Crash Bandicoot Smashes Onto the N-Gage Platform

First look here reveals that it's jerky and not at all smooth. Compared to the silky-smooth graphics-accelerated version of the same game on the iPhone, anyway. Yet more argument that Nokia should have gone down the 3D h/w route for both their devices and N-Gage games. Thumbs down from me, sorry, Nokia.

Works smooth enough on mine. Steve, I basically disagree: N Gage games have to work on pretty darn cheap phones. Nokia's target is global - i.e. countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil, China (China, btw, is their biggest market for N Series). They cannot bear the cost of 3D acceleration accross the whole range of N Gage. Sure, they could include it (an I am SURE they will) in some N Gage compatible phones but it cannot be a reference requirement - not yet. Comparing this to a $600 phone (well, actually, a $1500 phone once you are done with the contract) is not necessarily fair.. 😉

Really? Oh dear. The silly thing is that they have made a smooth accelerated version of this game for the S60 platform!

I suppose Vivendi got tired of waiting for Nokia to release the acceleration supported version of n-gage, or decided that as Nokia were no longer shipping handsets with 3D hardware, it wasn't worth it.

Do yourself a favour and get the s60 version.

Some advantages of using N-gage:
1) You get to pay more for the same thing
2) The app takes hours to launch, and several clicks are added to launch the game of your choice, so you can make yourself some coffee before you settle down with your favorite game
3) Experience the joys of random crashes every once in a while, as the still-unable app conflicts with various other apps on your system
4) No facility to place shortcuts of your favorite games on your desktop or main menu, something you could do with STUPID JAVA games
5) That broken yellow interface never fails to amaze
6) Dont confuse your mind with too many choices! Get one or two games a month, one or both of which are ports
7) Pay the price of Nokia's confusion with hardware gpu's in the form of extreme discomfort to your eyes as the games splutter, tear and slideshow
8) Experience the delight of games NOT rotating to landscape mode on N82 (which has a motion sensor for this purpose), and the same games in glorious landscape on N81.
9) Watch in amazement as a 'lowly', super-cheap handset like 5320 gets Ngage, and arm-and-leg costing sets like 6220 and 5800 don't

Just take a look at Assassin's Creed HD and tell me how that game isn't superior to ANYTHING offered by Ngage (except for Reset maybe). Spare yourself some pain, and get the .sis version floating around - you can play it on EVERY s60 phone (most of them anyway), and it will cost you less.

i like how resi degeneration never got a new item when it came out

Ok to be fair most of the n-gage games suck, but there are at least 4 must haves in my opinion and 3 of them came out very recently, a sign of things to come i hope. Reset Generation was excellent, then One showing that nokia can still make good games, then they got the big guns of konami and capcom in with metal gear solid and resident evil degeneration which are both amazing looking and playing games
This release im a little skeptical about as i already have the s60v3 version, but looking at the extra features added for n-gage (more characters and tracks, shadow racing on arena, 4 player bluetooth racing) might be worth a try. now if only nokia would stop downloading a corrupted installer to my phone i cud test it out

Is the S60 version better than the N Gage version on all phones (i.e. is the S60 better even on non-3D accelareted S60 phones)?

If not, then I think Vivendi is better off, for now, with having on N Gage (as well). Putting it on N Gage will almost automatically put it on the radar screen of tens of millions of phone owners, whereas just distributing it through Vivendi's own channels (or even through the Download!) requires a fairly "educated and active" consumer. If Download! becomes much better, then it could become a more viable and important distribution channel.

This may be a bit like the Beta vs. VHS (many of you, I guess 90% 😃, may be too young to remember that one) debate. In the end marketing muscle etc. determined the outcome, not the quality of the product. 😞

Why?

1) 3D Accelerated = smooth, sexy and at least on par with the iphone version
2) Portable = you can transport it to your next phone or your next firmware upgrade without having to worry about buying another copy of it
3) uses less memory = better performance and longer battery life
4) one click to launch game

Personally my opinion is that Gameloft makes some pretty shocking games. I have some theories that the NGAGE versions of their games are nothing more than Java conversions to install through NGAGE as such.

Now.. if ONLY they remade Creatures of the Deep with more locations (inc Australia'a Barrier reef), more fish, 3D Accelerated (important) AND accelerometer controlled (to pull the line to the left and right, up and down to reel in the fish).

mmm.. dreaming..

Im glad everyone here knows its just a regurgitation of the .sis game. Just like brothers in arms.

guys i'm just curious when will you put review up for resident evil ; degeneration ?
it's a great best out so far
i've played crash all the way through it runs very smooth the only time it is jerly is when your in trial and it the purchase window pops up apart from that game is great

Iv had the h/w accelerated version of Crash for a while now, but I bought the n-gage version as a trial simply b/c i wanted to use the gaming A buttons to play the game horizontally (both me on my couch and the screen orientation that is).

Honestly the gameplay is the same & both r fine, but visually its the difference between ur girlfriend coming to bed in either a builders outfit (no, no u dont find that sexy) or her finest lingerie. Both scenarios can produce children, but who likes making love to their special one whilst she's wearing a thick pea-green cardigan, a belt full of tools, & a massive yellow helmet? (Stop imagining it).

The graphics 'debate' is old hat now anyway. Nokia say h/w accel (and gps/accelerometer use) is in the new SDK so lets see if they deliver. For me N-gage2 has never rly left beta anyway, so lets see if Nokia can now deliver some new & exciting content, taking full account of a phone's specific hardware, in the new year.

MGS, R E Degeneration & Crash r lovely n all that, but what do they bring that's new to gaming..? Any of these games wouldve fit right in on a PS1 circa 1995. Let's hope production values in new games increase too.

Im not sure about all this, "oh well the games have to work on cheap phones in India and China too" malarkey. Why do the multitudes of higher end users from more affluent countries have to suffer crapper games as a consequence? Its a bit like taking a hit in the balls by the school bully just so the gonky kid with glasses can get his lunch.
Genuine apologies for not being very PC, but u catch my drift.

Anyway its Xmas eve & I need to tenderly caress a pint glass all day. Merry Christmas one and all 😊

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Robg79, sorta agree. Let me try to clarify what I tried to say. I did not mean that us fat wealthy northerners have to take the punishment of being good global citizens just for some vindaloo and naan munching shoeless Indians (no PC here either today 😃), but what I think Nokia is trying to do is to establish a huge global market place not currently served by others (let's face it, N Gage games are not likely to be able to consistently beat the socks of PSP or Nintendo games). Once they've secured that market, they can start serving more niche markets (such as us wealthy fat northerners; again, China is their biggest market for N SERIES so they have to serve and capture it first before worroying about us). The 3D etc support in the new developer kit is a step to that direction. But the N Gage _platform_ as such must have a global, broad reach to be able to really succeed and take a part of the market that others are not able to reach (yet). 😊

The new N-Gage, also referred to as N-Gage Next Gen, N-Gage 2.0 or the N-Gage platform/application, saw a change in concept as Nokia explained to the world during E3 2005 that they were planning on putting N-Gage inside several of their smartphone devices - rather than releasing a specific device (although their N81 model with its two dedicated gaming-buttons next to the screen is being marketed as a phone built for gaming). Working behind closed doors, it took a little more than a year before Nokia actually started showing off next-gen titles such as System Rush: Evolution and Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, with the fighting game ONE perhaps being the most visually impressive - even making use of motion capture.