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Mame on the Nokia N-Gage

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the start-your-lust dept.

wraggster writes "The Nokia N-Gage has now joined the club of consoles for whom the excellent MAME (Multi Arcade Machine Emulator) was ported to. Staffan Ulfberg has ported EMame over to the N-Gage - the emulator supports a mass of games."

20 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. System was dead before it was out the door... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Honestly, who actually wants an N-gage. Even if it could emulate a GBA and SNES to perfection I wouldn't go 10 feet near it. Who the hell wants to talk into a taco? Worst design ... EVER.

    1. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      "This is Al Gore, and I am so totally sidetalkin' at you right now!"

    2. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by Frymaster · · Score: 3, Funny

      ... and how are you going to cram four people around it for guantlet 2?

      --

      2 1337 4 u!

    3. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by TonkaTown · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually it's not, I can tell you've never been near one for at least three reasons:

      1. If you use it traditional phone style, you really don't have to hold it in the exagerated sidetalkin' style, it's fine held more discretely and a hell of a lot more comfortable in the hand.

      2. It comes with a wired headset, which has a few uses, it's the antennae for the built in FM radio, it means you get to hear our MP3s in stereo, and you can use it for non taco-stylee phone calls.

      3. Oh yeah, it's got Bluetooth too, and Bluetooth headsets are great, you keep the phone in your pocket and your hands are free for driving or whatever.

      The only possible reason I can see for sidetalkin' with the N-Gage is that it does look pretty funny and maybe it's a good way for spotty teens to visually shout out "LOOK AT MY NEW TOY".

    4. Re:System was dead before it was out the door... by thesolo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually it's not, I can tell you've never been near one for at least three reasons:

      I have to disagree, it's still dead on arrival for one main reason: changing games.

      Those three positives you mentioned (and bluetooth is a big one, in my opinion) don't outweigh the fact that to change games on an N-Gage, you have to do the following:

      1) Turn the unit off (which means, turn your *phone* off).
      2) Flip it over, and remove the battery cover & battery.
      3) Take out the very tiny game chip, replace it with a new game.
      4) Replace battery & battery cover.
      5) Turn unit back on, wait for system to load, go to the right menu, and then start your game.

      Compare this to a GBA, where the steps are turning it off, removing the game cart, putting in a new one, and turning it back on. Especially compare this to a GBA if you're on a train, bus, streetcar, or any other form of public transit. Try easily changing a game on the N-Gage while crammed into a seat on a subway.

      This flaw in their design absolutely kills any of the positives of the system, and makes it, at least to me and many other people, D.O.A. Not to mention that I personally really don't want to turn off my phone when I swap games.

  2. Even games... by jayhawk88 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...that don't look like ass?

    Seriously, have you seen those "This is where I..." ads for this thing? The game screenshots they show look like total crap. I don't know about you, but if I was a developer, I'd be embarrassed to see my game on national TV looking like it was running on an Atari Lynx.

  3. This Is A Hoax by lewp · · Score: 4, Funny

    For this to be true, someone would actually have to own an NGage. Come on, nobody's that dumb.

    --
    Game... blouses.
  4. Also supports other phones by rjbrown99 · · Score: 5, Informative

    You guys bashing the N-Gage are missing the point. I have a Nokia Series 60 3650 phone. It's based on the same Symbian OS that the N-Gage uses. I can use this on my phone. The 3650 is very widely deployed in the US and Europe. This is a great thing not just for the N-Gage folks, but regular guys like me who happen to own one of the Series 60 phones.

    I can't wait to try it. My phone has a 128mb MMC that can store a ton of games. Should be a lot of fun.

    1. Re:Also supports other phones by Kris_J · · Score: 3, Informative
      I can use this on my phone.
      Actually, you can't -- you don't have enough RAM. 6600 owners can use it though.
  5. Re:Yeah ... and? by Tumbleweed · · Score: 4, Informative

    Did you miss the article? Thanks to this port of MAME, there are now many good games for N-Gage! :)

    Besides, what games for a dinky little screen like the N-Gage's would anyone want other than Tetris? Well, maybe Pac-Man.

    I find it amusing the 'screenshots' on this project page aren't even FROM an N-Gage.

  6. i wonder... by simcop2387 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... how long it will be before Mame can emulate N-Gage Games, then it'd only be a matter of time before it could emulate itself!

  7. what about multiplayer? by Comsn · · Score: 3, Funny

    does mame on n-gage support multiplayer? finally! pong! head to head!

  8. Bah! by musingmelpomene · · Score: 4, Funny

    You kids and your fancy game systems.

    My Vectrex works perfectly fine for me.

    But I would like to get one of those Nintendo things. I hear there's a game on there about some plumber that jumps on turtles and stuff to save a princess. That sounds pretty high-tech!

    Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to playing Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Game. You suckers with your Playstations don't know what you're missing!

  9. You are talking into a Taco by tepples · · Score: 3, Funny

    You are already talking into a (Slashdot story posted by Cmdr)Taco.

  10. Can't miss an opportunity... by gklinger · · Score: 3, Funny

    Forget MAME, get SideTalkin'!

  11. Re:MAME for Windows? by Comsn · · Score: 3, Informative

    a search on google for "windows mame" returns MAME32, a beautiful windows port of mame.

    http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32/

  12. The N-Gage has one winning feature... by heironymouscoward · · Score: 5, Informative

    It is the only tax-deductible gaming system.

    Seriously... in European high-tax countries this means that the state gives a discount of 40-50% on the item (plus VAT back!).

    Even grown men like to play games now and then. And the N-Gage is surprisingly snappy, not like playing Java games on other GSMs, which is slow and boring.

    MAME on N-Gage is a great addition, Nokia should try to license these arcade games since many of their potential clients (men aged 30+) are probably more familiar with some of them than with the "real" games actually available on the thing.

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
  13. They won't by ColourlessGreenIdeas · · Score: 3, Informative

    The NGage is an open system, so anyone can write games for it. That's why it costs so much*; Nokia has already got enough profit when you buy the device and they don't care if you never buy an official game. The hack simply means that cartrige games can be pirated and run on other Series 60 phones. It's always been the case that anyone can go out and write software for the NGage without paying Nokia a penny. (There's a special games SDK that comes with some games libraries or somesuch that costs money, but this won't use it)
    *Actually, it's now available for free with a contract here in the UK, but the network is subsidising that, not Nokia.

    --
    In soviet russia stale jokes recycle you!
  14. Not Another One by nathanh · · Score: 4, Funny

    What hasn't MAME been ported to? Wouldn't it be easier to just have articles listing the rare mobile phones and cameras without MAME? I can just imagine a future article...

    MAME Not Ported To Enigma Machine
    mame-maimed-in-spain department 2006-01-04

    In news that has shocked the MAME community, a project to port MAME to the 1940s Engima machine - used for encryption and decryption by the German forces during WW2 - was cancelled yesterday due to lack of interest.

    Miguel De Mameiza said "We were halfway through the port when we just decided to stop. We already have MAME ported and running on buildings, phones, cameras, watches, books, elephants, asteroids in the deepest part of the Kepler belt. We looked at each other and said 'OK, enough is enough, let's stop there'. We unanimously agreed that MAME is pretty much everywhere it needs to be; we don't need it ported to what is essentially an advanced mechanical typewriter."

    The gaming community had mixed reactions to the news. "I'm really glad they stopped" said one gamer. "MAME is everywhere. It's more pervasive than the SoFreakingBig virus." [Ed: referring to the Windows virus that crippled international commerce in 2005 when it managed to infect 140% of all Windows computers, an intrusion level that still baffles mathematicians] "Yesterday I bought a loaf of bread from the store and some bastard had ported MAME to the RFID tag. It's really weird to have your shopping basket bleeping Pacman music while you're waiting in line. And the checkout chick gave me the oddest look when I asked for my change in quarters."

    But others were angry at the decision. One MAME enthusiast maliciously commented "bleep bleep bleep bwowowowow" and then disappeared in an explosion of pixels. The journalist unfortunately had no change so could not ask for clarification.

  15. Re:How Long... by rbeattie · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, Nokia is promoting the use of MAME on its N-Gage site.

    -Russ

    --
    Me