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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.
