n-gage question

[KillerCheese]

two questions:
is it worth getting an n-gage?
does it cost you to surf the net?

[davidbrit2]

is it worth getting an n-gage?

Sure, if it doesn't cost you too much. There are quite a few nice emulators for it, and it's got a reasonable number of good games. Colin McRae 2005 in particular is excellent.

does it cost you to surf the net?

Yes if you're doing it over a cellular connection, no if you do some tricks to run over bluetooth.

[KillerCheese]

Sure, if it doesn't cost you too much. There are quite a few nice emulators for it, and it's got a reasonable number of good games. Colin McRae 2005 in particular is excellent.



Yes if you're doing it over a cellular connection, no if you do some tricks to run over bluetooth.

cool what are its best games and what are the graphics controls, design and extra features like and how would you do that trick.

[davidbrit2]

I don't recall exactly how you do the Bluetooth thing, or if I ever had gotten it working at all. I'm sure you can find plenty of guides by now.

Some of the games I enjoyed:
Snake (free download, trippy 3D graphics)
Colin McRae
Asphalt Urban GT 1 and 2
Pandemonium (only played it a bit, but it seemed good)

Stay away from Monkey Ball and Sega Rally, though, as they're both rather abysmal conversions.

Graphics are usually just slightly behind the PS1. It runs the Symbian OS, and just about anything for a Nokia Series 60 should work on it, I think. There's a pretty good port of MAME, though the games it can play well are limited by the capability of the hardware.

Check the N-Gage/Symbian sidebar menu here for some more ideas:
http://ngage.dcemu.co.uk/

[fishsandwich]

The screen is a bit small but games (especially the later ones) are awesome. 8-bit emulators work like a charm.

It's certainly more owerful that the GBA but behind the DS.

I have two and love them. I suggest the original version.

[KillerCheese]

any more infore about the system would be grately appriciated, e.g. how much i should expect to pay etc.

[Steve W]

I'd go with the later version, the N-Gage QD, myself. I have no idea how much you'd pay for one nowadays, though. I bought my QD a few days after it came out. You really should have picked one up a year or two ago, though. That's when GameStop and EB Games were constantly marking their N-Gage games down farther and farther. I bought a whole bunch for $5.99, and then they dropped them all down to $1.99.

[j_factor]

I'd go with the later version. It does lack stereo sound unlike the original, but it's more comfortable to hold/control IMO, plus the screen is slightly better.

I have an N-Gage myself and I actually like it. There's some really good games for it, like Rayman 3, Pathway to Glory, Pocket Kingdom, etc. The library at first was only made up of unnecessary (and sometimes lousy) ports, but its later games (like after the system disappeared from stores) are almost all good stuff. Unfortunately, the games are kinda hard to find now that they've all been clearanced out. They tend to be a little overpriced on eBay.

[KillerCheese]

any more opinioans would be greatly appreciated.

[DKTheArcadeRat]

I have the QD and love it, which gets me criticism from some, but there is a lot of fun to be had with it. Some of the better games on it include...

King of Fighters Extreme
Tiger Woods PGA Golf
whatever the FIFA Game is, its really fun.
Tony Hawks Pro Skater
and there are some other good ones.

Dave

[fishsandwich]

If you check e-bay you can get an N-Gage and a set of games for as low as the high 30's if your lucky. Going rate seems to be around $50 depending on the model, condition, what it comes with, etc.

I have both models and have played the hell out of both of them. I had the QD at first and liked it but the rubber trim around the edges starting coming loose. Common problem on QD's and easy to replace.

Then I got the original version. I only use it now. It's better built, it's larger and fits my hands better, and there is no rubber ring to deal with. It also has several hardware features not found in the QD (NONE of which I use.) The screen is not as bright as the QD (that took some getting used to), the battery life is a little shorter, and then there's the whole taking out the battery to change games thing. This hasn't been much of a problem... it's not as bad as it's made out to be and I rarely take out the MMC card with all the emulators and games on it (I play the Game Gear emulator all the time... Gin and Shining Force are my favs.)

If you're not into collecting and packaging, then I suggest you pick a model in good condition with a charger. You don't need the extra packaging (which drives up the price.) Then get a few large capacity MMC cards. Then you're all set. All the games are available online for free as are the emulators and various software applications. You can pick up the real games super-cheap except for the last releases. Get a cheap little camera case to protect it and you've got a cool little handheld with the possibility to play literally tens of thousands of games.