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All About N-Gage has posted their review of EA SPORTS™ FIFA 09, the new sports game from Electronic Arts for N-Gage. The author, Ewan Spence, finds some similarities to last year’s version but notices a major simplification of the control process. He also likes the improvements in the AI players:

“What does appear to have changed is the computer AI. There seems to be a much more intelligent opponent, able to position his (or her) players in better positions while defending, and able to move the ball around and read the tactical situation to a better extent than before.”

On the other hand, he doesn’t seem to think much of Scottish footballers.

Read the whole review here, and then be sure to try the game for yourself. Then come back here and tell us what you think of the game and the review.

S60 Reset Generation Ambassadors

Here is some news from s60.com you may be excited about:

“We are accepting Ambassadors for a new campaign supporting N-Gage Reset Generation. We have activation codes for the first 500 Ambassadors to who sign up for this campaign. We’ll also be giving away one copy of “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” for the next 12 weeks for each “Report of the Week”. And at the end of the campaign, the 50 most engaged Ambassadors will be rewarded with a Megapack of 10 N-Gage games.”

Hit the s60.com blog for more.

FIFA 09 Tourney Begins

Kick off and Win! Be sure to enter the FIFA 09 tournament which has just kicked off globally in conjunction with the launch of EA SPORTS FIFA ‘09 on N-Gage. There are tons of great prizes including a Nokia N85, signed footballer jerseys, and free games.

Dirk Dagger author interview

Pocket Gamer talks to writer Andrew Walsh, who authored the script for Dirk Dagger and the Fallen Idol. Here’s a snippet:

“It’s easy to write things that you find funny in the office but not elsewhere,” says Walsh. “That said, you have to start somewhere - if it made us laugh, it was a good start! A few of the wordplays and some language might get lost in translation, but a lot of it seems to have travelled really well.”

Read the rest.

Continuing our theme from yesterday’s post, here are more videos of game concepts from the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge competition that was recently concluded.

2nd prize Melokey

Second Prize was awarded to Melokey from Jadestone and C4M. Melokey was chosen for its potential to bring music and games to mobile devices with advanced social networking features. Melokey is a music game for mobile devices where players learn to master songs and play them against other in-game characters and competitors to win the hearts of fans.

Once they get the hang of how to master the play interface via the immersive single player campaign, they can start playing their own favorite music, not just on their own but together with friends.

“Melokey has a lot of depth, and the possibility to play music together with your friends takes the concept to another level,” said Ari Tulla, Nokia Games Publishing.

3rd prize Watchers

The third prize winner, Watchers from Eclipse Interactive. Watchers is a conspiracy adventure-themed game and is part of the new generation of games that are using location and context as an essential element.

The game will use Nokia Maps and other real-world tools to find the locations. The players must explore these locations to uncover clues and use all their wits and any means necessary to find out who they are, why they are trapped, and who is behind it all. Watchers is supported with episodic game play and offers players the chance to provide content to challenge other fellow conspiracy theorists.

“Watchers is full of mystery and it really delivers a full blown connected cross platform gaming experience,” said Ari Tulla, Nokia Games Publishing.

To learn more about the winners and the other entrants, visit the official competition site.

As we previously reported, Ghostwire, by A Different Game from Sweden, is the winner of the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge. Ghostwire is a casual collection and adventure game where players use the unique features of their mobile device to communicate with the world of ghosts.

Here are some videos featuring Ghostwire:

“This is a refreshing game that is truly ‘made-for-mobile’, using augmented reality in a different way. Your mobile phone helps you to discover and actually see a hidden world of mysteries and ghosts, to communicate with them, to collect them and, as the makers state, to give them peace.

“All judges agreed that this is a game they’d like to see progress.” said Maarten Noyons, founder and GM of the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) and head of the Mobile Games Innovation Channel judging panel.

“Ghostwire is a very intriguing concept which delivers the WOW Value!” Ari Tulla, Nokia Games Publishing. Find out more about the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge on the official site.

Platform: N-Gage

Reach: Global

*PEGI: is the The Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) age rating system established in 2003 to help parents make informed decisions on buying games.

Step onto the pitch in EA SPORTS™ FIFA 09! Pass, tackle and shoot your way to victory with real football action. Control the action with Side-On View and precision passing. Execute 1-2 passes, crosses, and triangle pass plays. Set up headers and volleys. Choose Season or beat the odds in Challenge.

FIFA 09 is now available within the N-Gage application. Navigate to the Showroom tab, select ‘Update Now’ from the Options menu, and download the game. You may also download the free trial or purchase the frull version from the Web Showroom.

Learn about the upcoming N-Gage game Yamake through the wonderful medium of short film. In the clip below, we are told, “Two Yamakes are floating in the air playing. They realize that it’s possible to mould different things of their circus balls. A funny and weird process begins.”

Yamake Shortfilm from Yamake on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

What a busy week here at N-Gage! Two new devices were added to the lineup, the fighting game ONE topped the charts for the second week in a row, I put up some ONE wallpapers (which sparked an interesting discussion about what weapons the characters were holding), and a whole lot more.

So why not end the week in style, with another new game announcement! This time its Mega Monsters, a new first party game from Nokia games publishing.

From the official release:

“Mega Monsters features rich 3D graphics with a fully destructible environment where players can destroy anything in their path. While on the rampage, players must ensure their Mega Monster destroys selected targets and can pick up dozens of special items, including clothing and other items, to add character to their creature. Each Mega Monster develops its abilities, powers and appearance as it progresses through different missions, and can also gain new powers by hooking up with other Mega Monsters”

The game is being developed in Australia by Firemint and should be available in 2009.

Continuing our efforts to bring the N-Gage application to as compatible devices, we are pleased to now offer support for the Nokia N78 and the Nokia 6210 Navigator.

Nokia N78 owners, please go here to find the new N-Gage application for download, while 6210 Navigator owners should head here.

The Yamake Art Project has officially kicked-off with the launch of its website.

Some 50 designers and artists from various corners of the world have customized Yamake designer toys to be shown online and in a London, UK art exhibition “House of Yamake” later this month.

The website acts as a hub for these designers and artists to share their Yamake designs and interact with fans, and also gives the opportunity for everyone to customize their own Yamake using flash tool and downloading their own creation for their own use, for example as their personal N-Gage Arena avatar.

Yamake for N-Gage is all about ‘Play, Make, Share’ - it’s easy and fun to play, make and share content from pictures, video clips, and sound files on the mobile device - and this philosophy is reflected throughout the project.

The customized toys will be on display on November 20-23 at an art exhibition in London, UK entitled “House of Yamake”. Proceeds of the sales will go to the designers and artists to support future creative works.

Art Exhibition titled “House of Yamake”
November 20-23, Apart Gallery