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March 1st, 2005, 20:13 Posted By: wraggster
The Tapwave Zodiac gets a nice slice of MAME Action with the release of PMAME thanks to Vilmos, this release supports 100s of games, download from Here.
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March 3rd, 2005, 01:50 Posted By: wraggster
Squidge has updated the Commodore 64 emulator for the Tapwave Zodiac with a new release, cant say whats new but download and try for yourself by downloading Here.
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March 5th, 2005, 01:17 Posted By: wraggster
It's official: the Gizmondo will be available to buy in the UK from 19 March 2005. Then, you'll be able to buy one from any Gizmondo retail partner, or from the brand new Gizmondo flagship store on London's Regent Street, which opens its doors for trading on that day. [br][br]The Gizmondo will be available for GBP229 (inc VAT) and will ship with a charger, a contract-free SIM card, an SD card with music, movie and games demos, in-ear headphones, driver software and as USB cable. Gizmondo games will cost GBP9.99, GBP19.99 and GBP29.99. [br][br]"Gizmondo is the British challenger in a market that will witness a spectacular boom this year," commented Carl Freer, Gizmondo Europe MD. "We've been able to introduce exciting new features like GPS into gaming, and with such a remarkable list of features, the Gizmondo is the most powerful, feature-laden piece of multi-entertainment hardware available."
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March 5th, 2005, 01:18 Posted By: wraggster
Joystiq has commentary on the possibility that Nokia plans to keep the N-Gage around for the forseeable future. We've previously discussed the waning N-Gage market impact, but with statements like "Our approach to this is, let’s continue to take what we’ve learned, what we’ve done right, and where we need to make corrections, and that’s in retail, in games development and in the deck itself...", it's possible that Nokia plans to try another iteration of the cell phone/game deck.
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March 5th, 2005, 05:05 Posted By: Reclipse
i have an original n-gage My problem is every time I try to turn on bluetooth it says system error-- it was working a week ago--- any tips -- I have a 512 card on there (when I take it out it doesnt change anything) I took it out and restored factory settings and it did nothing
Please Help
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March 5th, 2005, 13:33 Posted By: wraggster
Steve has once again updated the port of DarcNes the Nes Emulator to the UIQ series of Mobile Phones, heres whats new in this release:[br][br]Release with functional sound [br]The sound control in the option dialog is also functional [br] [br][br]Download Here
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March 7th, 2005, 08:34 Posted By: wraggster
YoyoFr has released his port of Quake 1 for the Tapwave Zodiac Console, heres whats new in this release:[br][br] stability increased [br]configurable resolution : 240x160, 320x240, 480x320 [br]now compile as a PNO, so PalmOS compatible (not zodiac specific anymore). [br]configurable input [br]WARNING pak files from original quake have to go in /PALM/Programs/ZQuake/ID1 [br]preliminary (buggy) support for modified game : put your pak files in a subdirectories (ex: Zquake/Rally/...). [br][br] Download HERE
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March 7th, 2005, 08:39 Posted By: wraggster
YoyoFr has released his port of Doom for the Tapwave Zodiac Console, heres whats new in this release:[br][br] requirements : PalmOS 5, hires or hores+, 8MB of dynamic ram (use UDMH is you are running short of it). [br]based on linuxdoom, prboom & timidity for music support. [br]tested on the following WAD files : Doom II, Doom I shareware. Should work with other iwad files too. [br]pwad are supported, tested on halflife doom (gp32 version). [br]configurable input. [br]save/load games. [br][br] Download HERE
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March 7th, 2005, 08:40 Posted By: wraggster
YoyoFr has released his port of Hexen for the Tapwave Zodiac Console, heres whats new in this release:[br][br] requirements : PalmOS 5, hires or hores+, 8MB of dynamic ram (use UDMH is you are running short of it). [br]based on u-hexen (SDL port of Hexen). [br]tested on the shareware and the commercial version. [br]pwad are supported but not tested. [br]configurable input. [br]save/load games. [br][br] Download HERE
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March 8th, 2005, 02:40 Posted By: wraggster
Vilmos updated his port of MAME that works on the Tapwave Zodiac console and Pocket PCs to v009, heres whats new:[br][br] The loader is spiffed up a bit. (Thanks Antiriad!) You also return to the search you had previously entered. I also fixed a memory leak.[br]Core: Got more games working and made a change to screen size. Some games had double size in one direction. So I've changed it so that the display is made from the visible screen size. This seems to work well, I didn't find any games broken because of it but there must be some! [br][br]Download Here
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March 8th, 2005, 18:37 Posted By: wraggster
Multi-entertainment handheld Gizmondo will launch on 19th March in the UK, the company has confirmed today.[br][br]The talented machine, which can be used as a phone and comes with a contract-free SIM card, will retail at £229 and will mainly be available from Gizmondo's flagship London store, at 175 Regent Street.[br][br]"Gizmondo is the British challenger in a market that will witness a spectacular boom this year," said Carl Freer, Gizmondo's MD. "We've been able to introduce exciting new features like GPS into gaming, and with such a remarkable list of features, the Gizmondo is the most powerful, feature-laden piece of multi-entertainment hardware available."[br][br]Games, including Conflict: Vietnam and Richard Burns Rally, will cost between £9.99 and £29.99.[br][br]Running on WindowsCE, Gizmondo sports a range of features including MMS, a camera, GPRS networking, an MP3 player and MPEG-4 movie playback. It even contains a GPS chip.[br][br]But despite the feature-heavy spec of the machine, Gizmondo is facing very high profile competition, certainly in gaming terms, from the release this week of Nintendo DS and the upcoming launch of PSP in Europe.[br][br]We'll have more in Gizmondo's launch next week.
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March 8th, 2005, 18:41 Posted By: wraggster
When it comes to mobile games, the traditional publishers have been selective about their commitment of resources. Primarily, the way into the mobile space has been via partnerships, licensing agreements, or timid toe-dipping via internally created product. [br][br][br]Today, during his GDC Mobile keynote address, John Batter--the former general manager of Electronic Arts' Los Angeles studio who last year segued into his current position as EA Mobile GM--put the industry on notice of EA commitment to dive into the mobile sector. [br][br]"The last time you checked, EA wasn't in the business," Batter said. But after "dipping our toes" in the sector via two internally produced mobile titles, Tiger Woods and FIFA products, the shrinkwrap powerhouse is ready to implement an aggressive strategy, according to Batter. [br][br]The most tangible evidence of that strategy is the upcoming internally produced mobile title, Need For Speed Underground, the first game in a flight of an unspecified number of mobile games that will tap between 15 and 20 additional Electronic Arts franchises this year. Bottom line, dozens of EA products are on the way. [br][br]"Community and quality will drive growth" for Electronic Arts in the mobile space, Batter told an audience of about 700 attendees that packed an enormous conference room at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center. [br][br]Introduced by GDC Mobile Symposium co-chair, Robert Tercek, the chief marketing officer mobile game publisher Mforma, what Batter had to say was both encouraging and provocative. [br][br]"When the consumer loves what we're doing, we're all going to make a ton of money," he said at one point in the presentation. Of course, what many in attendance recognized is when EA enters a market, they don't always do it to create benefit for all; they often do so to dominate. [br][br]"They are moving in [to the mobile sector] and it's going to change everything," one small-sized mobile game developer said on the condition of anonymity. Another comment, from a high-ranking official of a triple-A publisher expressed awe at the strategic perspective Batter revealed. "I'm impressed with their understanding of what it takes to succeed," the executive said. [br][br]Long-known as consummate strategists, Batter said EA would apply what it had learned in the traditional marketplace to mobile. The focus will be on services; community, via enabling a shared experience through the game; the addressing of digital rights management (DRM) issues; and an ongoing connection with the consumer via a dedicated live team who would design and implement new content and provide ongoing customer service. [br][br]"We will be franchise-focused and connected, allowing the consumer to interact anytime, anyplace," Batter said. "It's not about genre," he added, "but about building a community around a franchise consumers are passionate about." [br][br]Batter said he expects PSP-like quality on mobile handsets in 2006 or 2007 at the latest, and is focused on extending the game experience EA is known for--exemplified by what he calls "the Madden Experience," to pull one gem out of his hat--and extend it across all platforms, including mobile. [br][br]Overall, Batter is intent on building out his now 30-plus person department and focusing on delivering "quality content to a new platform." With EA's bankroll, as well as its suite of franchises waiting to make it to mobile handsets, he has an opportunity to make quite an entrance.
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March 15th, 2005, 18:09 Posted By: wraggster
The N-Gage QD is to drop in price to $99.99 in the United States, Nokia has today announced, in an effort to make the system more attractive to consumers in the region - which has so far been the toughest for the N-Gage products to crack.
As well as the fall in the price of the hardware, Nokia has also taken the more unusual step of dropping software prices, with new titles now set to appear at $14.99 to $24.99 - far cheaper than most games for other handheld consoles, and close to being competitive with high-end downloaded games.
Speaking to news agency Reuters at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week, Nokia's director and general manager of the games business, Gerard Wiener, revealed that the firm is also considering a second redesign to the hardware.
"We're looking at new colours, a new look and feel for the QD in the next few months," he admitted, going on to say that the firm is also working on brand new N-Gage designs and that the future of the platform may involve versions which talk to high-speed CDMA mobile phone networks.
Despite putting significant weight behind the launch of the original device, and responding quickly to consumer feedback by launching the much-improved N-Gage QD handset within a matter of months, Nokia has had very limited success with N-Gage - selling only 1.5 million units of the platform worldwide to date.
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March 18th, 2005, 22:55 Posted By: wraggster
After months of rumours, a 'soft' launch last October and a barrage of mysterious advertising on television and the internet, it has finally been released. Almost.
Gizmondo goes on sale tomorrow in the UK. Tiger Telematics' pretender to the handheld gaming throne has certainly had an interesting run up to launch, not least because it's been an absolute nightmare for anyone to get their hands on a unit, thus limiting the kind of coverage websites and magazines can give it.
This has led to all sorts of reactions. "It must be rubbish," we've heard, as well as "It could be great...". Add in some of the rumours that have been circulating - including the famous 'Halo coming to Gizmondo' episode - and you've got one of the most enigmatic, if not high-profile, handheld launches ever.
Well, we finally got hands-on with Gizmondo yesterday. It was an extremely interesting experience. Since we won't get a full review unit until after the launch tomorrow we'll hold off on an in-depth dissection of the handheld, but we thought we'd offer some first impressions just in case you've got 229 burning a hole in your pocket.
That's how much a Gizmondo will set you back. It's a difficult pricepoint, especially coming so close after Nintendo's sub-100 DS launch last week. At least you get plenty for your cash: Gizmondo is the classic jack of all trades. As well as playing games on it's 2.8" LCD screen the Giz handles MP3 music and MPEG 4 movie files and comes complete with a digital camera, Global Positioning software, and GPRS and Bluetooth connectivity for email, downloads and wireless multiplayer gaming. SD cards are used to store and transfer data, and there's also a USB connection.
Jack of all trades, but master of... well? It certainly feels nice, and looks much, much better than we expected. It's smaller and thinner than you'd expect, and fits into your hands with a far more ergonomic snugness than Nintendo's DS. The D-pad in particular feels smooth and accurate under your finger, while the face buttons and strangely erect shoulder buttons are as comfortable as you'd hope for portable gaming.
The rubberised exterior is pleasing to hold and also inspires a fair bit of confidence. We wouldn't expect to see the chips, scrapes and flakes afflicting our DS and PSP causing the Gizmondo many problems.
Of course, it's nowhere near as cool looking as the PSP, but it is far more practical if you're chucking it in your bag or lugging it in a pocket populated by spiky keys and coins.
The operating system at Gizmondo's front end is equally surprising. Attractive and easy to use, the Windows CE-powered OS is quick and clear. You can access all your data from this one central hub, and quick SD card switching means you're never more than five seconds from your film, music or game.
Music playback is solid enough, but on first glance it doesn't seem that there's a great deal of features other than pressing play and listening. We're told that Gizmondo has a 20 percent better bit rate than Apple's iPod, which is nice, although you're unlikely to notice the difference unless you've got ears like satellite dishes.
We were pretty impressed by the movie playback. Watching snatches of I, Robot was pleasant enough, even if the screen isn't as impressive as the PSP's. Still, for movies on the move Gizmondo looks like it'll do a functional, if unspectacular, job.
But let's be honest - for Gizmondo, it's the games that will make or break it. While the system seems to be set up quite nicely for playing them, we worry that there won't be enough big or impressive titles available. We had a little pop on Trailblazer (a puzzle/racer hybrid based on an eighties arcade game), a preview version of Richard Burns Rally and the original Sonic The Hedgehog drawn from the Sega Classics Pack. All were fine as far as they go, but it's not Metal Gear Acid or Wario Ware, is it?
One title that does interest us is Colors, a gang-based shooter that draws on the Gizmondo's GPS system (which can also be used to find your position, tell you your nearest, say, hotel, and even alert the authorities if you get yourself snatched). The idea is that you set a GeoFence around your house, and every time someone blunders into that area with a Gizmondo and a copy of Colors you fight them wirelessly. In theory it's a great idea. In practice it sounds a little ambitious. For one thing, it's unlikely we'd drag our arses off the couch to 'invade' someone else's territory, but then it is a portable system.
With a solid game line-up Gizmondo could do alright, but it doesn't have it yet. The launch line-up is especially sparse, with only the Fathammer Classics Pack available tomorrow. That worries us. It's certainly a nice little piece of kit, and much more covetable than we expected, but it needs a lot of things to go its way before it's going to get close to muscling in on DS, PSP or iPod.
Once we get our review unit we'll give you a more detailed account of whether Gizmondo deserves to have things go its way. Until then, you can go and check it our for yourself from tomorrow at the Gizmondo Store on London's Regent Street or at Toys R Us and John Lewis shops around the UK.
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March 19th, 2005, 00:43 Posted By: wraggster
Fangorn has released v1.0 of his Spectrum emulator for the Tapwave Zodiac, heres whats in this release:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Features:
Emulates the 48k, 128K and Plus2 hardware, running at full speed
Supports images SNA, Z80, TAP, SP, TZX (limited).
Displays SCRshots.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Download <a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/zpectrum.shtml" target="_blank" >Here</a>.
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March 19th, 2005, 12:11 Posted By: wraggster
The Nes Emulator for the Nokia N-Gage and Other Series 60 Phones has been updated, heres whats new:
<BLOCKQUOTE> - Speed up!
- Faster interpolation way
- More mappers and more roms
- Language pack support
- Siemens SX1 and SendoX support
- Scroll key in full screen mode
- Mapper 90,245 support </BLOCKQUOTE>
Download <a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/vnes.shtml" target="_blank" >Here</a>
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March 19th, 2005, 12:18 Posted By: wraggster
The Gameboy Emulator for the Nokia N-Gage and Other Series 60 Phones has been updated, heres whats new:
<BLOCKQUOTE> Speed up!
- Greater roms compatibility
- Big rom zip support
- Siemens SX1 and SendoX support
- Speed control
- Full screen option
- Save game picture as BMP
- Record game sound as WAV
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Download <a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/vboy.shtml" target="_blank" >Here</a>.
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March 19th, 2005, 13:35 Posted By: Maalak
You can download the new version here :
http://www.wildpalm.co.uk/SuperGoBoy.html
* Emulates all GameBoy and GameBoy Color roms
* Full quality sound support, with volume control
* Runs games directly from Inbox
* Automatically run games from ZIP or RAR files
* Games run at full speed on all phones
* Speed selection - to speed up or slow down games
* Save/load game support
* AutoSave - never lose game progress again!
* Fully definable keys
* Hotswap A/B buttons
* Send games to your friends via IR or Bluetooth
* Full 'skin' support
* Comes with 'JetPak DX' public domain game installed
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March 21st, 2005, 18:10 Posted By: wraggster
Not only is it not EOL for the N-Gage (remember: it still exists), but there’s some word on the street (more like back alley, but hey) about the specs for its possible next revision. A lot of the alleged features tip into some obscure hardware mumbo-jumbo that we can’t guarantee either ArcadeStation or perhaps even Nokia just invented out of thin air (you know how we love these purely speculative rumors), but click on for the run-down regardless.
OMAP Full Compatibility
90-nm CMOS System-on-a-Chip OMAP2420
330-MHz Central Core with Floating Point Unit ARM1136JS-F
220-MHz Digital Signal Processor for Audio TMS320C55x
Video Playback and Image Display Imaging Video Accelerator
VGA 30-fps Encode/Decode Full-Motion Video
2D/3D Graphics Accelerator with SIMD Co-Processor PowerVR MBX with VGP
TBDR (Tile Based Deferred Rendering)
200Mhz clock speed
640x480 VGA Resolution
360Mpixels, 2xOverdraw = 720Mpixels, 3xOverdraw = 1.08Gpixels
ITC™ - PowerVR Internal True Colour - 32-Bit Blending and Depth Test Precision Independent from Buffer Depth
FSAA4Free™ - Supersampling Full-Screen Anti-Aliasing With No Performance Lose
DOT3 Per-Pixel Lighting Support
Spherical Harmonics Lighting Support
Bilinear, Trilinear, Anisotropic Texture Filtering Support
Vertex Shader 1.1 Programmability with Skinning
Curved Surface Processing with Fractional Tessellation and Support for Differing Levels-of-Detail on Neighboring Patch Edges
PVR-TC (PowerVR Texture Compression)
Multi-Texturing
Fully Programmable 3D T&L (Transform & Lighting)
Over 2.5M-tri/sec
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March 21st, 2005, 18:15 Posted By: wraggster
Tiger Telematics has announced a deal with Vodafone UK which will see the Gizmondo handheld device, which launched on Saturday, shipping with a pre-pay SIM card.
The card will enable consumers to use their Gizmondo for sending and receiving texts and emails and utilise the handheld's GPRS functions. In addition, users will be able to opt-in to receive SmartAdds - a new form of digital marketing which targets consumers according to information they supplied on registration, such as age, sex and location.
The Gizmondo itself is a powerful unit which runs the Windows CE.NET operating system, and as well as playing games, can play back movies and music, take photographs, use the GPS system to provide location information and communicate over SMS, picture messaging and email using GPRS network capabilities.
"The contract-free pre-pay SIM is there to open up the Gizmondo to a massive range of communication and exciting GPS features, without an additional contract," said Gizmondo MD Carl Freer. "The strength and infrastructure of the Vodafone network, and its customer commitment as a whole, will be an invaluable asset."
The Gizmondo launched in the UK on Saturday, with the opening of a flagship store on Regent Street. An evening event took place at the Park Lane hotel, Piccadilly, with performances by high profile acts including Sting, Jamiroquai and Busta Rhymes.
European and North American launches are expected to follow soon, but there has not yet been an announcement as to whether similar mobile network deals are in place for other territories.
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March 21st, 2005, 20:06 Posted By: wraggster
YoyoFr has released a new version of his port of Doom to the Tapwave Zodiac, heres whats new in this release:
<BLOCKQUOTE>[FIX] wadfiles list set to zero before init.
[FIX] free whole midi structure after being written to disk.
[FIX] save choosen wad when switching from main form to option/config form.
[FIX] parameters handling (wad file, pwad file, ...).
[FIX] Free feature memory used by music on exit.
[FIX] Rewrote timidity samples loading.
[NEW] Command (cheat, keypress) can be entered in a simple console. Tap screen center to use it.
[NEW] Autorun (new option in doom option menu).
[FIX] Virtual buttons (tap screen) are now active.
[FIX] Gamma, '+' & '-' keys are now in the controls list.
[FIX] Do not play demo if from a different version.
[NEW] Savegame filenames are now prefixed with iwad/pwad filename.
[NEW] Buttons named in Launcher (controls form).
[FIX] Crash when cannot allocate a buffer. </BLOCKQUOTE>
Download <a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/zdoomz.shtml" target="_blank" >Here</a>.
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March 21st, 2005, 20:16 Posted By: wraggster
YoyoFr has released a new version of his port of Quake to the Tapwave Zodiac, heres whats new in this release:
<BLOCKQUOTE>FIX] save choosen wad when switching from main form to option/config form
[FIX] parameters handling (wad file, pwad file, ...)
[NEW] Command (cheat, keypress) can be entered in a simple console. Tap screen center to use it.
[FIX] Support for mods (tested on Quake Rally)
[FIX] Removed debugging code which was causing slowdown.
[FIX] Demo playback crash when demo ends.
[NEW] Buttons named in Launcher (controls form).
[FIX] Crash when cannot allocate a buffer.
[NEW] Software landscape rendering to prevent issue on T3 (portrait mode with software rotation). </BLOCKQUOTE>
Download <a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/zquake.shtml" target="_blank" >Here</a>
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March 25th, 2005, 20:06 Posted By: wraggster
Tiger Telematics' upstart handheld Gizmondo has finally launched in the UK - although you could be forgiven for not noticing.
A plush party at London's Park Lane Hotel marked the official release of the device on Saturday, with the likes of Jamiroquai, Girls Aloud, Pharrell Williams, Sting, Busta Rhymes and, er, Kelly from EastEnders in attendance.
Alarmingly, and if the figure in yesterday's Mirror is accurate, Jay Kay's (Jamiroquai's hat-wearing frontman) fee for appearing at the glitzy launch bash was a cool Ł800,000. Which means that Tiger needs to shift a lot of Gizmondos.
To that end, Saturday also marked the grand opening of Gizmondo's flagship store on Regent Street, currently the only place in the entire country that it's possible to purchase one of the devices.
Despite all the money that Tiger is throwing at Gizmondo, it doesn't appear to be off to the best of starts though. While Nintendo's DS sold a staggering 87,000 units during its first weekend on sale in the UK, Gizmondo could, according to various internet sources, only manage to shift 800.
A spokesperson for Gizmondo puts this number at 1000, while also quoting an astounding figure of 560,000 pre-orders for the machine, which Tiger is "currently in the process of fulfilling".
Either way, opening weekend sales of just 1000 units can hardly come as much of a surprise given that, outside of the solitary central London store, it's literally impossible to get hold of a Gizmondo.
Major retailers such as GAME aren't stocking the machine and, while both Toys R Us and John Lewis are due to begin selling it, there's no stock available from them at present, as evidenced by their websites here and here.
Indeed following last year's "softest of soft launches", this week's launch doesn't really appear to be any more hard-hitting.
Tiger maintains that it's currently negotiating with GAME and other high street retailers, and the company is optimistic that it will be announcing a deal soon. But given that GAME recently told us, "We have no plans to stock Gizmondo. With PSP and DS launching, we simply don't have the room in-store," it remains to be seen how much interest the high street really has in stocking the device.
Gizmondo's ultra-low profile even extends to the games press, which has yet to be given either hardware or software, as evidenced by the fact that you still won't have seen reviews of any of the games yet (see below for the complete list of launch titles).
In spite of all this, the Windows CE-based device has - in theory - a lot going for it. Aside from playing games, music and movies, it's capable of taking digital photos as well as sending text messages and emails, thanks to the pre-pay Vodafone accounts that are bundled with the Ł229 machine (although you can't actually use it as a mobile phone).
It also supports GPS (Global Position System), allowing it to be used for route-finding, while there's provision for multiplayer gaming via both GPRS and Bluetooth. Assuming, of course, that you can find anyone else out there to play against.
Gizmondo launch titles
Angel Fish
Chicane
City
Colors
Conflict Desert Storm II
Conflict Vietnam
Fallen Kingdoms
Furious Phil
Interstellar Flames 2
Johnny Whatever
Milo and the Rainbow Nasties
Momma Can I Mow the Lawn?
Richard Burns Rally
Speedgun Stadium
Sticky Balls
Stuntcar Extreme
Super Drop Mania
The Great Escape
Trailblazer
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March 25th, 2005, 23:17 Posted By: wraggster
Zspectrum the Spectrum emulator for the Tapwave Zodiac has been updated, heres whats in this release:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Version 1.1 release. 24/03/05
• Added in game joystick selection
• Better multiple SD Card handling
• Added checks to make sure Spectrum .ROMS are on SD Card</BLOCKQUOTE>
Download at <a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/zpectrum.shtml" target="_blank" >AHE Zpectrum Page</a>.
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March 27th, 2005, 20:14 Posted By: wraggster
CliFrotz, a Frotz Infocom/Inform interpreter for the Tapwave Zodiac has seen a new release, heres whats new:
<BLOCKQUOTE>* Added support for the TH55 landscape utility
* Speedup for Zodiac screen display
* Fixes to word popup on command line
* Fixes to more prompt</BLOCKQUOTE>
Download <a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/clifrotz.shtml" target="_blank" >Here</a>
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March 28th, 2005, 15:54 Posted By: Steve Steve
Does anyone know what to do with Java games that come as only .JAR files with no .JAD files? The places I've found them say to just run the .JAR file, but without the .JAD the N-Gage seems to have no idea what to make of them.
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March 29th, 2005, 19:35 Posted By: wraggster
YoyoFr has released a new version of his port of Hexen to the Tapwave Zodiac Console, heres whats new:
<BLOCKQUOTE>[FIX] memory allocation func issue on non-zodiac devices (changed to memchunknew)
[FIX] save choosen wad when switching from main form to option/config form
[FIX] parameters handling (wad file, pwad file, ...)
[FIX] Rewrote timidity samples loading.
[NEW] Command (cheat, keypress) can be entered in a simple console. Tap screen center to use it.
[FIX] Gamma, '+' & '-' keys are now in the controls list.
[NEW] Buttons named in Launcher (controls form).
[FIX] Crash when cannot allocate a buffer.
Still getting a crash in ice cavern on level 2... </BLOCKQUOTE>
<a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/zhexen.shtml" target="_blank" >Download Here</a>
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March 29th, 2005, 19:38 Posted By: wraggster
YoyoFr has released a new version of his port of Doom to the Tapwave Zodiac Console, heres whats new:
<BLOCKQUOTE>[FIX] memory allocation func issue on non-zodiac devices (changed to memchunknew)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/zdoomz.shtml" target="_blank" >Download Here</a>
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March 29th, 2005, 19:41 Posted By: wraggster
YoyoFr has released a new version of his port of Quake to the Tapwave Zodiac Console, heres whats new:
<BLOCKQUOTE>[FIX] memory allocation func issue on non-zodiac devices (changed to memchunknew)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/zquake.shtml" target="_blank" >Download Here</a>
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March 29th, 2005, 19:46 Posted By: wraggster
YoyoFr has released a new version of his all dancing all singing Little John emulator to the Tapwave Zodiac Console and Pocket PC ( the emulator emulates Snes, Gameboy and Nes and others), heres whats new:
<BLOCKQUOTE[ALL] Added missing software scaler for 1.25:1 zoom mode, no smoothing.
[ALL] Added battery level info & time on in-emulation GUI.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<a href="http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/littlejohnz.shtml" target="_blank" >Download Here</a>
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March 30th, 2005, 19:06 Posted By: wraggster
This is what it must feel like to roll in a 1987 Ford Escort. While the rest of the gaming public was playing with their long-awaited PSPs last week, I spent 96 hours test-driving the Gizmondo, putting it through its paces, hoping to see how it stacks up to other gaming handhelds on the market. One thing to note: Despite earlier reports, the Gizmondo has pushed back the US release of its device until Q3—thereby avoiding the complete suicide of trying to toe-up with the PSP. I was told, however, that the unit I trialed would be nearly identical to the final product, minus a few software upgrades.
I’ll admit to being pleasantly surprised. Lightweight and ergonomic, the Gizmondo is made from a rubberized plastic that feels sort of like velvet. It’s a weird, but not unpleasant sensation. The 2.8” TFT color screen is bright and prominent—all of the games and videos I watched on the Gizmondo were easy to see, even in outdoor settings where there was lots of ambient light. Finally, the button configuration is intuitive, obviously designed to be instantly familiar to anyone that’s ever used a Playstation or X-Box controller.
The Gizmondo is a jack of all trades. Its Samsung ARM9, 400 Mhz processor along with the Nvidia GoForce 3D graphics accelerator combined to make watching videos easy, though I experienced some pixelation and a choppy frame rate while trying to watch the Halo 2 and Nelly videos that came pre-installed. Window CE-based, the Gizmondo comes pre-loaded with Windows Media Player 9, so it supports MPEG 4 playback. It also comes with a built-in MP3 player is a nice addition—though it took me a minute to release that the volume control could be adjusted by pressing the two shoulder buttons—the controls weren’t as intuitive as I’d like. Strangely, the Gizmondo’s sole speaker is positioned right under the keypad, which meant I was constantly muffling the sound whenever I was playing a game, or holding the Gizmondo in two hands while watching a video. Thankfully, storage’s not a problem. In addition to 32 megabytes of on-board memory, the Gizmondo also features a SD slot for removable storage—and the unit had no problem recognzing a card full of music and picutres I inserted. For good measure, the Gizmondo designers also threw in a Bluetooth radio, GPRS connectivity, a SiRF-designed GPS chip, and, finally, a VGA camera.
Yet, the Gizmondo manages to master none of these features. Take, for instance, the camera. I know the few folks that go out and buy one of these won’t be doing so for the camera—but the Gizmondo has one of the worst I’ve seen (even worse than the original Treo 600). The pictures were reddish, and the resolution horrible. Sending messages is also a bear. With no keyboard, I was forced to bang out SMS messages or try and enter contact information into the contact app (yet another feature) on a tiny virtual keyboard, using the rocker and a button. This is sub-optimal, at best. (It makes you wonder why they even bothered.) Far more discouraging, however, were the games. If—as the entire history of console systems suggests—content is what sells hardware, than the Gizmondo is DOA. I played their flagship title—a Grand Theft Auto-like game called “Colors”—for an hour or so, and while the 3d graphics were impressive, the gameplay was boring, and long. Trailblazer—an action game where you race along a course in space—was fun, but certainly not worthy of any real attention. This platform needs some developer love, and quick. I just don’t see how they’ll get it, with Sony and Nintendo commanding so much attention right now.
The final nail in the coffin is the $400 pricetag. Did these guys learn nothing from the N-Gage? With few, if any, compelling games and nothing that really sets the Gizmondo apart, besides an impressive spec sheet, its hard to imagine anyone running out to pick one of these up. It’s a shame, too, because the Gizmondo has potential. The only chance they have is to hire a smart marketer and some crafty developers to position the Gizmondo as something other than a game device—punch up its GPS skills, or something. Even that’s a stretch, but its either that or an early retirement. Right now, I’m leaning towards the latter.
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March 31st, 2005, 19:45 Posted By: wraggster
Tiger Telematics has announced the list of high street distributors which will be stocking the Gizmondo, the new handheld games and media device which was launched through a dedicated London outlet a fortnight ago.
GameStation, Carphone Warehouse and John Lewis stores will stock the handheld from this weekend. The agreement follows the Gizmondo's launch on March 19, which coincided with the opening of a flagship store on Regent Street.
"We identified last year that Gizmondo's arrival would expand the popular gaming genre, and through its unique convergence of music and movie features, will prove an exciting addition to our assortment," said Julie Mitrovic, assistant buyer for the John Lewis Partnership. The handheld is already being advertised on the John Lewis website, priced at Ł229.
The Carphone Warehouse (CPW) will feature the Gizmondo in selected Manchester stores as part of its entertainment range, which includes portable audio and video players, and on its website.
"Our stores attract a variety of customers looking for handsets and mobile entertainment devices," said Kevin Gillan, CPW's group director of business development.
"With its wide range of features and functionality, the Gizmondo will have appeal to the customers we get in our stores."
The handheld will also go on sale in GameStation's Edinburgh and Birmingham branches. Gizmondo Europe says GameStation is a "key destination for the Gizmondo consumer, both in terms of the launch demographic and the mainstream videogaming audience."
"We were delighted by the response we received from the public at the recent opening of our own Regent Street store," said Carl Freer, co-founder and chairman of Tiger Telematics.
"We are now committed to building on that success and ensuring that we bring the benefits of the Gizmondo on a national level. We're pleased to have John Lewis, The Carphone Warehouse and GameStation on board, and will be fully supporting their launches with comprehensive retail marketing campaigns, to include TV, outdoor and print media."
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) ngage game to date.