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Review: Ovi Maps Racing
Released for free yesterday (in theory, for a limited period, though as you'll see from the review, it wouldn't work that well as a commercial title anyway), Ovi Maps Racing is a Maps-derived top-down racing game from Nokia. Ewan's been giving it the review once-over here on Ovi Gaming and, while, generally impressed by the title, feels it's let down by the lack of an integrated track sharing system and by the ultimately limited gameplay.
Ovi Maps Racing available in Ovi Store
Ovi Maps Racing is now available in the Ovi Store and, for a limited time, it is available for free. The game, which is available for Nokia's S60 5th Edition (Symbian^1) phones, is a top down style racer. The aim is to set the fastest possible lap times. There's a number of built in tracks with global leader boards, but the standout feature of the game is the ability to create your own tracks based on your current location. Using Ovi Maps (Navteq) mapping data you can create, and then race on, a track based on the map of your home town. Read on for more details.
Time Riders 2
Ewan takes another trip down memory lane here on our Ovi Gaming site with a review of Time Riders 2, a Java vertical shoot 'em up from the Nokia Ovi Store that (somewhat surprisingly) impresses hugely, being responsive and pretty. Oh, yes, and cheap, at a true pocket money price. Hit!
Review: Jewel Quest 3
There's a certain swashbuckling look to this game, from Electronic Arts. With a chisel-jawed hero and the 'exciting adventure' font on display (plus the all important sequel number), this has all the hallmarks and subtle signals of a Hollywood blockbuster from the 1950s. Which, of course, is an age ago in the motion picture, and is the perfect metaphor for Jewel Quest 3, finds Ewan Spence.
Review: Raging Thunder
You may remember that the Nokia E90 shipped with a widescreen, hardware-accelerated 3D driving game, Global Race: Raging Thunder? Somewhat wasted on the 'business' device, many people quickly realised that it also worked after a fashion on the also-accelerated N95. However, the game ran like a turkey on other phones without the vital graphics chip. Until now. Raging Thunder has been reworked by Polarbit and optimised for modern single chip ARM designs - with a few caveats, as you'll see in my review - and it's available now in the Ovi Store.
Microrace reviewed
New in the Ovi Store, Microrace takes a traditional, top down view of the arcade karting genre - Ewan thinks that's just enough for a great game, but is Microrace a touch too small? Here's his review - can the game break free from being a 'proof of concept'?
What can Symbian learn from Sony?
It's been a rough year for the Symbian ecosystem, and an especially rough year for their partners. Samsung and Sony Ericsson have taken their portion of the punishment, but the lion's share belongs, for good or ill, to Nokia. The ecosystem strikes me as remarkably like another that last year was on the way down, but is now in good health.
Snow Globe and Christmas Tree
It's time to get into the festive spirit, or at least Offscreen Technologies think so, as Ewan hits the Ovi Store and some mulled wine. He's been taking a quick look at their Snow Globe and Christmas Tree novelties - the second is of particular interest as it's a way to get to some free applications.
Review: BlockGo
Blocks and grids align for classic gameplay with classy UI and presentation, in BlockGo and BlockGo Lite, reviewed here by the master of mobile puzzles, Mr Ewan Spence. If you can put up with a rather high dose of 'Cute' then you're going to love this S60 5th Edition game, fresh from the Nokia Ovi Store.
Pocketgamer pitches ino the piracy debate
UK Gaming site Pocket Gamer has delivered a well thought out and researched piece about piracy and online content. While primarily about gaming and the new rush for downloadable content, the landscape is remarkably similar to the software markets for smartphones. Looking at all angles, the final statement "...whatever excuses any of us have employed for justifying a pirated game are well and truly dead." is one that we'd stand by here, but it covers some new ground in the world of App Stores, current estimated levels of piracy and public opinion.
Review: Smart Trivia
When is a game not a game? When it's more an online proof of concept, as Ewan found out in his review of Smart Trivia from the Ovi Store, with barebones interface and enforced cellular connection. At least the questions themselves are OK, plus there is multi-player action. Can Smart Trivia go for gold or will it fail the starter for ten?
Piracy is not the problem, piracy is the catalyst
Pinch Media, who provide analytic software for developers on Apple's phones, are estimating that piracy rates are as high as 60% on the iPhone (reports Pocket Gamer). You can be sure that this number is matched on Symbian, Windows Mobile other mobile platforms. The level of piracy nowadays is incredibly high. Apple's iPhone may be pointed out here, but a little bit of exploration online and every games console can be found to be exploited. Read on for my thoughts, though.
Review: Skyforce Reloaded
An arcade game – and and ol' fashioned up-the-screen 2D shoot-em-up at that. On a touch screen. Surely this is as big a folly as “Can you fly the Spruce Goose across the Atlantic?” So onto Skyforce Reloaded, the almost franchise-like arcade game that's on every mobile platform, and which now makes its way to S60 5th Editon. But how does it work on devices like the 5800, which have no physical keys? Find out in Ewan's review.
What will Nokia learn from the Failure of N-Gage?
Two weeks after Nokia announced that their N-Gage system was to be closed and the titles merged into Ovi Store, N-Gage old-hand Ewan delivers his verdict, looking at what Nokia did wrong, from support to marketing to community. More worryingly, Ewan also worries that similar errors might be being made with Nokia's other Software and Services.
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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.