up and the new N-Gage application is here.
There will be an official announcement on Monday, but for you, the N-Gage faithful we wanted to let you know we’re up and running! So come join our moderators in the Forums for our launch party, and start enjoying the next generation of mobile gaming.
Now let’s Get Out and Play!
Big shout out and thank you to Ewan Spence over at All About Symbian, who was kind enough to sit down with me over lunch a couple weeks ago and ask me some pointed, embarrassing questions about my personal hygiene and collection of America’s Top Model videos.
Aww, just kidding. Mostly we talked about the unseasonably warm weather and what kind of impact it would have on the series of tubes that control our lives.
So if you’re bored enough to read an interview with your beloved hero and mentor, Ikona, go take a look, and leave Ewan a comment. You might even suggest a few other Mysterious Screen Names to interview.
I’m a bit perplexed. I received an urgent SMS from Scott Foe, one of our game producers here at Nokia, who said he had just been interviewed by the Electric Playground, a cable show that covers computer and videogames. He said that he revealed the secrets of the next generation of N-Gage on the show.
Have you heard this phrase yet? It came up at the Game Developer’s Conference, in a story first broken by PG’s Jon Jordan:
“It’s all very cryptic, and to be honest we’re not entirely sure what this is about ourselves. It’s a phrase Nokia staff have been dropping into conversations, as well as having it printed on their funky shirts at GDC.”
Indeed, the phrase was on the shirt Anssi Vanjokji wore during his keynote address, as well as printed in the Nokia brochure packed into every GDC bag.
A mysterious source has emailed me some pictures to share with you, along with some additional information I will disclose in due course. Click the pix below for detail on the brochure and “funky shirts. ”
My source asserts that For the Love of Gaming and Project White Rock are related. This was confirmed by some media reports, such as Evergeek. Let’s pick up the story there:
“[Project White Rock] is cross-platform, it’s multi-platform, it’s N-Gage, it’s PC, it’s the amazing RedLynx; the kimono is opening a little bit today. We do it all for the love of gaming.
“If you doubt the gamer’s cred or sincerity, here’s a little self-check, perhaps a humbling one: Test your own for-the-love-of-gaming quotient at www.fortheloveofgaming.com. Don’t blame me if you can’t get the music out of your head.”
Ah hah! So For the Love of Gaming points to a quiz. A tough quiz! For the record, I scored 13 points, but my score has been bumped off the board. I guess I have something to do this weekend. :)
But it seems there’s more to this story. Here’s Zedge from Zedge.net, who goes a little deeper down the rabbit hole:
“So there I was, minding my own business, at the Nokia booth, playing one of their new N-Gage games… when I got a tap on the shoulder by a friendly PR rep. She asked me if I would want to be part of an ‘experiment’ and I responded with, sure, why the hell not.”
He describes how he was ushered into a private room with a mysterious figure who questioned him about ‘Project White Rock’. He was then given the For the Love of Gaming quiz, but scored enough points to gain a little more information.
Zedge was then handed a mysterious vial with a white USB stick inside. He describes what happened next:
“I was told to immediately put it away and not show it to anyone. How mysterious! I was then told to check out the contents in private and to await further instructions. How clandestine!”
He then concludes with a picture of the mysterious vial:
He hasn’t been heard from since!
My source was unable to provide one of the mysterious vials, and in fact immediately broke the connection when I asked for one. I didn’t even get a chance to ask for one of the funky t-shirts. Maybe someone can find out what is on the memory card in the vial, and learn a little more about Project White Rock that way.
Anyone have any ideas on this one?
Ewan Spence over at AllAboutSymbian.com has published an interesting and well thought-out piece about N-Gage, Ovi, and new paradigms for gaming. He reflects on some of our past efforts and statements, things put out at the recent Game Developer’s Conferences, and draws his own conclusions about possible future directions for the platform.
Here are a few snippets. From his analysis of Anssi Vanjoki’s keynote speech:
It managed to use all the regular Nokia buzz-words and phrases, “the fourth screen”, “one billion consumers with Nokia devices”, “powerful multimedia computers”, etc. but, like any good Nokia presentation, the really new and intriguing stuff was hidden slap bang in the middle, with no massive emphasis.
“Contextual games.”
Later, he talks about how Ovi could play a part in that:
Ovi will allow entire communities to interact, and potentially be pulled into games - with hooks into networks such as MySpace and Facebook on the horizon, the lines between the networks, services and software will start to blur for the benefit of the players.
Definitely worth a read! By the way, what are all your guys’ favorite mobile or N-Gage-related web sites to visit (apart from the official blog of course, which should be your home page;) I think I know most of them, but perhaps some of you have some new links I’m not aware of.
Hey all, we’re working on getting our vodcast posted. In the mean time here are a bunch of new articles about Nokia and N-Gage stemming from our presence at the Game Developer’s Conference:
* The BBC has put up a video interview with Jaakko Kaidesoja, heads of Nokia’s Games unit
* Gamasutra has an interesting write-up of Anssi Vanjoki’s keynote address
* Another good take on Anssi’s talk comes from Mobile Entertainment
* All About N-Gage has put up videos (by way of Project Next) showing off Creebies gameplay footage and a mini-documentary on the Making of ONE
* MoDoJo has posted a quick talk with N-Gage head of production Dan Scott; so does Joystiq
* Pocket Gamer talks to Jaakko Kaidesoja about First Access
* Pocket Gamer also gives its take on Anssi Vanjoki’s keynote address
* One more from Pocket Gamer: a hands-on preview of Bounce Boing Voyage
If you have more links, drop them in the comments!
The second and final day of GDC Mobile was kicked off in style this morning by Nokia’s own Anssi Vanjoki, the executive vice president of the markets unit. He gave an interesting and informative keynote address entitled “Play with Anybody Everywhere: Context, the New Paradigm for Game Play.”
Speaking before several hundred game developers and other industry figures, he sketched out Nokia’s vision of a connected world, reminding everyone that an astounding one billion of our mobile devices are in people’s hands today.
He went on to say about 200 million of those device owners are technology leaders, for whom voice usage is only part of their overall interaction with the device. Technology leaders want and do more with their devices, things Nokia is working hard to innovate and provide.
Among some of the tools we can use in the future to create a more personal, pervasive connected experience with your gaming device are maps and GPS, TV out, motion sensors, metadata attached to user-generated content, and more.
And finally, regarding the First Access program, he said, “The feedback we are getting is music to my ears.” So keep up the good work everyone! 
Footage of Vanjoki’s talk should be available through the official GDC website within a week or so; we will post a link when it’s up.
One additional programming note: we did record a video podcast today featuring members of our games management team, answering your questions from the Forums. We should have the link to it here on this blog some time tomorrow.
