Tagged: nokia
Angry Birds Space coming to Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7 won’t be deprived of the wrath of angry birds it seems, as Nokia and Rovio today announced Angry Birds Space for the platform.
It was previously doubted whether the popular game would make its way to Microsoft’s mobile OS. The user numbers simply aren’t high enough to attract Rovio; in fact, the company went on record to say they won’t be porting to WP7.
Angry Birds Space made its debut top of the charts on both Android and iOS platforms. It has been downloaded 50 million times since its release.
Nokia Relaunching N-Gage
Hoping to revitalize its failed mobile gaming platform, Nokia has announced that it is relaunching the N-Gage as a games service that will be available across a wide variety of its “N” series of mobile phones.
This service will allow users to try all N-Gage games for free from compatible Nokia handsets. Those interested will have a download a free N-Gage application from the service’s website and install it on a range of Nokia phones including N73, N81, N93, N93i and N95.
The company also announced that it has added more publishers to its platform, including the titan EA who will publish FIFA 08, The Sims 2 Pets, Tetris and many of its games for the platform; Capcom and Vivendi have also signed up.
The new N-Gage service will launch this November.
Crash Bandicoot On N-Gage
Following up on the Capcom announcement, Nokia also announced that they have teamed up with Vivendi Games Mobile, a division of Vivendi Games, to bring the Crash Bandicoot franchise to the new N-Gage platform launching this Fall.
Having sold more than 33 million units worldwide, Crash Bandicoot is a major gaming franchise. “We are excited to offer Nokia customers the opportunity to enter the thrilling world of Crash Bandicoot and play a number of award winning titles from the popular Crash franchise,” said Paul Maglione, president of Vivendi Games Mobile. “We look forward to working with Nokia to offer entertaining, innovative mobile games that tap into the performance and innovation of the N-Gage application and Nokia’s mobile devices.”
No information on the mobile game itself was offered. More information about the series can be found on its official website.
Capcom Onboard N-Gage
Hoping to revitalize its failed gaming platform, Nokia and Capcom have announced that the latter will be publishing games on N-Gage, Nokia’s next-generation mobile gaming platform, in 2008. The new platform will make its debut later this year.
Interestingly, Capcom is the first (and only) Japan-based publisher to show interest in the new N-Gage platform, which will be spread out across S60 mobile phones and devices. Capcom is one of the major players of the industry, holding heavyweight franchises such as Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Onimusha and Lost Planet, among many others. Speaking of the announcement, Yosuke Yoneda, Director of Capcom’s European Mobile Division, said “Capcom is dedicated to creating great mobile games, and believes that N-Gage will allow us to bring some of our most famous franchises to the platform. Our dedication to quality and creative thinking has seen the company produce a series of ground-breaking titles, with stunning visuals and in-depth game play, never before seen on the mobile”.
No actual games were announced, but one can only assume what games will be coming out from this publisher.
N-Gage Network
Nokia, after two failed attempts at breaking into the portable market, has killed off its N-Gage hardware and will instead be focusing on a “virtual console” network to provide games for its phones.
GamesFirst reports that the new N-Gage is now a gaming network available exclusively to Nokia phones, letting users download games available through it. Nokia is also actively courting third-party developers, as well as encouraging independent developers with a program called 4 Room Nokia, letting indie devs get their games on the N-Gage network.
The article goes on to talk about games on the service which have a high-level of graphical detail, comparing those titles to that of PS1 games. Only time will tell if the N-Gage network is a success, but for now it seems like a smart move from Nokia.
BDGamers 