Well the N-Gage launch has come and gone and I had a chance to see what it can do courtesy of my local gamestop and co-worker who whips it out (the N-gage that is) when nobody's looking. Here's my verdict:
1) As a gaming system: Right now, it is for a better term 'sucks harder than....[insert lewd reference here]'. Case in Point? I stacked up my Sonic Advance to Sonic N. Sonic N is slooooooowww. That defeats the whole point of a Sonic game. Sound was messed up. Did I mention the chuggy framerate?
I gave Pandemonium a whirl at my local gamestop: interesting graphics, but again, chuggy frame rate. Its got the potential to do some near PS1 stuff, but so far it chugs like a steam train.
The controls weren't too bad, as they were comfortable, and had no problem adjusting. Menus were easy to navigate,and it was easy to load up the game. I also found out that you can multi-task, so if you get a call when chugging away at Sonic N, you could pause with no fear of your progess being erased. Now if Sonic weren't reduced to a snail....
One could say that since these are ports of games that had their native hardware in mind, it could be just a technicality. If Nokia wants to stick around for more than a year, it will have to crank out original content that can doesn't stutter at 20-30 fps.
2) As an all-around cell-phone: Its actually pretty decent. Just don't leave your headset at home, or you'll be known as 'taco head'. It takes calls (duh!), has a decent radio, download ring tones that are high quality (My co-worker told me you can get lyrics to go along with it if you wish.), and can get images. My co-worker showed me everything from surrealist pictures, to NBA logos, to 'naughty' pics. He was unable to show me MP-3's as they required a seperate card that for some reason he was unable to find.
My Verdict: If you want a cell-phone that you don't mind being a little big and want extras, its a decent buy. A gamestop employee has said that doesn't use it for games as much, but it does everything else right. If you were looking for something that will complement your GBA collection, SKIP IT. Save the money, feed your self for a month, feed the homeless, just don't use it on the N-Gage. The Tapwave Zoidiac (or 'High-end Palm that plays high-end games') isn't that far off, maybe it will put up some stiff competition. The PSP is a year off, so use your imagination there.
While it didn't have the strongest launch (Probably the weakest launch of recent gaming history), hopefully some original content will take advantage of its strengths (Wireless gameplay). Other-wise, the Nokia PR who was trash talking during the summer will have to eat their words, and quit his day job. There's my impressions, thanks for reading this far!
P.S for more N-Gage fun, head on over to Gameinformer.com. Mr.Berghammer has put up his little piece called "N-Gage vs a taco." It will have you craving for some taco supremes!
Topic: Official Nokia N-Gage Discussion (Read 16444 times)
