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Going for the Strike with AMF Bowling: Pinbusters
AMF Bowling: Pinbusters is the latest N-Gage game on the block and Ewan takes it for a roll. Despite a sensible control system, decent graphics and (shock, horror) support for multi-player gaming over the N-Gage Arena, Ewan brands it 'repetitive' and 'ultimately unfulfilling'. Still, at least there's a single-player demo, right?
The N-Gage Games Lost To History, Waiting To Be Ported
Almost sixty official games graced the original N-Gage platform, so why aren't Nokia taking the proven hits from that era and bringing them back to the front? Here on Ovi Gaming, Ewan looks back and chooses five that are ripe for re-invention. Why not take a trip down memory lane with him and then ask Nokia very, very nicely...?
I Spy With My Little Eye... No Boxes
What's in a box? Quite a lot if you are a collector. And that's why the move to digital distribution is robbing the gaming world of one of its prize assets. The collectiblity of the box that the game comes in. Ewan explains why the Magpie in him needs something more from Nokia. He also (in a timely fashion) refers to the problems of not being able to take purchases onto a new phone, or even back onto the same phone after a hard reset. Read on...
Spore Origins fails to evolve on N-Gage
"Oh dear. Spore as a gaming brand is close to a legend. Created by Will Wright, and released last year to great critical acclaim, you'd think that popping the genetic engineering life-sim onto a mobile would be a sure-fire hit. Err, no." And so begins Ewan's review of this latest N-Gage title here on Ovi Gaming. Spore Origins includes all the elements needed but fails miserably in its basic gameplay and interface.
Cluedo review, screenshots and video on Ovi Gaming
EA's mobile phone version of the classic board game Cluedo (aka Clue in some parts of the world) rejigs the traditional gameplay into a limited-turn logic puzzle game with an extremely slick graphical interface. Ovi Gaming has reviewed Cluedo for Ovi Store, and we also provide our usual gameplay video and selection of screenshots.
N-Gage games now available through Ovi Store
Promised some time ago, N-Gage games have finally been made available through Ovi Store, in the form of free trials which can be unlocked into full versions through an in-game purchase or rental option. Although Ovi Store and N-Gage remain separate brands right now, it might make sense for Nokia to merge them, as discussed below.
30 Free Days of Dance Fabulous From Nokia
Following up the release last week of Dance Fabulous, Nokia and the N-Gage team are offering a 30 day licence on top of the usual free downloadable demo. This will give you the full game, with no playing restrictions. At the end of the 30 days, you can purchase the game in full if you're still getting your kicks from dancing along to your own music collection! Grab your pass at the Dance Fabulous N-Gage site.
AMF Bowling: Pinbusters out now on the N-Gage platform
AMF Bowling: Pinbusters, a third party games, is out now on the N-Gage platform. It's a ten pin bowling game with various playing modes and 12 characters, each with signature moves. The game also has the ability to post scores to an online leaderboard. To get the game, open your phone's N-Gage application, go to the Showroom tab, select "Options" and then "Update Now".
Two new Ovi Store devices, the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic and the Nokia E72
Our sister-site All About Symbian has coverage of two new Nokia phones, the E72 and the 5530. The Nokia E72 is the beefed-up sequel to the hugely successful E71 smartphone, featuring a full QWERTY keyboard and 5 megapixel camera, while the Nokia 5530 is a budget touchscreen smartphone which is a cheaper "little brother" of the popular 5800. The 5530 should cost around 200 euros unlocked, while the E72 will be 350 euros unlocked, with both devices being released some time between July and September.
Paris Nights review, screenshots and video added to Ovi Gaming
Gameloft's rather good people simulator and adventure game Paris Nights has been reviewed by Ovi Gaming, and we've also added lots of screenshots as well as a ten minute gameplay video. It might not have the best graphics in the world but it's fun, it's got a fairly grown-up feel to it, there's an interesting plot and it only costs three euros from Ovi Store.
79 games added to Ovi Store in latest update
Ovi Store has been updated again, and it seems the latest content push has added about 79 new titles to Ovi as well as more apps and other content. The list of new games is below, and you can see these for yourself by going to store.ovi.com and selecting the "Any Phone" option, then "Games", then "Newest - Oldest" from the drop down menu. By our reckoning Ovi Store has around 350+ different titles now available, with lots more still waiting to be added for various technical reasons. Note that not every game works on every phone, so if you select a particular model on Ovi Store you probably won't see every game on offer. As always, you can find out more about Ovi Store on our Unofficial FAQ page.
Ovi Store updated to version 1.05(231)
As you may have noticed earlier in the week, there's an update available for the Ovi Store application. You should now be able to get this update automatically by just starting the application as normal on your phone, and it will present you with the option to update it. Follow the on-screen instructions to make the update happen, and if it gets stuck after the download select "Options" and then "Open" to start the update's installation.
Pac-Man appears on Ovi Store
Just a mini-update, the original arcade version of Pac-man has appeared in Ovi Store. We suspect this was part of Namco's original lineup for Ovi Store's launch, but server problems prevented it being seen (and indeed some people in some countries may still not be able to see it). Screenshot below in case someone thinks we're mistaken. By our count that brings the total all-formats number of games available in Ovi Store to 275, though due to Nokia's ongoing server problems there only seem to be about 240 visible at any one time, and specific phone models may not be compatible with every game anyway. Incidentally Ovi Store also has a number of spin-offs of the game including Ms. Pac-Man, Namco Arcade Golf, Pac-Man Pinball 2 and Pac-Mania.
N-Gage Sales Chart for 1st to 7th of June 2009
First chart of June, and we've got a couple of re-entries to spice things up. Worms and Tetris still dominate though...
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What is Ovi?
Ovi is the overall brand covering all of Nokia's online services, including their N-Gage gaming platform and Ovi Store content shop. You can find out more about Ovi services on the official site (ovi.com).
Most Nokia phones and smartphones can access Ovi Store, and Nokia smartphones can access N-Gage too.
Games from Ovi Store and N-Gage are sold entirely as downloads either directly onto your phone, or downloaded onto a PC and then transferred manually.
You can find out more about Ovi Store and N-Gage in our Ovi Store FAQ, and our N-Gage FAQ.
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All About Symbian
Ovi Gaming is the sister site of All About Symbian. Symbian is the operating system which Nokia's smartphones run on, and is also used by many Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG smartphones too.