Expert: Werner "Menneisyys" Ruotsalainen

1. One of the best Pocket PC games of all time, Orions: Legend of Wizards (along with its expansion pack Orions: The Second Age) is sold with a 40% rebate HERE. Definitely worth purchasing it if you already haven’t done so. See my two Orions Strategy Guides for more info (Pocket PC only).

2. Astraware has released Platypus, a side scroller shooter, for both Pocket PC’s and MS Smartphones (and Palm OS devices).

You might want to check it out. While I don’t consider it a better title than SkyForce Reloaded (the, currently, best top-down scroller on all mobile platforms) or even Fire Hawk by c2matrix (another cool scroller), you might like it more than me. At least the scener music is worth noticing.

Note that, on touchscreen-enabled Pocket PC’s, your ship can only be controlled with the stylus, not the D-pad. Fortunately, it has no performance problems on HTC’s current, 2.8” devices (ALL of them except the very few, CDMA-only Xscale-based ones) exhibiting the infamous touchscreen CPU usage bug; not even on my non-overclocked HTC Wizard (running the AMP WM6.1 ROM based on OS 5.2.19199). It doesn’t have performance problems on VGA devices either (tested on the x51v with makuu’s WM 6.1 A06 privß06p).

As it’s a landscape-only game, you might want to think twice before even installing it if you have a device with screen polarization issues (like the Dell Axim x50v/x51v) and your eyes happen to be sensitive to them.

Note that the Smartphone version is told to be compatible with 176*220 devices. This doesn’t seem to be the case – it simply stated my 176*220 s310 / Oxygen to be incompatible (I’ve tried both the CAB and the EXE installer). It, of course, ran flawlessly on my QVGA (240*320) s710 / Vox.

3. There is another RPG-style game, Through Enemy Eyes by ArabellaGames, a Russian / Swedish newcomer to the Windows Mobile gaming scene. I didn’t find it particularly entertaining or even interesting; however, you might find it cool. (Of maze-type games, I’d prefer AIM Productions’ Tmax or Astraware's Mazera instead – see Gaming Bible - Part I - instead.)

4. SmartGear, the all-in-one Pocket PC & Smartphone gaming console emulator, has been further improved. In addition, the developer, Larry Bank has announced he’d add support for Pocket PC 2000 and 2002.

1. Hardware

a. HTC is going to introduce some new devices in early May – at last! While I certainly consider HTC’s models boring, unimaginative and far from multimedia- and gaming-friendly, I really hope they will, at last, come up with something more appealing for the generic users. I recommend THIS thread for more info; particularly my post posted at 04/10 15:36 CET, where I explain why I don’t consider HTC’s current lineup imaginative or even interesting and what functionalities I find the most lacking.

HowardForum's related thread is also worth checking out for other rumors / guesses. Hopefully, one of the forum members who has contacts at HTC and has always provided us with some rumors will fill us in with some insider info again

b. at CTIA Wireless 2008, there have been several new devices at Microsoft’s booth, all with the new, just (at CTIA) announced 6.1 version of Windows Mobile:

Amoi 6711: a simple Smartphone with GPS:

A newcomer to Windows Mobile, Velocity, has announced two new models:

Velocity 103: a VGA Pocket PC model
Velocity 111: a QVGA Landscape Pocket PC model

Both Velocity models come with 128M RAM / 256M ROM, GPS and HSDPA. They have no goodies like 3D hardware acceleration, FM radio or TV receiver. HowardForums has a VERY long and interesting thread on these devices.

There also was a working (at MWC, it still didn’t work) prototype of the E-Ten (now: Samsung) V900, one of the most interesting VGA handsets because of its digital TV receiving capabilities. (I only wish it had a slightly bigger screen – it’s suffering from the same problem as i-mate’s new phones.)

(See for example THIS for more info & shots.)

c. AximSite has allowed discussing the (cooked) WM6 upgrade for the Axim x50/x51 series. This is certainly very good news and may also mean I also seriously rethink my not discussing these questions at all to be on the safe side. After all, it’s time to install (and, probably, report on) the latest WM6 upgrade on my HP iPAQ hx4700, which is still probably the best bed-time e-book reader.

For example, the cooked version of Windows Mobile 6.1 has just been released for the Dell Axim x51v, sporting a lot of niceties. See the related thread HERE and HERE for the WinMo Professional / Classic versions, respectively. (Yes, the former is a PPC Phone Edition version so that you can run by default PPC PE-only software like Esmertec Jbed without additional hacking - that is, copying the "placeholder" SMS.dll and phone.dll files to \Windows, as is explained in the MIDlet Bible.) I'll soon test and report on it.

You can only hope that the current (!) HP iPAQ lineup also receives cooked 6.1 (and, in the future, later) OS ROM versions - HP has just announced they won't release any WM6.1 updates for their current devices. I don't want to comment on HP's decision because I don't want them to make angry with me - you surely know what I think . Currently, there're no HP 6.1 ROM cooking-related threads at the, say, iPAQ 210 forums of BrightHand or AximSite. THIS and THIS threads may be of interest.

d. There is a brand new article on the S-E Xperia X1 HERE.

e. i-mate's new models, the 8502 and the 9502 (see my review & remarks HERE) have started shipping and are available in Europe as well (through Clove). The related HoFo thread, packed with shots of the new models (on, for example, page 15), is worth checking out, along with a brand new review of the 8502 HERE. The reviewer, generally, likes it very much, except for the lack of microSDHC support. The latter is quite a letdown if it can't be fixed...

2. Software

a. CorePlayer 1.2.2 has been released for Windows Mobile; see THIS for more info (and also my multimedia-related articles / Bibles). (For Symbian, after the already-released 1.2.0, 1.2.1 is promised in the near future)

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1. App news / rebates:

a. (still a preview, but still much more advanced than version 1.1.3 released a month ago) CorePlayer 1.2, finally, released for Windows Mobile. See THIS for more info. The Symbian version, as opposed to what was announced a month ago (then, the CoreCodec folks only promised a Windows Mobile release for February), seems to hit the shelves very soon too - see THIS thread. It, among other things, promises hardware acceleration. I'm really looking forward to the dramatic speed / efficiency increase this could mean on current high-end Nokias like the N95 using the latest TI OMAP & PowerVR-based chipsets.

b. ALL of VITO Technology's products are available for $7 (!!) only: go purchase them while the offer lasts! (I'm pretty unlucky, it seems: it was just before MWC that I purchased their AudioNotes for Symbian S60v3 for some $25... should I have known this GREAT rebate beforehand... )

2. Gaming & emulation news:

a. Creatonia made free!

Insenic, who, in the past, have already made two of their previously commercial titles free, decided to do the same to their pretty nice RPG title Creatonia. While the biggest problems (for example, the lack of in-game music, the dull graphics etc.) are still present, it's really worth getting for free. See THIS for a review (frontpaged on several sites).

b. a new version of Commodore 64 emulator for both the MS Smartphone (WM6 Standard) and Pocket PC (WM6 Pro / Classic) platform, PocketHobbit, is released, with a lot of niceties like native QVGA support (remember? It was me who wrote an extended, QVGA-enabled Smartphone version of the original) and frame rate settings. See THIS for a generic overview of emulating the Commodore 64 under Windows Mobile. It's available HERE (NOT on the old links).

c. Astraware has released a fully-fledged, very interesting strategy game Westward, which is certainly worth checking out. There is a great Just Another Mobile Moday review HERE. It runs on both Pocket PC's and Smartphones (and even Palm OS devices).

d. Beijing Huike Technology, the developers of Dark Street reviewed HERE, have released four additional games for both the Pocket PC and MS Smartphone:

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1. There’s another, new demo video (thanks to the PocketPlayers Reloaded folks) of the forthcoming, kick-butt FPSEce 0.010 Playstation emulator:

Coolboarders

(See THIS and THIS for the earlier videos)

2. Mobile2Day.de has some GREAT game rebates until 02/10; most importantly, the brand-new Revival (see reviews linked from HERE), Spb AirIsland and the great multiplayer title Explode Arena. You can save about 40% of their price – don’t hesitate to go and purchase! (I’ve already purchased Revival for Pocket PC in there: yes, I’ve saved some 7 euros compared to, say, the current ClickGamer price.) Note that the portal is German-only; please see THIS for more info if you don’t know the language.

The titles offered:

Revival: 11,95 euros (PPC version) / 7,95 euros (MS Smartphone version)

Mahjongg Deluxe 3D: 5,95 euros

Explode Arena: 5,95 euros

Spb AirIsland: 12,95 euros

Chess Professional: 5,95 euros

(news source: PocketPlayers Reloaded)

Note that the pretty much recommended Arcade Park 1.4 (from the same folks as Revival) is also sold at a some (8,88 euros instead of 10,45) discount – it’s also worth at least giving it a try.

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1. Yesterday, I reported on the new FPSEce 0.010 videos. The Pocketplayers.info folks have just uploaded two, brand new FPSEce 0.010 videos well worth checking out:

Rayman
Wipeout XL

It seems FPSEce 0.010 will indeed be a BIG hit, particularly for 3D game fans with a Dell Axim x50v / x51v: it’ll really be able to run the well-known PlayStation classics without any problems. Make sure you donate to the developer (I’ve already done so)

2. A quick overview of Prowler Studios' games

Prowler Studios is a newcomer to the Windows Mobile gaming scene but has already released several titles. Of these, I review the three most expensive ($12.95 each) one (assuming most expensive means the best). Note that they're all Pocket PC only (not compatible with MS Smartphones - I've tested) and support all operating systems starting with WM2003.

a. Toe 2 Toe Boxing Championship is (or, at least, tries to be) a 3D boxing game. I don’t recommend this title. While it tries to be 3D, it in no way utilizes existing 3D acceleration hardware (tested this on the Dell Axim x51v). The in-game sprite animation is also VERY bad: it only has TWO phases. Taken the high price of the title into account, I in no way can recommend this game even for a quick try. I know there aren’t any boxing games for Windows Mobile (quickly checked this at Clickgamer in addition to the Sports category of the PPCMag encyclopedia). Therefore, I recommend going for emulation. The home computers / home consoles had WAY better boxing games; for example, Boxing Legends of the Ring for Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES; George Foreman's KO Boxing for the same two consoles; Riddick Bowe Boxing (which is very similar to Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing for Genesis and GG) for SNES, Gameboy and GG. Make sure you check out my emulation-related articles / Bibles in the Emulators category of my blog. Or, if you don’t necessarily want boxing, just a very similar arcade game, give a try to, for example, Garou (Fatal Fury): Mark of the Wolves under the excellent NeoGeo emulator FinalBurn Alpha. (Note that I haven’t tested the title under FinalBurn. It may NOT work. If it doesn’t, you can still look for another action game to run.)

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