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Something to Sidetalk About
nigelthezebra writes "The N-Gage is at it again, what with the news that the price is being dropped and that the redesigned handheld is going to be redesigned again. In "Something to Sidetalk About," AllRPG.com's Richard Goodness recounts his experiences with the N-Gage QD. To put a long story short, it's very obvious why the system is failing. When you can't even figure out how to turn something on, you know it's time to go back to the drawing board." From the article: "I've always been a big proponent of the axiom, when in doubt, see if Mr. Casual can do it. Games ought not to need big instruction booklets. They should be simple enough to figure out by picking up and fiddling for a moment or two. Turning a system on, that goes without saying."
...and why are they trying to install a Free Browser Plugin when I visit that site.
and WTF is up with Allrpg.com allowing them to do so?
I think that if they want a portable game machine to be successful, they need to do some thing about the button configuration on the N-Gage. Having the games' controls right in the middle of the number pad is very confusing to me. When I tried it at my cellular store, I had to keep looking at the number pad to make sure that I was hitting the right buttons.
My solution would be to make the buttons more like that of a traditional portable system: only 4-6 buttons arranged like you could find on a regular game pad. Then, make the screen itself touch-sensitive and use that to display the number pad when you need to make a call. Problem solved for me and not to mention other avenues of development opened up with a touch screen (add a stylus and you could have a decent PDA, too)
I wish my lawn was emo, so it would cut itself.
- 16-bit graphics!
- 15 MB storage for your favorite MP3s!
- Stereo Sound!
- Easy to replace (Only need to unscrew one thing) game cartrages!
- Wireless technology allowes you to play with someone up to fifteen (15) feet away!
BUY IT NOW!!!
I am a viral sig. Please copy me and help me spread. Thank you.
As a game player, I actually prefer the old NGage (ya know the side-talking one) because it's bigger, and the buttons are larger and more accessible. With the QD, the phone is smaller, and the buttons are sorta mashed together, and sometimes feel uncomfortable to use. Look at the left/right selection keys.. they're slivers for crying out loud!
When I first saw it, I already knew how to turn on the QD, but that was only because I used the old NGage and knew the approximate location of the power button, so that was the first place I looked. However, what surprised me was how hard it is to push and hold the button in to turn it on! The button is really stiff, and on top of that, it's covered by the rubber band that goes around the QD. Your finger knuckle usually turns white before the phone turns on.
Speaking of stiff buttons, this is another reason why I prefer the old NGage (for playing games) - the bigger buttons push down quite easily, and have a nice "click" to it. The new buttons are a bit stiffer... you get used to it, but I still like the old layout better.
Mind you, the old one still had stupid annoyances such as opening it up and popping out the battery to change games... plus the fact it can't go faster than 22fps... well... sucks.
As a cellphone... the QD is better, and the fact it's running on the Symbian OS is sweet - tons of ready-to-download Symbian apps are out there!
But for the life of me I cannot understand why the company, wanting to enter the portable gaming device market, would have ever made this piece of trash? If you've ever held one of these things in your hands, the small screen, the bulky size, the awkward buttons, the lousy game selection...
Oh, and I just got a virus warning when visiting that page. Thanks again, Slashdot.
Nokia's problem is that they think like a cell phone company. They're making a phone, with extended gaming features. They're not making a gaming box with cell connectivity.
Maybe they'll eventually get it right, and even be successful. But they need to make the thing play games completely and exclusively. Give it a few (FEW) buttons and a dpad, a bigger screen, and make it simple and elegant. And get some damn games.
That's why the PSP is looking to be such a winner. Sleek, elegant, simple. And a ton of games that are getting suprisingly good reviews (especially for launch titles!).
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
I looked into getting an N-Gage 3 months ago when my old cell phone contract ran out... but a little research into available games showed that there was only a few available games, and i couldn't find prices or anywhere to buy them. As i Froogle now, there appear to be more places to buy... Maybe i'll check it out in 9 months ( when my current contract expires).
The power button problem is common to many other devices, including the iPod. The power and ease of use of the on-off switch has been lost on many designers.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
The N-Gage has problems and Elder Scrolls: Shadowkey is a dog of a game... ...but come on. The N-Gage is a cell phone. You're only ever going to need to turn it on once every few months, really, unless you find yourself turning your phone off a lot.
What next? Are they going to complain that you need to check the manual to install the SIM card?
Nokia are wasting money on trying to make the Ngage compete with the PSP and DS now, the redesign will also fail.
Diversification into an extremely competitive market like handheld gaming without any previous experience is not a great idea, espiecally just before the next gen on handhelds
Business Voyeur
When the QD came out, my store had taken 5 reserves on it, making us tied for #13 in the company (of over 2,000 stores).
Reward? The store manager got a free QD. Ohhhh boy!
Winner of The Second Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.
I've always been a big proponent of the axiom, when in doubt, see if Mr. Casual can do it. Games ought not to need big instruction booklets. They should be simple enough to figure out by picking up and fiddling for a moment or two. Turning a system on, that goes without saying.
Translation: "I only like simple action games."
I like those, too. But I also like RPGs, strategy games, MMORPGs, wargames, even flight simulators. And most of those do need manuals.
And if you can't figure out how to turn on a QD, then your VCR is probably blinking "12:00"... :)
The Tlog - a technology blog
Some people are just desperate for pageviews, apparently.
Dick Goodness.
Come get some baby!
If Chaos Theory has taught us anything, it's that we must kill all the butterflies.
There's some info at the spyware guide. Firefox didn't display the prompt, so I'm guessing it's yet another IE-specific bit of malware.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
I guess I might be annoyed at the severe lack of big name titles for my N-Gage if;
- I actually liked most of the big name titles out there for other systems.
- It wasn't the cheapest way to get a well-specced Series 60 mobile phone.
- I hadn't bought it for the C64 and Gameboy emulators.
Really, this N-Gage bashing is just getting embarasing. If you really didn't like it, you wouldn't bother posting all this anti-N-Gage stuff.I own an N-Gage. I even like it. I feel the N-Gage has received a lot of bad, unfair, press with incorrect information setting off people to go into rage of "N-GAGE IS EVIL, MUST DIE, STUPID POS".
The Penny Arcade a year or two back did this. Most of it's facts were incorrect, or misleading, but due to it, thousands of people online decided it was the most evil system on earth and should be abused everytime it was mentioned.
Now I'm not going to go long into why I think the N-Gage is good and try and defend Nokia. I do it too much, and quite frankly, I can't be stuffed anymore - there are too many idiots out there who decide to hate a system they've never really used.
But I would like to point out that the author of this article, is an idiot. The N-Gage is not hard to turn on at all. The power button is located where 75% of all phone's power buttons are, on the top.
The manual is big and contains a lot of information, "How to turn on" is on about page 3.
Retards attract, I guess.