Blog > Archive for the ‘Mobile Culture’ Category

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.

Hello all, thought it was time to get a new post up, even though I don’t have any updates for you regarding N-Gage First Access  — sorry about that, for all of you waiting patiently. But in the mean time, here are some recent reviews of N-Gage compatible devices you might enjoy. Note: some links may not be optimized for viewing on a mobile web browser.

Geek.com reviews the Nokia N95 8GB
“The N95 turns out to be one of the best gaming phones ever. The device uses its powerful processor, all that storage, and the large display to play games extremely well, including in impressive 3D.”

Brighthand.com review the Nokia N81 8GB
“Almost matching the N95 8GB feature for feature, this smartphone is featured as the music and gaming device du jour from Nokia, and comes loaded to the gills.”

OS News.com reviews the Nokia N82
“While it’s not ready yet for download, the N82 is NGage-ready. It has a 3D accelerator in it, and it came pre-installed with two 3D games to showcase the platform.”

Mobile Today review the Nokia N95 8GB
“This is all in one. You can take it on holidays and you have a mobile, a camera, an FM radio and GPS, so you can’t get lost.”

Mobile Today reviews the Nokia N81 8GB
“The Carphone salesman calls it ‘a gamer’s dream’, while Kane says the N81 is a ‘typically stylish Nokia’.” 

Discussion — which N-Gage compatible device do you have or wish to get?  Another question - how many of you are reading this blog on your mobile device as opposed to a PC? Let’s see a show of hands.

While “Mosh and Seek” may sound like professional wrestlers playing hide and seek, they are in fact parts of a broader effort by Nokia to facilitate the creation and sharing of content for mobile devices.

MOSH — short for Mobilize and Share — is an application, currently in beta, that allows users to upload, download, and share mobile content they or others have created with others in the MOSH community.

Revealed at the CTIA show in San Francisco this week, SEEK is a new extension to MOSH that allows you to submit customized search requests to the MOSH community to help you find the exact content you are looking for:

“SEEK is the third dimension in the evolution of MOSH. The first dimension was the ability to upload and share content with a global audience; the second was downloading and customizing your device; now SEEK provides the ability to seek content and interact with the community, SEEK will tap into the power of the MOSH community and provide customized responses to people’s mobile needs.”

If you haven’t tried out MOSH yet, now’s a good time. The application is free and should work on any Nokia device. Check the site for more.

Good morning, afternoon, or evening to you — depending on where you are. It’s time for some coffee and N-Gage news, so without further ado, here are today’s clickables…

N-Gage expectations: The graphicsPocket Gamer kicks off a new series of articles looking at their hopes and expectations for Nokia’s next generation of N-Gage. Their first article discusses the next generation N-Gage’s graphics.

Touch Interface for S60
All About Symbian has posted up a write-up and a YouTube video showing Nokia’s touch interface for Series 60 devices.  This was revealed at last week’s Symbian Smartphone Show, for those of you that missed it.

Save our Rifts!
Tzer2 on All About N-Gage makes an impassioned plea for Nokia to step in and assist Palladium Books, our partner in the Rifts: Promise of Power first generation N-Gage game.

Nokia N95 8GB Review
Finally, one of the first reviews of the N95 8GB that I’ve seen. A quote: “Is this the best smartphone ever made? Yes.”

That’s it for now, if you see anything cool add a link!

Develop Magazine has a new interview with Dr. Mark Ollila up, talking about cross-platform gaming, user-generated content, and other leading edge concepts. Dr. Ollila is head of first-party publishing for N-Gage as well as director of technology and strategy.

In the article, he hints at some of Nokia’s plans for these concepts in next generation N-Gage games, alluding to the previously-reported Project White Rock as well as a second, unnamed game in development:

“For one of the titles we are working on, we are looking at the possibility of letting players create a game and sharing that experience with others.”

Take a look.

The Nokia N95 8GB has begun shipping to selected markets — check out this device page on N-Gage.com for all the juicy details on this multimedia computer.

But as the name suggests, one of the key features is the eight gigabytes of memory built right into the device.

As part of the rollout, and to show off this storage capacity, there is a special version that is coming pre-loaded with a full-length feature film.

The film is Spider-Man 3, the third installment in the Peter Parker saga from Sony Pictures Entertainment. The special version of the N95 8GB with the film preloaded is available in Europe and selected markets in Africa and the Middle East. It also includes Spider-Man goodies such as a ring tone, wallpaper, and a screen saver.

How to start the movie:

Go to Menu -> Video Centre -> My Videos
Select “Spider-Man 3″
The movie will begin automatically and it will play in full-screen landscape mode. The My Videos folder also includes a movie trailer.

It’s pretty amazing that devices like these today have so much memory they can come preloaded with an entire film. Makes you wonder what’s in store a few years down the road — maybe a device with all twenty seasons of The Simpsons pre-installed, or the entire film catalog of Stanley Kubrick.

On your phone multimedia computer.

Our friends over at SNAP Mobile are sponsoring a mobile games development contest for all you game developers out there, both actual and aspiring. It’s part of a larger Nokia effort called “Mobile Rules” that aims to convince you that, hey, Mobile Rules.

Among the prizes  are fast track contract negotiation and publishing opportunities, promotion of the winning games in Forum Nokia developer communities, set-up of games in the SNAP Mobile production environment and online services, and last but not least, Nokia devices. Woot!

So why not give it a try, because as we all know, mobile game developers are treated like rock stars, live in limousines, and have a beautiful girl on each arm, like this gentleman below.

Clicky the linky for more.

This isn’t N-Gage-related but I thought it was too cool to pass up. Google released a street level, photographic overlay today, a beta feature that adds street-level photographs to its popular interactive mapping software.

Want to see where Ikona, Redrum, Congested and the rest of the Arena crew live, work and breathe? Follow this link to the Nokia office, click on the “STREET VIEW” button.

Then rotate the camera around until you see the big red brick building with the logo of another, cough cough, prominent gaming company. Here’s a short tutorial that shows you how the service works.

Only a few cities are covered right now, but you can see where this is going, give or take a few years. Lost somewhere? Pull out your mobile and follow the photographs home. =)