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Wireless gaming review

Wireless Gaming Review

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WGR’s Mobile Phone Buying Guide

Letter From the Editor

Matthew Bellows

Welcome to Issue 3 of Wireless Gaming Review in EGM and CGW! By the time you read this, Nokia's N-Gage will be on sale everywhere, and TapWave's Zodiac will be available for order on the Web. Both are big developments. Nokia's launch is arguably the biggest event the handheld sector of the videogame world has ever seen.

As might be expected from two companies new to the videogame world, however, the weeks leading up to both platform launches were pretty rocky. At press time, neither Nokia nor TapWave could provide final builds for most of the games they planned to have ready at launch. We’ve seen what N-Gage Arena can do (http://www.wgamer.com/articles/ngage_arena.php), but only for Pandemonium. Nokia has been promising much more.

Over the next eight pages, we cover some of the best U.S. mobile games and phones. We talk with the guy who added the special mobile sauce to Tomb Raider, Tony Hawk, and Pandemonium. We get an early peek at Zodiac, the first Palm/Bluetooth videogame platform. And we review some of the coolest new mobile games available.

But for up-to-the-minute news on N-Gage, Zodiac, and the world of wireless games, you’ll have to go to our website: www.wgamer.com. And when you read our N-Gage and Zodiac coverage here, keep in mind that the people behind these platforms are new to gaming, and it might show for a bit.

ABOUT THIS SECTION

Wireless Gaming Review in EGM and CGW is produced by WGR Media to bring you news, reviews, and previews for the world of wireless games. Our editorial approach is simple: We write about the best of the best. There’s a lot of junk out there—we don’t want you to buy it. We do want to hear what you think, though, so please e-mail questions, comments, or advertising inquiries to Matthew Bellows at matthew@wgamer.com.

ABOUT THE COVER

Cover Art by Adam Hughes. Adam is represented by Top Cow (www.topcow.com). Top Cow is Marc Silvestri, Matt Hawkins, and a whole slew of megatalented individuals, all obsessed with putting out the coolest comic books on the market.

CONTRIBUTORS

Big thanks to everyone who made this section happen, especially Justin Hall (www.links.net); Cashman Andrus, technology editor; Avery Score, games editor; Amy Monaghan, copy editor; Jason Babler, lead designer; and Anne Marie Miguel, special ops.

The Wireless Gaming Review supplement to Electronic Gaming Monthly and Computer Gaming World is published four times per year (March, June, September, and December). For advertising information, please contact matthew@wgamer.com.

160

The page you’re reading

162

If You Can Wait: Rumored Phones for

the U.S.

166

Lara, Tony,

and Nikki Untethered: The Adrian Sack Interview

171 168

170

172

$4.28 35

HOW MANY GAMES? AND HOW MUCH?*

Average prices for mobile games and number of games per carrier

CARRIER 30 DAYS 60 DAYS UNLIMITED NO. GAMES

AT&T $2.74 $4.27 $4.19 301

Sprint $2.20 $2.97 $3.65 179

Cingular $3.97 166

Verizon $2.33 $5.14 142

Alltel $2.16 $4.69 124

Nextel $5.49 91

T-Mobile USA

* as of August 2003

Source: WGR’s Wireless Content Tracking Service

Wgr’s

Mobile Phone Buying Guide

At a loss for what to ask for this holiday season? Contract (finally) up? Or are you just ready for a new toy? Don’t settle for a lame phone—you can do better. To help, we’ve picked out the two best options from each carrier. Now you’ll know what to game on.

Prices will vary depending on carrier promotions, where you live, and the ferocity of your bargaining skills, so we can’t tell you exactly how much these phones will cost when you go shopping. But you can be sure that they’re all good choices for both talking and playing.

BY CASHMAN ANDRUS

AT&T

FIRST CLASS:

NOKIA 3650

Yeah, it’s on the large side and the keypad is whack, but the screen is awesome and the speedy processor means that games tuned for the 3650 are consistently slicker than the same titles on other phones. In fact, this is almost exactly the same hardware used on N-Gage. While it can’t actually run N-Gage ROMs, it does pretty much everything else and includes a camera, too.

http://wgamer.com/phone-52

ECONOMY:

MOTOROLA T721

Motorola’s T720 was the flagship phone when AT&T launched its downloadable-games service last year. The T721 is the same phone (with a slightly different faceplate), so you’re basically getting last year’s technology. On the plus side, there are a staggering number of games available.

http://wgamer.com/phone-150

CINGULAR

FIRST CLASS:

SONY ERICSSON T616

Sony Ericsson’s top-of-the-line phone manages to cram an amazing amount of stuff into a stylish little package. In addition to a camera, large color screen, infrared, and Bluetooth, there is support for not one, but two downloadable application platforms: J2ME and Mophun, which should keep you covered for games (at least until next year…).

http://wgamer.com/phone-130

ECONOMY:

NOKIA 3595

Just the basics, but it’s very well done. This phone is solid but not clunky, pleasant but not flashy, and it doesn’t bother with the extra features most people never use. Sound dull? It would be if it didn’t also come with a color screen, support for hundreds of J2ME games, and a price tag almost anyone can stomach.

http://wgamer.com/phone-144

If You Can Wait

New phones aren’t usually the best-kept secrets—from trade-show-booth workers to beta testers to the FCC, a lot of people know about new phones in advance. We’ve put our ears to the ground to find out what’s coming. All of these phones should appear around the end of the year, but no dates were confirmed at press time.

NOKIA 3200

High-end features move into the mass market, plus you can draw, paint, or print your own unique faceplates.

NEC 525

Wish you could get your hands on the same phones the Japanese get? Well, here’s one—sort of. This phone adds a built-in camera to the dedicated DoJa processor in its predecessor, the 515, and could appear on AT&T any day now.

PHONES IN THE PIPELINE HOT OFF THE RUMOR MILL

BY CASHMAN ANDRUS

SONY ERICSSON Z600

Sony Ericsson’s new top of the line is finally a flip phone. It also has more integrated features than anything you can buy yet, and a gamepad accessory that supports simultaneous key presses.

SPRINT

FIRST CLASS:

SAMSUNG VGA 1000

Yes, it has the impressive list of features we’ve come to expect from a Sprint Vision phone—big color screen, polyphonic sound, solid J2ME game support—but this clamshell phone also offers support for a clip-on gamepad accessory. There’s a sophisticated setup for the integrated camera: electronic flash, digital zoom, multishot mode, and editing options.

http://wgamer.com/phone-157

MOTOROLA V600

Do you like Motorola’s style but wish the T720 would finally stop getting rereleased as though it were a new phone? Relief is here. Quad band, integrated camera, and all the rest.

WIRELESS GAMING REVIEW

ECONOMY:

SANYO SCP-8100

Compared to the other Economy phones, this one feels a lot more like the top of the line—a beautiful screen, quality feel, and excellent gameplay features will keep you traveling in style. Unfortunately, you still have to shell out a few beans, even with a new contract, but you get more than your money’s worth.

http://wgamer.com/phone-137

T-MOBILE

FIRST CLASS:

NOKIA 6610

One of Nokia’s first color phones, the 6610 was a rare and expensive item just a few months ago. Though it’s been surpassed technologically, it is still a good all-around choice. The size and shape are pocket friendly, the features are good, and the build quality is very solid.

http://wgamer.com/phone-6

VERIZON

FIRST CLASS:

LG VX6000

From its curvy silhouette to the extracrisp color status screen, this phone is a thing of beauty. It’s got brains and brawn to back it up, too, with cutting-edge BREW 2.0 support to run the latest games from Verizon’s Get It Now service, a built-in camera, and all the features you’d expect from a top-shelf phone.

http://wgamer.com/phone-142

ECONOMY:

LG VX4400

It’s a bit of an ugly duckling compared to its sister phone, but the VX4400 still quacks with the best of them. You give up the camera and some of the sleekness, but you keep some dollars in your wallet. And because it’s been around longer, there are more games available—a perfect use for all the money you just saved.

http://wgamer.com/phone-89

ECONOMY:

SONY ERICSSON T300

With Mophun game support, a color screen, and simultaneous key-press support, some surprisingly good games are available on this phone. This is the handset that blazed a new trail for Sony Ericsson’s mainstream line. Several of the newer models are essentially this phone using different plastics, so you can pick your favorite or maybe save a few bucks by sticking with the original.