I'm guessing that most P1i users have owned or used a PDA in the past - remember those days where Astraware was the big daddy for games on your PDA?
Look no further. A few days ago Astraware announced the software called Boardgames, available for the UIQ, S60, Palm, WM and Pocket PC platforms.
8 board games are featured in this application, including Chess, Backgammon, Ludo, Checkers, Reversi, Nine Men's Morris, Snakes and Ladders and Tic Tac Toe.
Seems more for the casual player, I know; but I don't think anyone expected intense and hardcore gaming from a QWERTY business smart phone like the P1i.
It's going for US$20 (GBP 10) - but well worth the money in my opinion. After all, what better to spend your spare time on the bus than by playing a challenging game of chess?
Everyone who's been on My-Symbian forums should have seen the user Anotherguest, who's famous for porting games from their desktop versions to Symbian S60 and UIQ 3 compatible ones. Some of his excellent ports include:
All of his ports are free, so do take your time to try them all! You can access his archive of freeware ports here.
I haven't found many free games that are native to the UIQ platform so far; in fact, since I started the blog, I think Lemmings has been the only game which happens to be free. Terrible, terrible indeed.
It seems a lot better on the Java side of things, where you can find many free games. On the downside, some of them don't seem to support the touch feature on the P1i, forcing us to use the keypad (which is very squished if you have large fingers). Even so, I guess it's value for money, isn't it? Can't expect too much from a free game.
Here's a huge collection of Java games which have been tested and should work on the UIQ platform (it was meant for the W950). Something to keep your mind occupied while I search for free and entertaining games designed for the UIQ 3.0 platform.
Happy New Year to everyone on the P1i Blog!
I've been searching high and low for games on the P1i, and this forum is definitely the answer to what most people request for: IPMart Forums
The users offer a wide variety of games available for download, some of them even tested and reviewed by other members in the forum community, so I advise everyone with a UIQ 3 device to go take a look.
On the other hand, if you do understand Chinese and are looking for less games that run using Java, then Dospy Forums is the place to go. Again, there's a wide variety of games, but more oriented towards an Asian audience (i.e. Chinese language games, Locally developed games, etc).
Note that I cannot guarantee the authenticity of the games on both forums, so I cannot answer individual queries about specific titles.
Have a great New Year everyone, I'll be taking the rest of the day off :)
Surely everyone's heard of Line Rider by now? It's probably one of the funnest and most meaningless game in the history of the gaming world. Embracing a simple concept, you are basically the creator of a virtual world where you can make insane and bizarre tracks by drawing with your pencil. Then, you drop your little virtual sled rider and watch in fascination as he travels along the bumps and curves you just created. Meaningless, but fun nonetheless. And highly addictive too!
Line Rider from Buck Flashroy on Vimeo.
I can't imagine how it'll work on my P1i. But its officially been released by developers in-fusio, and I decided to give it a little spin on my phone.
Some screenshots from the game:
Creating a path from scratch is similar to the desktop version of Line Rider. You select the pencil tool, and off you go - you can draw anything you want that pops across your mind. Other than pencil, which allows for freehand drawing, you can also choose to create straight lines to ensure your rider is protected from the bumps and obstacles your might have drawn in your path.The screen is slightly small for drawing, but I guess I cannot complain as Line Rider was originally created with desktop users in mind, and mobile phones do have limited screen sizes.
Apart from the unique feature of just drawing paths for your little line rider to travel on, there's also a mode called "Puzzle", where you have beat challenges inside the game. This is slightly different that just free-drawing a random track for your rider, and gives the game a new perspective. It's intuitive and very addictive - you can probably drain your battery trying to beat this mode - and simply provides a high level of entertainment, which would make it suitable as a game for long travels.
If you don't feel like creating tracks from scratch, don't worry. Preloaded tracks are also available for the player to customise to his or her liking, so you don't have to spend a lot of time to set up - the rider is ready to test your track immediately!
Lastly, music is provided in the application, so you can apply them whilst watching your rider take on the ultimate challenge. And you can set them to play in the background as you show off your magnificent track to all your friends.
All in all, this application is one of the best games so far to be released on the UIQ platform. A pity it comes for USD$15 - I know many who simply hate paying for applications. Nonetheless, I feel the price tag is definitely justified for such a game on the UIQ 3.0 platform. You can buy it from here.
ScummVM is an emulator for multiple platforms, including the Symbian S60 and the UIQ, to run classic point and click adventure games. It's been around for quite a while, and has been heralded by many SE users since the P990 days as the gaming machine one can only dream of.
Games could be obtained through many sources - for example this wiki page here - as well as numerous places over the internet.
The free nature of this emulator deserves a valuable mention: in addition to playing boring, one dimensional games, there's also the choice to play adventure games on your phone. Granted, it isn't up to PC quality, but no doubt it will provide countless hours of fun for the bored and the lonely :)
ScummVM is available here for free.
A huge thank you to Marat Fayzullin, who created the program Virtual GameBoy. This app is an emulator for GB games, so yes you can finally play that Mario you really liked 8 years ago on your mobile device :)
It supports many add-ons as well, such as GameLink, RumblePack, Pocket Printer, Super Gameboy, etc. Some additional features include the option to record the games' soundtrack as a MIDI ringtone, as well as having Network Play over GPRS/3G or WiFi by inputting the opponent's network address.
Not only does it support UIQ 3.0, but also Nokia S60 series. Both come at a novel price of US$14.99 - rather cheap, if you ask me, considering the app can play huge amounts of games. - Hats of to developer Marat, who ensures that the app comes with lifetime support and upgrades if you purchase.
You can get more information about Virtual GameBoy for Symbian here.
Here's a free game thats recommended - Gempop. The aim of the game is extremely simple: to remove as many gems as possible from the screen. You may only remove gems if they are in clusters of 2 or more. Scoring is dependant on the size of the cluster - the larger the cluster, the more points you receive. Scores can be uploaded online to a global scoreboard, where you compete with others.
Upon first glance, this game seems simple. However, it really does take a bit of strategy. If you remove clusters in 2's or 3's, eventually you reach a point where you can't remove anymore gems - and the game ends with a paltry 300-400 odd points for the player. After learning the ropes and playing for about 10 minutes, I managed to hit a decent score of 600 or so. It does take a bit of forward planning to score large in this game.
Although the thrill isn't exactly like playing games like Splinter Cell or Half Life 2, this is no doubt some great fun if you have 5 - 10 minutes spare and have nothing better to do.
Be aware that this game requires free registration after launching the app 3 times. You'll have to fill in your mobile number and receive a login code in order to keep playing. Apparently, this is for "score keeping and harder levels", as claimed by the developer YoGames.
You can get the game for free here.
Texas Hold'em on your P1i - finally something to get burn the spare time on your daily commute to work! Despite it being a commercial software, it is well worth the money. At a price of US$9.99 (GBP 4.75, HK$78), you can purchase countless hours of entertainment. Even though I rarely, if ever, purchase commercial software, this one lured me to buy it, and I find it so awesome that I play it religiously on a daily basis.
Expect top quality game play. Developers ConcreteSoft packs in a smart A.I., as well as various levels to challenge even the best poker players in a game of high stakes poker.
Gameplay is very realistic, and the only flaw I could find in this game was that it is not very well supported on the touchscreen phone. You have to use the scroll wheel along with the keypad to execute your actions.
At $78, I expected some top quality software, and I got it. And I expect to be playing whenever I have time to burn on my hands.
Get the game here!
It should come as no surprise as Connect4, one of the classic 2-player game, has been developed on the mobile platform. However, what truely differentiates this Java game with the other Connect4 games is the fact that it supports online play - meaning you can challenge others via 3G/GPRS.
Note that the program does connect online when loading the Java game, so you would need a data plan to play this game. Makes it qiute costly too.
Graphics are quite nice as far as Connect4 is concerned, although I certainly would appreciate chips rendered even better.
The only drawback in this program is that playing against the AI also requires one to connect online. This makes it very costly to play for long periods of time. You will also need to suscribe to a free account when you start the program the first time - I really can't see why the company would want you to do that.
If you really have a great data plan, you would enjoy this game. I myself have spent plenty of time over the Wi-Fi playing against strangers.
You can get the program from Cotopia, the developers. Here is a link to the game.
"Once upon a time in the age of monsters and spells there lived a young boy, Sam, who inspired to be the greatest knight of all time. But first he must travel and survive the path of ruins to become a knight. Help Sam in his journey of becoming a Knight.
The player finds themselves in the role of Sam where they must battle their way through anything that stands in his way. "
Sounds familiar? Well, when you start playing it, you might be even more reminded of one of the best selling games of all time - Mario.
A hand for the developers Digitrix - as this wonderful game is offered for free.
Even though its programmed for UIQ 3.0, the game is played using the keypad; I kind of hoped there would be touchscreen support. Nonetheless, its still a very entertaining game, burning up those spare minutes trying to jump your way to the next level.
The framerates remain low throughout the game, but not down to the point where the game lags so much one can't continue; although an update for twice the speed would be much desired.
Graphics wise, the game isn't cutting edge or anything, but at least the main character isn't a stick figure. IMO, some features could be improved for a more enjoyable gameplay - but its still fun as it is now.
You can download the game here fore free. Simply send the JAR file to your phone via Bluetooth or by dragging it in your memory stick to install the game.
Time to check out the Sony Ericsson Website - its been offering a few more games and software lately for the P1i. Simply go to your region and check out the new games and software thats been offered - for my region (Hong Kong), I see some new free downloads.
- TrackID - find the information of any song by recording a snippet of it
- Blogger - on the go blogging software, used in conjunction with a blogger account (Yay Google!) :)
- ShoZu - has been covered by the blog
- MacAfee Firewall Mobile - firewall for your phone
- Myconid - Interactive wallpaper for your P1i, pretty stunning
Sony Ericsson seems to have rectified this bug on the HK Region SE Site. Myconid now no longer appears in the P1i software section - Skyforce Demo, Solitaire - Haven't tried these out yet, but I will in the next few days
Following up from my previous games review, we've seen Lemmings and SudoX so far. This time, its GNU Go, developed by the excellent SomeOne / AnotherGuest (who also ported Lemmings over to UIQ 3.0)
This game is open-source, so if you happen to be a developer and find that the AI is a bit 'lacking', or "stupid" as most people put it, you can contribute to the game algorithm.
2 Modes are allowed in the game - the option to play against the AI, GnuGo, or playing against another human opponent. Note that there is no wireless play, so you will have to cope with the more primitive method of sharing the phone as you play.
It's a fantastic game catered for the Go players out there - so do try it out, and give me a shout if you find any problems with the game. You can download the game here
@Jeff: Thank you for your email, here is the start of several posts for games on the UIQ 3.0 Platform. :)
Had problems with my P1i yesterday and today - the Internet accounts somehow deleted itself while I was modding the phone, so I was unable to get online. I had to create the accounts all over again, as well as getting settings from the network operator as well.
Anyway, this will be one of many upcoming posts for games on the UIQ 3.0 platform at the request of a reader. Keep those requests coming in, I will try my best to put the desired content on the blog!
Lemmings is no doubt one of the best games ever made on the computer. I recall being an avid fan in the days of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, so it should come as no surprise when you can find a port of Lemmings on the UIQ platform.
2 versions of Lemmings exists: Lemmings for UIQ3 and Oh-No More Lemmings for UIQ3, thanks to the efforts of AnotherGuest from My-Symbian. It is a free software written using C++.
The aim of the game remains the same: to get the little Lemmings that fall from the start point to the end point safely. I had a extremely fun time playing the game; the only flaw I could make was that the Lemmings appeared too small at times to see clearly.
Have fun trying this game out.
Till next time
-- xtream
