Next Gen Hors D'oeuvre 5: Mau Mau

We used to play this at school 16 years ago but I've got no idea what we called it back then. Once you grasped which cards did what it was great fun and there is a tactical element too when you get down to your last two cards and need to decide which order you will most likely be able to put them down.

As far as future Horses Doovries go - will any of the games from Noumena get a mention? I don't know if they have S60 v3 versions but if so they are some great games.

Neil

Mau Mau is a great game, isn't it? It's also got that "one more go" element, if you lose you really think you can win next time, especially if you're playing for overall points.

I still play real life Uno from time to time, there's a pack on the table as I write this. It's so easy to learn that it's very good to play with friends.

"As far as future Horses Doovries go - will any of the games from Noumena get a mention? I don't know if they have S60 v3 versions but if so they are some great games."

The problem is, All About N-Gage is meant to be for Next Gen N-Gage compatible phones, so we'll be sticking to S60 3rd games. S60 1st/2nd games would be more suited to All About Symbian.

The idea of these articles is to suggest some games to play while they're waiting for the next gen platform to go live.

Krisse, if that's the intended focus of Allaboutngage (i.e. N-Gage games AND 3rd generation S60 games; or put differently: ONLY those games), you may want to state it somewhere on the main page. And also state that there are many great Java games that will also run on the N-Gage compatible phones. Otherwise it is indeed slightly confusing for a casual reader. 😊

"Krisse, if that's the intended focus of Allaboutngage (i.e. N-Gage games AND 3rd generation S60 games; or put differently: ONLY those games), you may want to state it somewhere on the main page."

The focus is on Next Gen N-Gage phones. S60 1st/2nd games don't run on Next Gen N-Gage phones so there's not much point in mentioning them here. I think people would find it rather confusing to see All About N-Gage articles about games which don't actually run on N-Gage phones.

The idea is that people buy an N-Gage phone, then they come here to see news about the games, and what other cool stuff they can do with their phones.

We can't just run it like All About Symbian, because N-Gage is aimed at a very wide audience. Anyone who buys an N-Gage phone after the launch will see the N-Gage icon on the desktop. It's probably going to be a well-known brand if the compatible phones sell well after launch, not just among tech fans but anyone who buys certain Nokia smartphones.

Symbian and S60 aren't well known brands though, they are never really mentioned in the phone interface or on the packaging, so most people probably won't know what Symbian or S60 is, even if they own a Symbian S60 phone. All About Symbian's visitors must be fairly knowledgeable about phone technology simply because they do know what Symbian is.

"And also state that there are many great Java games that will also run on the N-Gage compatible phones."

...and Flash games, and emulated games. We have actually done that in the FAQ, as well as explaining what Symbian and S60 are, and we've given the FAQ a permanent link on the front page.

If Java games are good and easily available, you're quite right that we ought to mention them as well.

The trouble with Java games is that their distribution is often very messy compared to N-Gage or S60. If we're just talking about legal purchases, it's often unclear exactly where you get a Java game, and you often have to go through a particular network operator in a particular country. Sometimes the same game is released under several different names, and in many different versions to match different phone hardware. Also, there's such a vast quantity of Java games out there that it's tricky to keep track of the quality items. All this makes it difficult for us to tell people which games to buy, or how to purchase the game. Java is a bit too splintered.

N-Gage and S60 games are released a lot more like PC and console games, their distribution channels are a lot clearer, there's usually just one version of a game, the game is released under one name, and there's a more manageable number of titles to choose from. In the case of N-Gage there's also a quality control system where truly terrible games don't get released.

"Otherwise it is indeed slightly confusing for a casual reader. 😊"

I think most casual readers would probably come here expecting N-Gage games and nothing else. If we can also tell them about other games they can play on their phones, and some apps too, then that's going to provide more than they were expecting.

Thanks for the comments but they still don't answer the question - do the games from Noumena Innovations run on S60 v3 phones? I thought maybe there was a new version of their Magic Game Station which would make it possible. Does anyone know for sure?

Neil

"Thanks for the comments but they still don't answer the question - do the games from Noumena Innovations run on S60 v3 phones? I thought maybe there was a new version of their Magic Game Station which would make it possible. Does anyone know for sure?"

Oh I see what you mean now! Sorry, I totally misread your original post.

As far as I can tell, there are no S60 3rd games from Noumena. Their website still has copyright 2004 on it, which pre-dates S60 3rd, and there's been no recent updates to the content.

In fact it's as if Noumena have shut down completely. I do hope I'm wrong about that, but that's how it seems from the website.

Hi Krisse,

That's how it looks to me too. So I sent their support address an email yesterday to find out - no reply yet but if I hear anything I'll let you know.

Neil