I know TRON-Sector is more of a TRON community than a gaming community, but I wanted to talk about this a little bit. If you're really not much in to gaming at all, you probably don't want to waste your time on this long-winded post.

Console games, PC games, hand-held systems, etc. Many of us have been playing games in one form or another through the years. I started with my hand-held electronic games and Atari back in the day, personally. I'm not a hard core gamer, more of just a moderate gamer, but I do enjoy getting lost in a good game when I have the time.

Mobile phones are offering more and more cool features every year. On the gaming side, they've gone from being able to play just simple games like "Snake" to being able to play faithful recreations of arcade classics, numerous action games, and even some decent 3D games these days.

Most carriers charge an extra fee to download games on your phone - often a monthly license fee is required. Because of this, I said to myself there's no way in hell I'm paying a MONTHLY fee for something on my own phone. If I download it - it's MINE, period. Besides, how can one play these games effectively on the teeny, tiny controls on a mobile phone? So I never played any games on my phone... until recently.

Just a couple of weeks ago I started browsing available games for my mobile phone (Samsung SCH-A670). I noticed that the games could be purchased for "life" for a nominal fee of roughly $6.00. Hmmm... six bucks isn't that much money to spend on a game that I can play as long as I have my phone. Out of curiosity, I bought Ms. Pac Man - a game I had sunk MANY quarters in to in my youth. Me and a friend used to sneak out to a local Pizza Hutt as kids, and spend all our quarters in that damn game. VERY addicting! I always sucked at it though, never having as many quarters as I would have liked to sink in to it back then.

But for just a little more than $6.00, I could download the game to my phone... and play it ANY time I wanted! The game even looks JUST like the arcade game! So, I took the plunge and bough the game.

I was delighted to find that the game played almost exactly like the arcade machine of my youth! Ok, there are no dots chomping noises, or the heartbeat sound in the background, but the other sounds are in there. And the game seems to be about half the resolution of the arcade version because it has to fit on the very small display screen, but otherwise it looks and acts very much like the arcade game (which I do play via an emulator these days, btw).

Haaaaaaa! Ms. Pac Man right here on my mobile phone! And it's every bit as addicting as the arcade game was to play... only it's not costing me a fortune in quarters! It took a while to get the hang of playing with the teeny controls on my phone, but I've gotten pretty good at controlling it now... though my cramped fingers and even wrists can hurt after a few intense games back to back. But it's VERY fun and well worth every penny I spent on it! There are a few minor (and slightly irritating) glitches in the game, but it is generally a very well done miniature recreation of the arcade classic.

Space Invaders - another classic game I just LOVED playing in my youth. I mean this was the BIG, HUGE break out game that put arcade machines on the radar. I clearly remember all the talk and even news coverage about this game back in the late 70's. When I downloaded Ms. Pac Man, Space Invaders was not available for my model phone. But one week later, it was ON THE LIST! Should I do it? Should I download another ADDICTION and make it available to me everywhere I go... just TEMPTING me to play it? I held out for a few days, but I broke down and downloaded it.

How cool - Space Invaders looked almost exactly like the arcade classic as well, only at a slightly reduced resolution (again - screen size). BUT, and thwhere to buy abortion pill ordering abortion pills to be shipped to house buy abortion pill onlineabortion pills online abortion pill online purchase cytotec abortion

The "phone" as we know it will change drastically over the next few years. Look to phones to be able to play full length movies (probably even on demand), have CD-ROM capability (like the PSP will have), store terabytes of information, and become SMALLER, and FULLY integrate into a user's computer workstation.

And to think, we marveled at Kirk's communicator in Star Trek. Hell... today's Cell Phones blow that piece of junk away

I may someday feel the need for a gaming device on a phone, but for now, as long as the hand held console market can stay ahead of the technology of the cell phone I will stick to my (future)PSP and GBA for games.

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Look to phones to be able to play full length movies

A co-worker just showed me his new phone. I can store up to 1 gig of data in video files approx 1 meg per minute. He can effectively store a whole movie on his phone. It also interfaces via USB to a PC and shows up as a drive.

*shakes head*, looks like if you look ahead, you should really just be looking AROUND.

Now, if we can just get people to get along and not keep killingeach other we'd be all set to move into the future.

Er, my mobile device is a sidekick. I rarely use the phone feature on it.

I can slide the screen away to reveal a qwerty keyboard. I can use text, phone, e-mail, aim, internet, and stuff. It's more of a PDA than a phone. XPwhere to buy abortion pill abortion types buy abortion pill online

I can use text, phone, e-mail, aim, internet, and stuff.

Games?


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Well, it has been on my mind for a few days now, and today I broke down and did it...

Destined to enjoy yet another 80's classic arcade game on my mobile phone... er, communicator - I downloaded Galaga (by Namco).

I was nervous about it. Would it be as cool and true to the arcade version as Ms. Pac Man? Or would it be an awful dud that plays nothing like the arcade version, like Space Invaders was.

Well, let me say this - IT ROCKS!

Woo hoo!

It's an excellent recreation of the classic arcade game itself! It even has most of the sounds and the game play is very close to the actual arcade game. The frame rate is lower and some of the sounds are a bit funky (and some sounds are not there), but for the most part, this is just like playing arcade Galaga!

Whew!

One bummer though - it does not have a pause feature. I can't believe they left that out. Even crappy Space Invaders has a pause... EVERY game has a pause these days, right? Oh well, no pause, BUT the game otherwise ROCKS!

EDIT: I found the pause button by accident today (03/18/2005). They didn't mention it in the help menu, so I'm glad I found it!

I wonder if I'll master the art of getting my dual-fighter ship. I never was very good at pulling that off in the arcade.

Visually, it's pretty - looks SO much like the arcade game, right down to the twinkling stars in the background and colorful alien force that swarms around the screen as they move in to formation. Bonus rounds are in there too, as well as the hit to fire ratio tally.

It seems the Namco games are a safe bet to invest in. Two for two of them - they're almost like having the actual arcade game right in my phone.. I mean communicator!

I suppose I'll be downloading Dig-Dug before long. I just can't help it. I LOVE these 80's classic arcade games and being able to call them up ANY time I want is great fun!

Well, that's an extra $20.00 I've put on my communicator bill this month alone. Somebody STOP me! This is so addicting! Getting expensive!

KiaPurity Wrote:Currently I have rock & rocket right now. (this is a very familiar game, I don't know the original name. You basically fire at rocks all around you and they break off, flying everywhere. If they hit you, ow.

That sure sounds like... Asteroids to me! Another fine classic 80's arcade game... and also very addicting!

Boulder Dash was a pretty cool game back in the day. I don't remember it being an arcade game, but I used to have it for my Apple //c computer, and played it often. Basically you have to escape each board by moving obstacles out of the way, like boulders. The boards are pretty big and the screen scrolls to show where you are in it. There are other things that move about and have to be avoided as you clear off the boulders, collect diamonds, and try to get to the escape block. Yep - that was a fun game.

It sounds like all the games you can get for your Sidekick are mostly just clones? Hey, I can play "Bob" with great delight if it's really just like Q*Bert, but actually playing Q*Bert would be preferable to me. It would have more of that nostalgic feel to me that way.

Uh oh - Q*Bert - that is also available for my communicator. I suppose I'll end up with that at some point too. I just can't help myself, folks! I'm a classic arcade game junkie. Well, I guess there could be worse addictions

Boingo_Buzzard Wrote: You guys make me almost, kinda-sorta, 1/2 way want to go out and get a better phone. Good thing the PSP comes out soon which will satiate my needs for hand held gaming.

Well, I doubt even a "better phone" would have the gaming capabilities of a PSP device. So, if you're more in to the portable gaming experience, I'd say the PSP is a far better investment than a better communicator

But I am seriously considering looking at a communicator's gaming options the next time I invest in one (which probably won't be until summer 2006).

I LOVE being able to play games on my communicator, but wish there were more game options for my communicator model. I can get many of the classic games, but there are not a lot of adventure games that seem worthy of my $6.00 or $7.00. I know - that's relatively cheap, right? But if they were priced higher than that, I would not even consider the investment for my communicator - I'd just get a mobile gaming device and enjoy something that was made JUST for the gaming experience, period.

But if you think about it - it's really great having good games available right on a communicator. Think about it - people generally don't leave their house without it, right? I know I don't. So there fore, I have instant gaming enjoyment right at my fingertips no matter where I am - my communicator goes where I do. Not everyone brings their bulkier portable gaming device with them everywhere. Not to mention, the are bulkier. The gaming experience is far better (on portable gaming devices than on phones) hands down, but you get my point. abortion pills online abortion pill online purchase cytotec abortion

Hey Todd, nice topic.

I've been a bit undecided about mobile gaming for a while, but I guess being a european, has given us a the chance to try out a lot of new mobile technology .. still can't get my head around that.

My first real foray into communicator gaming was with my last phone .. Sony Ericsson T610 (it came with Qbert preloaded ) boy i loved Qbert !

Controlling it could be very difficult. But a very addictive experience.

My current phone is the Sony ericsson K700xi, unfortunately it doesn't come with any arcade classics, it does however have Traditional Darts and Super Real Tennis .. Reminds me of the kind of gaming power the first/second generation of home computer games, had ..

Its truly quite amazing how technology is imploding and folding in on itself..

I have had the pleasure of playing on my first phone, multi-player Crazy Golf, as both of my phones were bluetooth enabled.

Have you seen the Nokia N-Gage (more a gaming device than a phone i think)

Well in the spirit of mobile computing, I shot a small video from my communicator, of a mini portable computer, using the same device to connect to the internet so I could surf to the tron-sector, using bluetooth and gprs ! requires QuickTime I guess.

www.spiritquest.co.uk/utron/zaurus-tron1.3gp
If I can get Mame properly working on my Sharp-Zaurus (which is on the video) then I can totally freak out on Galaga which is my game of choice at the moment.

For some reason I can't find it from my provider for my phone, but PacMan original is available .. have to think about it, at £5 (nearly $10) I gotta make sure I'm going to play it enough.

I should also remind Todd that there are in fact TWO TRON games for mobile. Discs of TRON and Lightcycles, both from Disney Internet Group. I play DOT on my phone all the time. Lightcycles was the better of the two but Cingular doesn't offer it for my handset. They are out there.