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There was confusion about the entrance to the Nokia pre-E3 show. Only two of the Insert Credit entourage had their names on Nokia's lists. We were annoyed. We were tired. We were hungry.
We were directed to another table where they confirmed that yes, our names are not on the list, but here are your passes anyways.
Once inside, I was face to face with Nokia’s marketing frontman, Damien (or, at least I thought it was Damien, through the smoky red haze the room seemed to be drowning in.) I mentioned how some of the crew had difficulty with the registration process. He was quick with the explanation: for publications that had multiple people with reservations, a few people here and there were… unreserved, in anticipation of overcrowdedness in their show space.
While others accosted Damien, I escaped to the kiosks to try out some of the n-gage games. Ashen was the first my hands rested on, and I quickly dismissed it. Jungle Recon was similarly frowned upon. Yeah, yeah… first person shooters, we know how those go on n-gage. QD or not, circle strafing is still tough.
I didn’t much care for Pocket Kingdom either. Maybe if its MMORPG state was a bit more: massive. The lack of impedance during my bid for power in the game’s universe didn’t help. (The fact that the n-gage was attached to a svelte woman’s waist, situated some three inches from my eyes didn’t help either.)
The announcements made during the show proper were standard Nokia fare; that is to say, get names that people know. Last year’s Tony Hawk is this year’s SSX. Civilization is an interesting acquisition, and the idea of CivNet over Arena gives me hope. Pathway to Glory looks honest-to-goodness GOOD. Heck, it might even turn out to be FUN when I check it out at the Nokia booth at E3.
But, I shouldn’t expect any less when the time of development is well past the year mark.
I can’t help but look at the timing (or lack thereof) in Nokia’s actions. For a company that’s such a mover in the communications market, they sure can be slow to form a response. The QD, Nokia’s answer to media and consumer complaints on the original design came only a year later. Glimmerati, their frontline racing game, though in development since late last year, only had promotional footage to show for their effort. Pathway to Glory, their big first-party blockbuster title, took a year before game play screens arose. (Why they didn’t at least mock up some screens before then is beyond me.) In the last 48 hours, Nokia is the last of the players to show what is easily argued as the least of any hardware company’s offerings.
It’s funny that Nokia was so quick to cancel their show reservations; during the show proper, nearly a quarter of the seats were unfilled. That’s unfortunate, as things like Pathway and Civilization look like they’re worth catching, and even more are at least worth watching. I know I’m going to be keeping my eye on King of Fighters and Xanadu. (Pasi Polonen even gave a slight hint of more Falcom titles to come Nokia’s way.) I might not be rooting for n-gage’s success, but I’m certainly not one of those looking for its failure.
And any company that does a real Q-and-A session in this day and age deserves a big round of applause.
Vincent Diamante
is trying to fix the forums, really!
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