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N-Gage as a home gaming system using TV Out

44 replies · 12,234 views · Started 30 July 2008

Something I had almost forgotten about and haven't got around to trying yet is a little program called mobiPad, anyone here tried it?

http://www.mobi-pad.com/info.html


What is mobiPad?

Using mobiPad, you can control your entire mobile phone with the game controller of the Nintendo Wii (TM). Use it to play games or as a remote control for the media player on your S60 or UIQ device - the wireless gamepad is always an ergonomic way to interact. You can finally play standard games on touchscreen devices and no longer have to worry about buttons that are close together - and all this without buying a dedicated mobile games controller that you could not use for anything else!

Sounds quite interesting, especially if you're a Wii owner so have a Wii remote knocking around, could be a nice little solution for tv gaming while away from the home.

Interesting!

I don't have a Wii controller myself but can someone try this out who does? It should work on any S60 phone so that includes all N-Gage-compatible devices.

Tzer2 wrote:Interesting!

I don't have a Wii controller myself but can someone try this out who does? It should work on any S60 phone so that includes all N-Gage-compatible devices.

I'll see if I can get around to testing it later, will let you know how I get on:icon14:

Tetlee wrote:I'll see if I can get around to testing it later, will let you know how I get on:icon14:

Please do, that would be VERY interesting.

You might want to test it with Snakes through TV Out, that works well with a Bluetooth keyboard so (in theory) it should work well with the Wii controller.

Tzer2 wrote:You might want to test it with Snakes through TV Out, that works well with a Bluetooth keyboard so (in theory) it should work well with the Wii controller.

Good idea, will have to reinstall it, wiped my memory card the other day as had to use the phone for quite a long video so wanted all the space available.

Looks like I have my mission for this evening.

EDIT: I can't find where to download Snakes now, if I go to the Nokia UK site, I can find it there, but when I click the download now, it gives me the user agreement with nowhere to click and confirm download, am I being stupid here?

2nd Edit: Got it now, found it via an AAS link😊, this time the missing clicky was there under the terms of agreement

macwhu wrote:PS2: ssx, tekken tag, ridge racer V, timesplitters.
DS: mario, wario ware - weaker - but backwards compatible with GBA
so it was an upgrade route.

None of those titles are among the strong titles that PS2 or DS offer today. They are pretty much forgotten, as are most launch titles.

macwhu wrote:i downloaded pro golf demo
and its nice enough - a bit like an amiga golf game from 7 or 8 years ago
but perfectly playable and fun

PGA European Tour is probably the best golf game for the Amiga, and it's not 7 or 8 years old, but rather 14 years old. And it's a lot less advanced than Pro Series Golf.

Tzer2 wrote:
On the narrative issue... you want narrative on a gameplay video? 😉

First hit on google for narrative...."A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written, spoken, poetry, prose, images, song, theater, or dance) "

All those words that eventually popped up while we had to watch things load, options selected, (marvel as a keyboard is unfolded!) etc were too widely spaced, with some judicious editing that could have been half as long and just as informative. 3:12 to get to some gameplay footage is truly self indulgent! Once in the gameplay section it was interesting and the music got a lot better lol

Other things I'd like to have seen touched on were using the free options for input e.g. RockNscroll/nokmote, the sound quality as I can't hear it over the muzak (sic) supplied and the future potential for the 3d chip upscaling to higher resolutions in future firmware releases/ graphics chip revisions. I think the ability to run a half way decent resolution would give ngage some real credibility as a big screen gaming option.

Tzer2 wrote:Interesting!

I don't have a Wii controller myself but can someone try this out who does? It should work on any S60 phone so that includes all N-Gage-compatible devices.

Ok, have tested it out and it works very well, not to mention being very simple to set up.

Only issue at present is that it the controller configuration is set to portrait mode & are not re-configrable to landscape, this means when playing games in landscpae mode, left & right become up & down on the Wii remote d-pad(hope that makes sense). Perhaps the MobiPad team will fix this in future as I noticed the following comment on their website:

Can i define the keys myself?

No, not in this version.

By the way, the remote works best pointed at the screen like a tv remote, the 1 button works in place of the centre pad button on the phone. Obviously as with the comments about landscape above, you can use the remote held sideways like a NES pad, but the configuration will not be correct that way around.

Anyway, thought I'd go the whole hog and do a little video for you, it's only filmed on my W800 so quality isn't good, add to that I'm not very good at video, espeically one handed while trying to demonstrate something else in the other:redface:

Should give you the idea though, here you go...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPxePUL7bRI

In the video, due to filming in the other hand it's a bit fiddly pressing the 1 button, but with both hands free it's very natural using the remote with both games tested, the missus is still playing S-Tris now!

EDIT: Oh, one last comment, while I was obviously right in front of the tv for the video, the actual range is very good(same as with the Wii console), can sit back and relax playing the games😊

Unregistered wrote:First hit on google for narrative...."A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written, spoken, poetry, prose, images, song, theater, or dance) "

I know what narrative means, I did english lit at university, I'm just not sure why you want to apply it to technology demo videos.

Do you look for narrative in DVD player manuals and cereal ingredients lists? Bus timetables? Wardrobe assembly instructions?

The narrative is: plug the phone into the TV, switch on the keyboard, play the games.

The unfolding of the keyboard which you made fun of is to show just how portable Bluetooth keyboards are. If you've used one you'll know this, but most people haven't used one and often assume a full-size keyboard is too big to carry in a pocket.

All those words that eventually popped up while we had to watch things load were too widely spaced, with some judicious editing that could have been half as long and just as informative.

I don't have any control over loading times, if Ovi is slow then it's slow. As I said you can use YouTube instead, and vice versa.

The reason the words are there is to make it easier to understand for people who don't speak english.

The vast majority of people who use N-Gage and Nokia phones are from outside English-speaking countries. I know from direct feedback that many such people find it difficult to understand a narrator or dense text. They find it easier to understand simple written english, just as anyone would when encountering a foreign language.

3:12 to get to some gameplay footage is truly self indulgent!

I don't know why I bother really, there's always someone who finds something to complain about.

This video took me about six hours to do including the filming, editing, rendering and uploading, and you're getting it for free. It took ages just to get the TV to show up on the video camera properly.

You could at least be a bit more constructive in your criticism and a bit more appreciative of other people's labours, especially when you've paid nothing for it.

Other things I'd like to have seen touched on were using the free options for input e.g. RockNscroll/nokmote

It's just meant to be a simple demo video for one specific technology which many people are unaware of. We're not a TV company, we don't get any kind of income from any of these videos, we don't have any professional video-making equipment.

But there's actually a good reason for keeping technologies separate which is that it's easier to update separate videos. If the method for doing TV Out changes (for example there has been talk of doing it wirelessly), this is the only video that needs to be redone.

the sound quality as I can't hear it over the muzak (sic) supplied

There is no sound from the gameplay as my all-I-can-afford camcorder isn't good at picking up ambient noise, it has a constant buzzing when using its microphones. In any case, compilations of short clips from games is much better with one soundtrack over it instead of brief snatches from the games themselves.

and the future potential for the 3d chip upscaling to higher resolutions in future firmware releases/ graphics chip revisions.

How on earth is ANYONE meant to do THAT on a YouTube video?

if i was running this site i'd take off Unregistered comment's so people could'nt be critical anonymously whilst showing a lack of appreciation for the good work you do.
but i guess your more patient with people than me.

Keep up the good work TyZer2 this video would of been very helpful for lot's of people who had no idea of TV-out and that was your main target to make people aware of the feature which you did very good
you even got me playing around with it again and i've used it many times with n-gage games before

Tetlee,

Apologies for ignoring your great post.

Thanks for testing this, and actually doing a video too! Don't worry about the quality, at least we could see it working and roughly how it works.

So if I've got this right, you control the phone with the d-pad and buttons of the Wii controller? There's no tilting involved in this?

I've dropped a line to someone at AAS who has a Wii, we might do an article on this some time next week.

ccraig wrote:if i was running this site i'd take off Unregistered comment's so people could'nt be critical anonymously whilst showing a lack of appreciation for the good work you do.

I don't mind criticism, but I do respond to it! 😊

Seriously though, we don't censor anything on AAN or AAS, unless it's stuff like links to pirated software or a personal attack on someone or just gibberish without any meaning. Unregistered's comments were about the video rather than any person so they were perfectly legitimate as comments. I don't agree with them of course but that's a side issue.

Allowing or not allowing anonymous comments is up to Rafe (he's the owner of these sites) but I think he allows them so that people can comment without feeling they have to give any personal details.

Tzer2 wrote:So if I've got this right, you control the phone with the d-pad and buttons of the Wii controller? There's no tilting involved in this?

I've dropped a line to someone at AAS who has a Wii, we might do an article on this some time next week.

Glad you could at least get an idea with the video, think it came through at about 2 frames per second, lol. The N93 would have been first choice as video camera but was a bit tied up😉

Yes, you got that right, no tilting what so ever, the remote just takes over the roll of phone d-pad and main action buttons. Actually games aside it's also a great little remote for showing photos etc. from the confort of the sofa(you probably noticed you can also navigate the phone menus etc. with the remote), usually when I do this to show friends & family I have to sit on the floor in front the tv so this acts as a fantastic and simple media remote.

Certianly something I will be using again many times in the future, great little app!

Will look forward to seeing the AAS article next week if you get it done, will be alot more profesional than my little effort that's for sure😊

Tetlee wrote: Actually games aside it's also a great little remote for showing photos etc. from the confort of the sofa(you probably noticed you can also navigate the phone menus etc. with the remote), usually when I do this to show friends & family I have to sit on the floor in front the tv so this acts as a fantastic and simple media remote.

Certianly something I will be using again many times in the future, great little app!

That is very very interesting, that it's useful for stuff beyond gaming.

When I did an editorial a while ago suggesting that Nokia do a bluetooth gaming control, I'd suggested that they could call it a "media controller" if they wanted to disguise its gaming nature. From what you've said, it sounds like that's actually quite a good use for a bluetooth controller!

By the way I got a reply from the Zeemote people, apparently it doesn't work on existing games, it will only work with specially-written games.