Issue 14 by PhonicaMagUK

the mobile phone and gaming magazine www.phonicamagazine.co.uk

Issue14

phonica magazine uk

WHAT’S INSIDE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 14 2010

REVIEWS

NEWS Nokia Siemens Acquires Motorola Assets Mobile gaming on the up Global Agenda to go Free-to-Play White PS3 Slim launched Oﬃce Heroes enters the arena World of Warcra :Cataclysm Closed Beta tes ng begins Release date for Final Fantasy XIV announced Blizzard retracts enforcing Real ID ini a ve

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PREVIEWS Fallout:New Vegas Dead Space 2 Fable 3

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COMPETITION

FEATURES

Win a copy of Super Mario Galaxy 2

E3 2010 It’s that me of year again. What were the stars of this years gaming extravaganza?

RPG & ME Are RPG’s as rich and diverse in plotline as they used to be?

FORGOTTEN GEMS: BLOCK 130 How can a game become such a point of obsession? I don’t know, but I know one thing…I will beat that score.

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HTC WIldﬁre Blackberry Pearl 3G 9105 Nokia C3 Alcatel OT 808 Chess Classics Super Mario Galaxy 2 Green day: Rock Band No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge Special Edi on Lego Harry Po er: Years 1 - 4 UFC Undisputed 2010 Rocket Knight

THE GUIDE Games: Phonica’s 20 Recommended Weird and Wonderfuls

Mobile Phones

phonica magazine uk

EDITOR IN CHIEF Kevin Leonce

GAMING EDITOR Sco Tierney

CONTRIBUTORS Rob Hobson Ian Duncan Paul Park

CREATIVE SERVICES & DESIGN Sco Tierney www.sco - erney.com

EDITORIAL editorial@phonicamagazine.co.uk

ENQUIRIES info@phonicamagazine.co.uk

ADVERTISING adver sing@phonicamagazine.co.uk

WWW.PHONICAMAGAZINE.CO.UK Become a Fan of Phonica Magazine UK on Facebook & Twi er Phonica Magazine ÂŠ All material in this publica on is covered by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publica on may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmi ed in any form electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, in whole or part without wri en permission of the publisher or the copyright owner. Please note that whilst every care has been taken to ensure that all the data in this publica on is accurate at the me of going to print, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, whether caused by negligence or otherwise, or for any loss, however caused, occasioned to any person by reliance on it; and hereby disclaims any liability for it. Opera ons and some features are network dependent; please refer to your network provider for full details.

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EDITOR’S LETTER THE FLAMBOYANT CIRCUS OF E3 ROLLS BACK INTO TOWN. We both love and hate E3. On the one hand, we get all giddy and excited at the sight of all those brand new games, being shown oﬀ and paraded by proud developers, eager for you to cast a glance in their direc on and show some wild-eyed interest. But on the other hand, we hate the hype, the senseless repe on of old ideas, the OTT launches and presenta ons, and the never ending stream of rumours that’ll keep on ﬂowing un l Christmas. That said, this years E3 was packed to the very seams with gaming goodness, all ready to burst onto our eager faces. There was the news of Sonic’s 2D return, a reworked co-op theme for Assassins Creed, the charm of Fable 3, the nerve sha ering terror of Dead Space 2…I could con nues, but it’s best if I leave it there and let you read our extensive round-up. One thing is for sure though; Portal 2 will crumple our sorry minds! Also in this issue, we take a peak at the plots (or absences thereof) in today’s RPG tles, we’ve got some lovely reviews of the most recent games, including the excep onally diverse Super Mario Galaxy 2, and a trip into the deep and dark world of gaming obsession. Block 130 is a tle that should only be played in short bursts… I can stop playing any me I want…honestly. So read on, enjoy the issue, and most importantly thanks for all your support!

Sco Tierney Gaming Editor & Senior Designer

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NEWS NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS TO ACQUIRE CERTAIN WIRELESS NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS OF MOTOROLA FOR USD 1.2 BILLION Nokia Siemens Networks and Motorola, Inc. jointly announced that the companies have entered into an agreement under which Nokia Siemens Networks will acquire the majority of Motorola’s wireless network infrastructure assets for USD 1.2 billion in cash. The companies expect to complete closing ac vi es by the end of 2010, subject to customary closing condi ons including regulatory approvals.

“Motorola is very proud of the opera onal and ﬁnancial performance of our Networks business and its employees, who will now become a valuable addi on to Nokia Siemens Networks. We are excited to have reached this agreement to combine our Networks team with such an industry leader,” said Greg Brown, Co-CEO of Motorola. “This is great news for our customers, our investors and our people and will allow us to sharpen our strategic focus on providing mission and business cri cal solu ons for our government, public safety, and enterprise customers.”

“This is an exci ng acquisi on that I believe has significant benefits for customers, employees and our shareholders,” said Rajeev Suri, Chief Execu ve Officer of Nokia Siemens Networks. “Motorola’s current customers will con nue to get world-class support for their installed base and a clear path for transi oning to next genera on technologies while employees will join an industry leader with global scale and reach. Nokia Siemens Networks will see the benefits of a deal that is expected to enhance profitability and cash-flow and to have significant upside poten al.”

As part of the transac on, Nokia Siemens Networks expects to gain incumbent rela onships with more than 50 operators and to strengthen its posi on with China Mobile, Clearwire, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone. It also expects that based on revenue, with the addi on of the Motorola wireless network infrastructure business, it will become the #3 wireless infrastructure vendor in the United States, the #1 foreign wireless vendor in Japan, and strengthen its current #2 posi on in the global infrastructure segment.

“NOKIA EXPECTS TO GAIN INCUMBENT RELATIONSHIPS WITH MORE THAN 50 OPERATORS.”

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Motorola’s networks infrastructure business provides products and services for wireless networks, including GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, WiMAX and LTE. This business is a market leader in WiMAX, with 41 contracts in 21 countries; has a strong global footprint in CDMA with 30 ac ve networks in 22 countries; and a robust GSM installed base, with more than 80 ac ve networks in 66 countries; and excellent trac on with LTE early adopters.

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NEWS MOBILE GAMING ON THE UP WE LOVE GAMING ON OUR MOBILES, AND THE IPAD IS THREATENING THE MAJOR PORTABLE CONSOLES, ACCORDING TO RESEARCH. According to reports, we mobile users are spending more me gaming on our handsets than ever before. Apparently, we’ve been tapping our ﬁngers to the bone, playing some of the classic arcade tles that have since adapted to the mobile interface, as well as the new and exci ng tles sprouted by Gamelo and the like. We love our games we do, and they have the facts to prove it. The Mobile Access 2010 report claims that 34% of all US mobile owners use their phone for gaming in some form. It also goes on to state that 60% percent of younger users play handheld games (not that sort…naughty) on their mobiles while doing other tasks, such as emailing, cha ng and browsing the web. Not a striking fact when you consider that most youngsters enjoy gaming on some level, but it goes to show the incline towards entertainment-based mobiles as sources of enjoyment and fun, rather than tools for work and business.

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On a similar subject, Resolve Market Research suggests the iPad is becoming a more viable and stronger challenger to other hand held consoles. According to the study, prior to owning an iPad, 23% of users said they would prefer the iPad to a portable gaming device – such as the PSP or DSi - for playing games. The study went on to state that a er owning an iPad, 38% of users said wouldn’t buy a portable console. Interes ng…

“THE MOBILE ACCESS 2010 REPORT CLAIMS THAT 34% OF ALL US MOBILE OWNERS USE THEIR PHONE FOR GAMING IN SOME FORM.” If one could read anything from these stats, are we to believe that portable gaming consoles, that don’t provide any other service but gaming, could be on the verge of becoming obsolete – or at least come under threat – from mobiles and products such as the iPad? It’s a strong statement to make, but we could see it happening.

There is always going be a market for portable gaming consoles, from both sides of the gaming fraternity. There are those hardcore-types, that can’t go a minute without slashing a pixel-based sword in anger or powersliding a rendered sports car; and then there are those casual gamers, that just like a quick and simple game to occupy their minds on their way to work. The ‘hardcore’ is a market that’s unlikely to dwindle, but the casual types could be swayed by the mobile, especially if it con nues to grow and improve on the gaming front. Why carry two devices when I can carry just one? Why not play via a comfy mobile, rather than a cumbersome console? Why buy a portable gaming console, when my mobile already has games preloaded? Why spend my money twice, for the same thing; gaming? These are all ques ons that they may be asking, and if so, PSP and DSi sales could drop.

“ACCORDING TO THE STUDY, PRIOR TO OWNING AN IPAD, 23% OF USERS SAID THEY WOULD PREFER THE IPAD TO A PORTABLE GAMING DEVICE – SUCH AS THE PSP OR DSI - FOR PLAYING GAMES.” You can read anything into states like those above (45% of people know that, although only 23% of those fully understand 78% of the last 1/3), but they do make for very interes ng and though ul reading. We can’t see this shi from handheld consoles to phones happening overnight. But as mobiles become more accustomed to games and the popularity of the iPad con nues to grow, we may slowly start to see the de turn. Interes ng mes, indeed…

phonica magazine uk

NEWS

GLOBAL AGENDA TO GO FREE-TO-PLAY... KINDA BOTH REAL AND DIGITAL CURRENCY TO BE USED Following on from the success that Dungeons and Dragons Online managed to generate a er going from a P2P to a F2P subscrip on model, Hi-Rez Studios, the developers and publishers of the massively-mul player third person shooter, have announced that their ﬂagship tle, the mighty Global Agenda, is to undergo a similar makeover. Players wishing to undertake guild or “Agency” player-vs-player warfare were originally asked to pay a monthly sum on top of the game’s cost, but now, with Global Agenda becoming F2P, those who have already bought the full game are able to play all of the current content at no extra charge or monthly fee.

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However, future content will most likely be accessed via the payment of microtransac ons, and the game itself will s ll cost players real money; so in eﬀect, Global Agenda is of both worlds. Exis ng players and new players will be given access to the new content patch coming soon called Sandstorm, that brings a new open-world quest hub, but further content patches will require payment. It seems that more and more major MMOs are turning towards the increasingly popular free-to-play subscrip on model, with Lord of the Rings Online also having made the change in recent weeks and rumours that NCSo are considering a change for Aion in the same vein.

“EXISTING PLAYERS AND NEW PLAYERS WILL BE GIVEN ACCESS TO THE NEW CONTENT PATCH.”

NEWS

WHITE PS3 SLIM LAUNCHED IN JAPAN MORE POWER AND A NEW COVER…WAR IS HELL Good old Sony, always thinking about tomorrow and to hell with yesterday. If Sony were to run a TV advert, visualizing their approach and theory to gaming technologies, they’d have a brand new PS3 Slim, dressed in a suit of gleaming white armor, machine-gunningdown rows and rows of old PS2’s, PSP’s, copies of PS1 games and probably even the first, fat, PS3’s. If something is old in the land of Sony, they don’t nurse it through its final years, holding its hand as it breathes its final breath. Nope, they kick it in the face, staple a P45 to its chest, and push it out the window into their brimming mass furnace below, to join every other unwanted ‘oldie’.

These new PS3 Slims look mighty impressive indeed, regardless of their new armor...I mean paint…sorry. The new memory specs have upped from an impressive 120GB, to a whooping 160GB and 320GB. That is a huge amount of memory to have at ones disposal, and at expect prices of around 29,980 yen (£225) for the 160GB, and 34,980 yen (£262) for the 320GB, reasonable well valued also. And although we mock the white paintwork - as it’s just a way of reselling an already available product at a higher price - it does look sexy to say the least.

“IT DOES LOOK SEXY TO SAY THE LEAST.”

Hopefully some of that cash will go to the family’s who have lost family members in the great PS3 culling of last month, when old 60GB model was rounded up and shot with li le mercy. If you can give £2 to just one orphaned PSP this moth, please do so.

OK, so that’s a bit over the top, and my borderline hatred for Sony’s approach to evolu on may be boiling over slightly, but that’s just how Sony likes to play it; Logan’s Run style. And with the release of the new, super powerful, white PS3 Slim, a few of the lesser PS3 Slims may be wondering if their me is up.

In other Sony-based news, GamesAid have recently released their triple pack of PS3 tles, with all the proceeds going to charity. The tles are all from diﬀerent publishers - Square Enix, SEGA and Codemasters – and at £29.99 for three decent tles - Tomb Raider: Underworld, SEGA Superstars Tennis and FUEL – there are worse ways to give a li le.

In all seriousness, please do help out with GamesAid, it’s a great organiza on, and with your help, we can all help a li le as we play. For more informa on, please visit h p://www.gamesaid.org

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NEWS

OFFICE HEROES PROMISES META TIME-WASTING AT WORK iPHONE GAME WILL LET PLAYERS WHILE AWAY HOURS AT THEIR DESK BY VIRTUALLY WHILING AWAY HOURS AT A VIRTUAL DESK Forget CERN genera ng ny black holes deep beneath the Alps and threatening to destroy the world. A new iPhone game is proposing to liven up the mind-numbing reality of an office job by le ng players take on a moderately more interes ng office job. The world’s days are probably numbered – expect to wake up soon, staring out from inside a screen. “Office Heroes turns normally mundane tasks like figh ng spam and sending faxes into a fun and rewarding game,” said William Fong, co-founder of New Jersey (where else?) based Astro Ape Studios. “Unlike your stagna ng real-world career, in Office Heroes you’ll be lounging in your posh corner office in no me – just in me for the new season of Mad Men.” The gameplay looks like a fairly appealing cross between the Sims and Theme Hospital. The aim is to complete tasks such as watching YouTube videos, dele ng spam, sending Twi er messages and generally being a produc ve member of the company. For your efforts expect to be rewarded by earning paperclips, although peanuts might be more appropriate.

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Paperclips can be used to buy new ou its – including trend-tas c op ons like pirate, vampire and ninja – purchase furniture and decora ons, and, eventually, even a move to a new oﬃce itself. The promise is that it will be much easier than progressing in real life, which is a relief.

“OFFICE HEROES TURNS NORMALLY MUNDANE TASKS LIKE FIGHTING SPAM AND SENDING FAXES INTO A FUN AND REWARDING GAME.” Making use of Facebook connect, you’ll be able to pop round to a friend’s oﬃce to help them with their job. Again the developers might have missed a trick, surely sabotaging their stapler would have been a lot more fun. But it does raise an interes ng point about Facebook expor ng gaming to mobile devices. It’s unlikely that Oﬃce Heroes will topple FarmVille as the casual game of choice, but there is clearly scope for the iPhone to make full use of social features combined with a more advanced graphics and gameplay.

NEWS

WORLD OF WARCRAFT: CATACLYSM CLOSED BETA TESTING BEGINS By far the most popular game on the market today, Ac vision Blizzard’s ﬂagship tle, World of Warcra , will be undergoing closed beta tes ng phases for its third expansion, en tled Cataclysm. “Our focus with Cataclysm has been to build on the knowledge we’ve gained through the previous expansions to deliver the best, most compelling World of Warcra content for our players to date,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Gathering focused feedback during the beta test will go a long way in helping us reach that goal when we launch Cataclysm later this year.” Rumoured to be released late 2010 in line with the current expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm looks set to bring about a higher level cap, vast changes to current content, two brand new races and improved spells, as well as addi onal skills and abili es across for all characters.

FINAL FANTASY XIV GIVEN A RELEASE DATE WE COULD SEE IT AS EARLY AS SEPTEMBER Square Enix have ﬁnally li ed the veil on the release date of its brand new upcoming MMO Final Fantasy 14 – announcing a worldwide release date on September 30th for players on the PC, with the PS3 following a erwards in March 2011. Monthly subscrip on fees have been set at $13 (no announcement made for the EU regarding prices yet) with addi onal characters on accounts cos ng another $3 per period per character. A Collector’s Edi on at $74.99 will be released a week before the worldwide release, containing a development DVD, a poster map, 30-day free trial, journal, security token, an oﬃcial FF14 tumbler, as well as free access to a guest account for a limited me (most likely a week). The standard edi on will cost $49.99.

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NEWS

BLIZZARD FORCED TO BACKPEDAL AFTER REAL ID INITIATIVE FALLS ON ITS FACE FANS REACT ANGRILY TO CALL FROM THE PUBLISHER TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES BY REAL LIFE NAMES Blizzard has become the latest in a long line of companies to trip up on privacy issues a er it tried to force gamers to use real life iden es on its forums. On July 6, the World of Warcra developer announced that it would be enforcing a real name policy on the game’s forums and those of Starcra II. By July 9, the company announced the new regime would be opt-in and not compulsory a er a s nging backlash by users. The stated aim of the policy was to prevent trolling – the hope being people would be far less likely to make a nuisance if people could track them down. What Ac vision-Blizzard apparently did not think of was that many users quite enjoyed their online privacy and did not want to e their WoW persona to their real life.

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The company very casually posted that some changes were in the air, apparently unaware of the bees-nest they were about to kick over. “Today, we wanted to give you a heads up about our plans for Real ID on our official forums, discuss the design philosophy behind the changes we’re making, and give you a first look at some of the new features we’re adding to the forums to help improve the quality of conversa ons and make the forums an even more enjoyable place for players to visit,” the official post read.

“THE FORUMS ERUPTED WITH CO PLAN WITH FANS CITING CONC POTENTIAL EMBARRASSMENT O JUST HOW MUCH TIME YOU SPE POTENTIAL RISKS IT WOULD POS

NEWS

The forums erupted with comments a acking the plan with fans ci ng concerns ranging from the poten al embarrassment of employers ﬁnding out just how much me you spent playing games to the poten al risks it would pose to children. To show what a good sport he was, moderator Bashiok revealed his true name to be Micah Whipple. To show how lousy the policy was, WoW players wasted no me at all tracking down his age, address, the fact that he lives at home with his mum and a picture of him in Cosplay.

OMMENTS ATTACKING THE CERNS RANGING FROM THE OF EMPLOYERS FINDING OUT ENT PLAYING GAMES TO THE SE TO CHILDREN.”

Within 72 hours of announcing the move, Ac vision-Blizzard posted again on the forums announcing its back-pedal. In a classic begrudging statement of the “we only did this because we thought it would be be er for you” kind, CEO and Co-Founder Mike Morhaime said, “We’ve been constantly monitoring the feedback you’ve given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we’ve decided at this me that real names will not be required for pos ng on official Blizzard forums.” He went on to add that the company values its players and hopes to con nue finding ways to improve the forums. The Real ID project s ll appears to be enabled so there is a good chance Blizzard will now look to find ways to tempt users to use it rather than forcing them to.

phonica magazine uk

PREVIEWS

FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS PUBLISHERS: BETHESDA SOFTWORKS DEVELOPERS: OBSIDIAN ENTERTAINMENT FORMAT: XBOX 360, PS3, PC AVAILABLE: OCTOBER 2010

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PREVIEWS BRIGHT LIGHT CITY GONNA SET ME GHOUL, GONNA SET MY GHOUL ON FIRE! My word, Fallout 3 was grim. It was a dark, nasty, intense, grey, exhaus ng and dour gaming experience, which sucked the player in and dragged them down into the unpleasant depths of post nuclear depression, un l every last task and act of despondent misery was completed. Don’t get us wrong, it was (and s ll is) an excep onal piece of RPG gaming, and although the recent expansions le a lot to be desired, Fallout 3 s ll remains one of the finest games we’ve played in recent years. But what the Fallout series really needed was some razzmatazz, some gli ery garnish, some colour, some flamboyant sparkle. What it needed was a weekend away in Las Vegas, baby! Road trip! Although Fallout: New Vegas follows on from the meline portrayed in Fallout 3, it is in no way connected with the previous tle. Fallout: New Vegas is a completely new, stand alone tle, that sets out to create new characters, new histories and most importantly, new experiences. The game starts when your character, an un-named courier transpor ng some highly prized yet top secret goods, is injured during an assassina on a empt. Under the care of a local caregiver, Doc Mitchell, your character recovers and sets off to hunt down his assassin, retake his goods, and explore the vast environment of New Vegas.

“IN FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS YOU CAN MOULD YOUR CHARACTER FROM THE START.”

As with Fallout 3, in Fallout: New Vegas you can mould your character from the start, crea ng him in either your own image, or as a fantasy character you’d like to portray. So, you could make him a do-gooder, and treat your me in New Vegas as a pilgrimage of karma-seeking goodness, or you could erect your character into a world-weary monster, and treat every red step with anger, aggression and spite. The choice is totally up to you, and as with the previous games, your decisions will go a long way to crea ng your reputa on in New Vegas. As expected with any sequel, a few fixes and dies have been implemented into Fallout: New Vegas. These changes are only minor modifica ons, such as the reworking of the menus, the inclusion of a Companion Wheel which allows for a greater tac cal element when dealing with co-op opera ons, and added special a ack in the hugely successful targe ng system, V.A.T.S. It’s also worth no ng that in Fallout: New Vegas, the art of conversa on has been reworked to incorporate more input from your designated skills. In Fallout 3, turning points in conversa ons were governed by chance, with the likelihood of success noted on the screen when asking for assistance, informa on or guidance from other characters. But in Fallout: New Vegas, this has been changed. So now your skills will determine which way the conversa on flows, and what op ons you have to take. This new method takes away that element of surprise and the buzz of the gamble, but overall it’s a much fairer system.

Overall Fallout: New Vegas looks set to be just as engaging, smart, involving and detailed as Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas looks set to be based around groups and if all goes to plan, we could have another great of fac ons; The New California Republic (NCR), Caesar’s 2010 tle to add to an already heavily stacked pile of gaming excellence. Hopefully Fallout: New Vegas will Legion, and the New Vegas fac on, as they wage war s ll maintain that grim atmosphere and sense of with one another and ba le for overall control of the wasted city. As you work your way around Vegas, you’ll isola on that’s made the previous games so exci ng, but also brings a li le sparkle to proceedings. have to work closely with each fac on, and build up a Viva New Vegas! reputa on so you can move on and work for others.

Sco Tierney

phonica magazine uk

PREVIEWS DEAD SPACE 2 PUBLISHER: ELECTRONIC ARTS DEVELOPER: VISCERAL GAMES PLATFORM: PS3, XBOX 360, PC AVAILABLE: Q1 2011

THE BEST GAME OF 2011? ARGUABLY, BUT IT’LL DEFIANTLY BE THE SCARIEST! As thrillers go, Dead Space is without doubt among the best – in a select group of tles that you can admit to whimpering or screaming at, without losing face in front of your friends because, well, they do it too. So what does Dead Space 2 hold in store? Following from behind the shoulder of the ﬁrst game’s hero, Isaac Clarke, the engineer who was tasked to answer a distress call on the starship USG Ishimura, Dead Space 2 carries on the storyline from the cli anger ending of the ﬁrst in the series.

“TIPPING THIS TO BE THE GAME OF THE YEAR ACROSS THE BOARD DOESN’T SEEM LIKE A FOOLISH WAGER.” Moving on from the conﬁned corridors of the Ishimura, Dead Space 2 sets the scene on a giant space sta on named “Sprawl”. With less of the claustrophobically scary spaces (and to be frankly honest, scary to a silly degree every me you have to turn a corner or open a door) and more of the wide expanses of the Sprawl, Visceral Games have taken an admirable stand against giving into tempta on and turning Dead Space 2 into something akin to the Halo series, with simple shoot-em-up ac on. Instead, it deﬁnitely looks like both aspects have been merged to great success.

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Isaac Clarke is now a ba le-hardened veteran (although s ll squeamish) and given the right weapons and the right controls, he can mow down Necromorphs with the air of a professional killing machine. Freshly armed with armaments such as his new Kineses ability (a sort of psychic, Gravity Gun-esque spell) Clarke can use the environment against the waves of monsters he faces, while the Javelin Gun fires spikes that impale Necromorphs and whatnot against walls and objects. An interes ng addi on is the ability for Clarke to use his engineering skills to turn on and off various generators during his travels – with the rather enjoyable result of zero gravity (or normal gravity). With new aliens such as the Puker – a nasty beast that vomits on you to slow you down – and the Pack - consis ng of waves and waves of, God help me, deformed and mutated children swarming towards you - every shot and every weapon counts. However, what sets apart Dead Space 2 from its market rivals is the return of the big cinema c sequences. Games don’t need to be full of firefights against various monsters to get our pulses running; not when players are confronted by a scene where they are helpless and separated from control, un l faced with a few fran c seconds to make the right decision, the right shot... or end up in a gruesome ending. Not to detract anything from any other tles on the scene today but Dead Space 2 will leave exactly that behind it – dead space. Tipping this to be the game of the year across the board doesn’t seem like a foolish wager – as of right now there is arguably nothing that comes close to the raw adrenaline rush that Dead Space 2 could possibly bring. Prepare your blankies people, you’re gonna need them. Paul Park

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PREVIEWS FABLE 3 PUBLISHER: MICROSOFT GAME STUDIOS DEVELOPER: LIONHEAD STUDIOS PLATFORM: XBOX 360, PC AVAILABLE: OCT 2010

TALKING ABOUT REVOLUTION A lot has happened in the world of Fable. The third instalment in the series, set 50 years a er the close of the second, sees a new king on the throne and the land of Albion slowly being thro led by his despo c ways.

The health bar – another RPG staple – is gone, replaced by a similar eﬀect common in FPS and other ac on games. If your character gets hurt, the view will start to turn red and fade out. Combat abili es are reﬂected in the appearance of weapons. In truth, most of the informa on players expect is s ll on display, only in a more subtle way.

The player starts out as the king’s brother, an adventurer, but one with a legi mate claim to the throne. The ﬁrst half of the game involves a quest to take power, before defending your newly acquired kingdom from a neighbouring na on.

The game’s crea ve director Peter Molyneux has long been interested in the idea of doing away with tradi onal interfaces, a emp ng to do so with mixed results in 2001’s

In the five decade interval, an industrial revolu on has swept across the con nent and the game will have a very different se ng: a mix of gunpowder and sorcery, with smokestacks and dark Dickensian ci es domina ng the landscape. While things might have changed plot wise, Fable III does a lot to build on its predecessor. Indeed, it comes hot on the heels (in game development terms, anyway) of the 2008 release. The graphics engine has not been radically overhauled but the gameplay has been considerably refined. Rather than char ng your quest with the always unconvincing idea of experience, the player’s progress is measured in terms of how many followers the hero has gained, fi ng neatly with the revolu onary theme. More followers means more power and they can be won or lost depending on how they are treated. In a similarly immersive vein, there are no menus and the player character has to find a changing room to switch items and powers.

“THE GRAPHICS ENGINE HAS NOT BEEN RADICALLY OVERHAULED BUT THE GAMEPLAY HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLY REFINED.” Black and White. But with the best part of ten years to work on the concept, things seem to be ge ng be er. Lionhead have managed to bring together a great cast of Bri sh voice actors. Stephen Fry will return and Jonathan Ross, John Cleese and Ben Kingsley are also set to feature, lending real weight to the game. New preview material was shown at this year’s E3 and Fable III is set for release on October 26th. Ian Duncan

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FEATURES

E3 2010 ALL THE FUN OF THE GAMING FAIR You’ve go a love E3; the bright lights, the noise, the passion for games, the big-name tles, the quirky underdogs, the levels of expecta on, the rumours, the stars, the failings; it’s a fes val for gaming and those that adore it. It’s like walking onto a gaming catwalk, as all those tall gaming super models swagger past, teasing you with their new, immaculate, pixel-based costumes, just begging you to have a peek underneath (or am I ge ng confused with a strip club again?).

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OK, so it may not be - as everyone will keep telling you - ‘as good as it used to be’, but it’s s ll the best games show outside of Japan, and s ll about as good as it gets. It’s where all the gossips starts and the rumours end. Every website, magazine and gaming voice will be feeding oﬀ the news that was exposed at E3 for the next few weeks. All the big names were there, the Valves, Ac visions, Nintendos, Segas and EAs, showing oﬀ their new toys, and en cing us with promises of what’s to come. Ahh, E3…

So, let’s ckle the vibe and wiggle the memories of those glorious few days. Who were the winners? What caused the biggest s r? What looked good? What looked embarrassing? Is Sonic really making a 2D comeback? Was Portal really that good? Why is everyone so obsessed with Assassin’s Creed again? All these ques ons and more will be answered in due course, as we run through the best and worst bits of E3 2010.

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FEATURES E3 2010 ROUND-UP: GAMES

As the biggest event on the gaming calendar, E3 never ever fails to delight, and this year’s conven on has seen some of the biggest names in the gaming industry come up with some gobsmackingly good tles - and it’s SO SO hard to pick a handful. Here’s a choice few (and please don’t crucify me if I haven’t added the game you were looking forward to!) Having taken gamers and developers by surprise in the past few years, MMOs have seen increasing popularity and growth. And this year, you can add the universally known and loved Star Wars series to the list. Knights of the Old Republic is part of a unique plotline that happened centuries before the movies, and BioWare have done their bit to revive the storyline with an MMO looking to combine the rich lore and background of one of the most popular sci-ﬁ series ever, with the depth that an MMO requires for sustainability. Whether they’ve succeeded or not, only me will tell.

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“WITH FEATURES SUCH AS DIFF FOR EACH WEAPON AND NEW ABILITIES LIKE SPRINTING, HAL DEFINITELY ONE TO LOOK OUT On the topic of universally known and loved series, The Legend of Zelda comes forward with a new tle – Skyward Sword – which truly fuses the ever-present Zelda series with the Wii Remote. Hacking and slashing at thin air in front of your TV like a luna c will never be the same again as the Wii is used to maximum eﬀect. With players being able to direct Link’s a acks combining haymaker slashes on their Wiimote with mely blocks on the nunchuck, or ﬂicking it to slam your buckler in your enemies faces – this Zelda tles looks like a blast.

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FERENT SHOOTING STYLES WLY DESIGNED ARMOUR O: REACH IS T FOR.” Moving on from the cartoonier to the darker side of games - FPS (first-person shooters) tles have had a massive surge of popularity following the growth of tles such as Call of Duty and Counter Strike. Call of Duty is back with Black Ops, a shooter set in the Cold War with varying storylines weaved around the ever-present mul player core. Exploring conflicts around the world during the Cold War era, players explore some of the more well-known conflicts such as Vietnam, with lesser known incidents such as infiltra ons into Russia by American forces. There’s a whole picnic basket more on Black Ops so check it out.

And what FPS review would be complete without a men on of the now-legendary Halo trilogy? Halo: Reach was on show this year, with the storyline set preceding the first two in the series. Following a SPARTAN squad ba ling for their lives on the last bas on of humanity, the fortress planet Reach, players blast their way through waves of invading Covenant forces on both the ground and in space – yes, that’s right, players can enter space ships with similar controls as current vehicles and blast Covenant fleets. With features such as different shoo ng styles for each weapon and newly designed armour abili es like sprin ng, Halo: Reach is definitely one to look out for. Probably where Halo got some of its influence from is Gears of War, the series following Marcus and Dom’s exploits against the growing Locust threat (and now Lambent, mutated versions of the Locust). Gears of War is back with a third instalment, throwing in 4-player co-op and 2 new female characters to play in Anya and Sam. New weapons, new baddies and many many explosions of all sorts, and a game mode tled “Beast” which lets players ba le as the Locust? Sounds like a perfect mix for a great night in with the lads.

phonica magazine uk

FEATURES E3 2010 ROUND-UP: GAMES

A new tle that could possibly make massive waves in the mul player scene is the arrival of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. New to the mul player scene as the previous tles have been singleplayer only, the campaign follows the exploits of the now-legendary assassin, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, ba ling against the Templar Order in Rome. However, this me he is not alone, and can now recruit assassins to his cause of bringing stability (ironic, no?), calling in support during missions. However, the mul player game mode is probably the most an cipated out of the two, and it looks like it won’t disappoint. Deathmatch makes its showing, with players given a target to kill (another player) and being the target of someone else in a bustling town full of NPCs. Extra points are given for various diﬀering types of kills – silent kills that no one sees nor hears earn the most XP – with the experience gained going to a levelling system much like the ones present in modern shooters like Call of Duty. Combining old and new features alike is never easy but Assassin’s Creed may have just pulled it oﬀ, subtlety as Ezio himself.

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Someone who is never subtle though – Peter Molyneux. Talking up the features of upcoming games is a regular pas me for him, but Fable III really does look pre y darn good. With ever-improved graphics and visuals, the Fable series has really taken open-world RPG to a new level, especially with its storyline of overthrowing the evil king and taking his place – which pre y much means free reign. Ditching the old emote menu and replacing it with a “context-sensi ve” trigger to react as the player wishes gives two beneﬁts – the emotes that the player does as a result makes sense, and also, gameplay is much quicker. The AI looks excellent and fantas c li le touches such as having weapons that are completely unique with every drop is a great addi on to an already strong series. Just brieﬂy, I have to men on Sonic 4 (more so because my editor is obsessed with it!). It’s back to basics for the blue one, as he returns to his 2D roots and sets about charging across some retro-styled levels at break-neck speed. The inclusion of a target mode – where Sonic can now target enemies and a ack automa cally – has caused a bit of a s r, but all in all it looks like Sonic is back. We’ll have more on Sonic 4 in a coming issue.

FEATURES

Last but not least, I had to sneak in a strategy... no, THE strategy game of 2010. Enter Starcra II: Wings of Liberty. The most an cipated RTS tle since the announcement was made years ago, the second chapter in the Starcra universe is finally coming to our screens. With the game now split into three different chapters for each race – the human Terran, alien Zerg and mysterious Protoss – the new tle completely revamps the experience that players had during the first in the saga, and its expansion pack. With the normal linear campaign mode replaced by a much more open Mass Effect-esque galaxy map with, missions to complete and distress calls to answer, players begin with access to only a limited amount of weaponry, but can expand their arsenal by comple ng missions. The mul player beta is currently underway and signs point to another possible 10 years of worldwide dominance of another sector in the gaming industry for Ac vision-Blizzard.

“COMBINING OLD AND NEW FEATURES ALIKE IS NEVER EASY BUT ASSASSIN’S CREED MAY HAVE JUST PULLED IT OFF, SUBTLETY AS EZIO HIMSELF.” Honourable men ons include Crysis 2, Mass Eﬀect 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Deus Ex: Human Revolu on, Batman: Arkham Asylum II, Li leBigPlanet 2, Medal of Honour and Final Fantasy XIV Online. A lot of tles obviously haven’t been men oned when they should have – to be quite honest we should just release an encyclopaedia on E3, shouldn’t we? Paul Park

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FEATURES E3 2010 ROUND-UP: BEST GAME

PORTAL 2 PUBLISHERS: VALVE CORPORATION DEVELOPERS: VALVE CORPORATION FORMAT: XBOX 360, PS3, PC AVAILABLE: 2011

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FEATURES E3’S BEST IN SHOW LOOKS SET TO BLOW OUR MULTI-DIMENSIONAL MINDS. Without a mul -angled, dimension warping, horizon mel ng, space- mecon nuum exploding doubt, Portal 2 was the star of this year’s E3. Although it had some hard compe on from Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, Sonic 4, Halo: Reach, Gears of War 3, not to men on countless other ‘big name’ tles, for us Portal 2 was the star, spirit and soul of the en re event. So let’s have a look at what was announced by Valve, and see just why Portal 2 scooped every award going. Portal 2 is set in the same claustrophobic, in mida ng and paranoid Aperture Science laboratories as the first game, although, a er hundreds of years of decay and dilapida on, the scene is very different indeed. As the lab has been le lying untouched by human hands for all that me, the structure has become overgrown with nature. Plants li er the floor, vines descend from the ceiling, and the once clinical decorum has been replaced with something far more alive and unhinged. It looks like a spectacular se ng, and one that we can’t wait to get lost in. But ‘ahh’ you may be thinking; if me has moved along hundreds of years, how come the central playable protagonist from the first game, Chell, is s ll involved? Well, thanks to some clever addi onal scenes and features, added to the original Portal via updates early this year, Valve has managed to fix this li le shortcoming. In the newly added final scene of Portal, as your character lies on the floor and watches the last moments of Aperture Sciences’ existence, you are dragged away by an unseen robot. In Portal 2, you become aware that you’ve spent the past few centuries in stasis, while the evil yet lovable mind of GLaDOS has been plo ng how best to awaken you. To be honest, it’s not the smartest plot-hole botch we’ve ever come across, but you’ve just got to turn a blind eye to it. And besides, when you experience the gameplay, you’ll forgive Valve for almost anything.

For Portal 2, Valve has taken their special brand of puzzle-based lunacy, and added a selec on of new ingredients. Heaven be thanked, the original Portal gun has remained untouched, so everything you learnt from the first game will stand you in good stead. But now the surroundings have changed drama cally, escaping those pesky puzzles has become a li le bit harder. Firstly, with the inclusion of air vents that create air currents, you can now redirect the wind in the direc on of any nearby turrets. Also, there is a new form of power running around the lab (Thermal Discouragement laser beams to be technical), that can be altered, posi oned and manipulated like you would with a laser. With the use of a nearby Redirec on Cube, you can mirror the beams around obstacles, thus solving any tricky problems. Add to this, spring-loaded pads (Aerial Faith Plates) and a shootable paint (Propulsion/Repulsion Gel) which lets you either move quicker over a surface or reach higher on a jump and you’ve got a lot of new tac cs to learn. Another factor that really stood out from the many Portal 2 snippets, was the co-op mode. Designed for two players, with each playing as a walking turret-esc robot with portal gun, you have to work together in an a empt to solve the fiendish puzzles. Luckily, you can speak to each other via a special voice applica on, so the argument of whose fault it was for not jumping at the right me can be quickly solved. Portal 2 looks tremendous. The se ng is brilliant, the new addi ons and tricks look to have added another layer to the already ingenious gameplay, the co-op mode could be a revela on, and overall, that twisted sense of humour from the first tle has been perfectly recaptured. Sadly, the only downer is that the expected release date of later this year has been cancelled, with a release not expected un l early next year at best. Trust Valve to put the brakes on at the last minute. Pesky Valve Time! Sco Tierney

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FEATURES E3 2010 ROUNDUP: HARDWARE

The big hardware story at E3 this year was the ﬁnal unveiling of Project Natal, Microso ’s answer to mo on-based control. Out with the stupid codename, in with the even worse product name: Kinect. It’s meant to be a fusion of kine c and connect but what it really is, is awful. Never mind, though, it’s only a name and fortunately the device looks pre y cool. Microso went to the trouble of bringing in Cirque du Soleil to hype up the concept behind their control system, which uses cameras to capture the mo on of the player’s body rather than the accelerometer-based methods used by Nintendo and Sony, whose Move mo on controller was also on show at this year’s event. The hardware is an array that sits on top of the Xbox 360 and the manufacturer is also claiming the device has facial gesture and voice recogni on capabili es.

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As any good developer would, they showed off the new technology using a Star Wars game, demonstra ng how you can draw a lightsabre and execute force powers. Some ques ons remain to be answered – most importantly, how do you move forward and backwards? The demo at E3 showed a few athle cs games with players hilariously running on the spot as the character moved forward without any apparent input. Even the otherwise impressive Star Wars clip appeared to show the character jumping forward to different encounters, and a blogger at Kotaku dismissed it as, “21st-century Rebel Assault”. S ll, the aim of the new gadget is to do what the Wii did for Nintendo and the launch event was heavy on family-friendly fun. They showed off yoga, a pe ng zoo and an athle cs game, all of which the Wii has already paved the way for.

FEATURES

Kinect is scheduled to launch on November 4 in North America, just in me for the Christmas rush, and later elsewhere, but as of yet no pricing informa on has been made available. Microso also took the opportunity to unveil a slimmed-down and face-li ed version of the Xbox 306 console. It will have an addi onal port that supplies power to the Kinect device – although Kincet will be compa ble with older hardware. The system went on sale during E3. Equally interes ng was Nintendo’s foray into the world of 3D gaming with the release of the 3DS (see what they did there?). The handheld uses the onboard camera to track the posi on of your head and create images that appear to be in three dimensions.

“SOME QUESTIONS REMAIN TO BE ANSWERED – MOST IMPORTANTLY, HOW DO YOU MOVE FORWARD AND BACKWARDS?” The console was demonstrated with Kid Icarus: Uprising, which lets you play a flying character and should make the most of the 3D as you swoop down canyons. The technology makes a virtue of the handheld’s in macy and should make for some pre y immersive gameplay despite the small screens and limited graphical capabili es. The release date for Nintendo’s latest offering is s ll not confirmed but it will be before the end of March 2011. Ian Duncan

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FEATURES RPG & ME THE LEVEL YOU KNOW... I’m sure every school had one. At mine, he was called Cameron Hill, and he had a faintly eccentric demeanour that just seemed right for the role of Dungeonmaster. More to the point, his folks had a few quid and were munificent in their a tude to paren ng, meaning Cameron owned all the AD&D books. Ah, the Player’s Handbook. More thrillingly, the Dungeonmaster’s Guide. Arcane rules that framed a world of D20s and painstakingly painted lead miniatures. This is where the world of RPG started for me and, like plenty of my genera on; it’s s ll irretrievably bound up in the swords and sorcery mythos. Oblivion was cri cised for being generic fantasy but for me, it felt just about right. Yes, the drip of loot and levelling is important, but without a story arc to give it cohesion, it’s just sparkly goodies strung out along a path. There have been a clutch of recent games that inspired this piece, each of them claiming to have imported the RPG trope into a fresh se ng. Borderlands hung its hat on the thrill of goodies, with every other target dropping an armful of shiny new toys. Never mind that the story itself was as memorable as a dogged goalless away draw for Bolton... the real story was your new atomic sniper rifle and the gentle upgrade tree. And, of course, the real brilliance: the understanding that adventuring is an awful lot more fun if you can do it in packs. Then came the news that Obsidian’s espionage romp Alpha Protocol wouldn’t be ge ng a sequel due to poor sales. Those that played it will remember that it started quite promisingly, but indifferent voice ac ng and a wildly inconsistent script marred its efforts to make more of dialogue choices. Poor old Obsidian have form here, although you’d think that their associa ons with Bioware would have given them more of an idea of how to cra an adventure.

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Where both these games fail, of course, is where the masters succeed. Knights of the Old Rebublic, Bioware’s magnum opus and s ll one of the high watermarks of game storytelling, cks all the boxes. A fantasy se ng? Check. Jedi Knights are Arthurian paladins by another name, a er all. Convincing characters? Take your pick. Whether you buy into chirpy Mission, acidic HK-47, dour Canderous or tortured Zaalbar, there’s a ﬁs ul of well-wri en faces to get to know. There’s loot and levelling aplenty. It even performs the supreme trick of taking you through a linear narra ve in what feels like a disparate, nuanced way. Genius. It even gives the Star Wars universe that touch of Tolkien. Just as the Lord of the Rings narra ve is forever referring back to far grander events, so KOTOR tears up the Star Wars rules we know by ﬂeshing out the wilder, more intricate and frankly - far more interes ng world of the Old Republic. Writer Drew Karpyshyn made Lucas’ world sexier than it had any right to be. It’s an amazing achievement.

“KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REBUBLIC, BIOWARE’S MAGNUM OPUS AND STILL ONE OF THE HIGH WATERMARKS OF GAME STORYTELLING.” On the face of it, then, it’s easy to see the thinking behind Borderlands, which taps into plenty of the compulsive behaviours that RPG fans nurture. As a game, it works really well. As a shooter, it’s competent and rewarding. For the RPG enthusiast - sad, socially inept souls that we are - it remains a pretender. Something that claims a mantle reserved for a diﬀerent, more measured, less twitchy style of entertainment. Rob Hobson

phonica magazine uk

FORGOTTEN GEMS:

BLOCK 130 FORMAT: PC RELEASED: 2000

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FEATURES REVIEWS I CAN SHAVE 10 SECONDS OFF THAT TIME, I SWEAR! Obsession, especially when it comes to video gaming, is a funny thing. For a me, all you can think about is that next level, that bigger boss, that be er weapon, that higher score, that cleaner hit, that hidden mission, that unlockable op on, that special powerplay, that perfect game, that quicker me, that longer leap, etc. It’s like a virus, a disease, which spreads into your brain and filters down into your thumbs, urging you to play just one more me in an a empt to achieve the unachievable. You can be be er this me, you can beat the game. So you go again, and again, and again, un l you’ve either beaten the game, or died trying. One such game, which brings out this obsession within me, is Block 130. Block 130 is essen ally nothing more than a cheap (not in price, as it’s free, but rather in quality), tacky, basic, scruffy rip-off of the classic tle we know as Breakout. You know the game; you hit a ball up the screen in an a empt to smash the varying pa ern of blocks above. You get hard blocks, so blocks, magne c blocks, blocks with prizes and blocks unbreakable. It’s very simple, and with only 50 levels on offer, Block 130 is not exactly long-las ng either. But what makes Block 130 so compelling, is the manner in which it urges you to race against the clock and compete against yourself. Of all Block 130’s 50 levels, most of them can be completed without hassle in less than thirty seconds, and a major propor on can be completed in fewer than five. Each level is a quick, fran c, balls-out blast, where you smash your way through as quickly as possible, and then move on to the next. You get 10 balls per level, if you lose all ten you have to redo that level, and to help you along (or hinder you, depending on the circumstances) there are all manner of bonus items. These bonus items are available when a pink block is broken, and the prizes range from massive balls, to unlimited balls, to a wider paddle, all the way to a paddle that covers the en re base. Get this, and you are on your way to a record breaking me.

Once you’ve powered through all 50 levels, you’ll be given your overall me. This is when I start to sweat, and pray that the past few minutes have been spent at least be ering my last a empt. My best me to date is 15minutes 51 seconds 91, which is pre y impressive if I don’t say so myself. But I know I can go faster, I know I can beat level 23 in under 20 seconds, I know I can beat that infernal me and go under the magical 15minute mark. I just know it. And that is what makes Block 130 more than just a crude li le game that no one has ever heard of. It challenges you every me you play, to just take a f ew more risks, push a li le harder, be a bit more aggressive. Next me, throw two balls up instead of just one, and see if you can half your me. Hey, why not go the whole hog and chuck them all up? It’s go a be quicker. Every me I come back for another go, I want to beat that me. That’s all that ma ers. Speed. Speed. Speed.

“ONE SUCH GAME, WHICH BRINGS OUT THIS OBSESSION WITHIN ME, IS BLOCK 130.” OK, so I’m going over the top, and just like any obsession, I’m the only one that’s aﬀected or consumed by it. I’m living in my own li le world of exploding blocks, bouncing balls and fran c mers. To anyone else, Block 130 is just a naﬀ li le game that they wouldn’t waste hard drive space on, but to me, it’s the be all and end all, the race, the hunt, the gaming Nirvana. The obsession. If you fancy a go at this wonderfully addic ve li le tle, and think you have the nerve to beat my me (I dare you!) then visit: interq.or.jp/tohoku/kenta/e/ download/block/block.htm Sco Tierney

phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS HTC WILDFIRE A BUDGET MOBILE FROM THE KINGS OF LUXURY HTC mobiles have one thing in abundance: class. They look great, they are superbly well cra ed, they are luxurious, they are reasonably rare when compared to the over-satura on of the iPhone, and they are remarkably pleasurable to use. They just have class wri en all over them, and although they are o en highly priced, you do get every single penny’s worth. But now we have a budget HTC mobile, the Wildfire, which seems to go against everything HTC stand for. At first glance, you’d be hard pressed to tell that the Wildfire was from HTC’s bargain range, as it has the demeanor of a top-bracket handset. It’s arguably not the best looking HTC we’ve ever come across, as it features the kind of dull browns last seen on the inside of a Aus n 1800, but the screen is nice and big, the build quality is sturdy, and overall it just has that impressive presence. But, move in a li le closer, and you’ll start to see the trimmed corners and budget shortcomings.

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Firstly, that screen is big, bright, colourful and touch-perfect, but it is a wee bit fuzzy. On videos and large pictures it’s bearable, but it does struggle with small text, especially when it comes to that found on a web page. It just can’t quite get produce that sharpness, that delicate crispness, which the rest of the HTC range, can. It’s also not the most responsive screen we’ve ever used. It’s not bad, but it can occasional ignore your eﬀorts for a response, especially when trying to process mul ple ac ons. There is a touch-sensi ve swatch just below the screen though, so you can revert back to that when needed. Sta cally, you’d be hard pushed to tell the HTC Wildﬁre had been constrained by a budget. The standby me of 690 hours is massive for a phone of this type, as is the 440mins of talk me. The answer of GRPS, 3G, HDSPA, Wi-Fi, FM radio, mul ple music playback formats and 3.5mm jack is a resounding ‘yes’, and the classic Android 2.1 is s ll the interface HTC have opted for. The 5MP camera is also very impressive, with both photos and videos looking crisp and clean despite the screens resolu on-based failings.

“IF YOU’RE ON A BUDGET, BUT STILL WANT TO PURCHASE A TOPSPEC SMARTPHONE, THE HTC WILDFIRE IS ABOUT AS GOOD AS IT GETS.” A feature that did impress us was the way in which the Wildﬁre allows you to merge your contact list with your Facebook and Twi er buddies. It’s a brilliant way of saving me, and if you do have a busy social life, and haven’t got the me to keep con nuously bouncing between several apps, it’s ideal.

A HTC Phone is like an Aston Mar n; cool, elegant, sophis cated and loved by everyone from grannies to hoodies. They have that untouchable yet definite ambiance, that aurora, that special something that makes them so compelling and undoubtedly classy. In a way, the HTC Wildfire is like the Aston Mar n Vantage; the baby Aston. It’s s ll a migh ly fast car, that has every bit of the charm that encapsulates the Aston Mar n range, but it’s a cheap (ish) Aston, built on a budget and sold to those that can’t afford the top-spec DB9. It’s the same with the Wildfire. It’s a fantas c phone, with supreme features, smart ac ons, startling build quality and streamlined looks, but it’s not quite up there with the Hero or the Desire. If you’re on a budget, but s ll want to purchase a top-spec smartphone, the HTC Wildfire is about as good as it gets. It’s the baby of the HTC range, so expect a few drawbacks, but for around £200, it’s a hard mobile to reject Sco Tierney

phonica magazine uk

BLACKBERRY PEARL 3G 9105 A GREAT MOBILE, BUT WHO DECIDED TO REMOVE THE QWERTY KEYBOARD?

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REVIEWS A soon as you think of a Blackberry, you think of one thing: a mobile with a QWERTY keyboard. That is what the Blackberry does best, that’s its biggest strength, its signature trick, that’s what makes a Blackberry a Blackberry. Even when we look at other phones from Nokia, Sony and Motorola, which have incorporated a QWERTY keyboard into their designs, we immediately refer back to the Blackberry as the watermark for this type of input system. So why, in the name of all that is holy, have Blackberry done the unthinkable and gone and released a standard numerical phone? The Blackberry Pearl 3G 9105 is just plain strange. When I first saw it, I had to check and then re-check to confirm it was actually a Blackberry. It’s a very nice looking phone, with delicate lines, a solid feel, some sexy curves and the superb addi on of several dedicated music keys at the top, but that standard numerical keypad just looks out of place. It shouldn’t be there. But maybe we’re missing the point, and maybe the Blackberry Pearl 3G 9105 is actually a very good phone, but just a li le confused? Well, the 9105 is remarkably easy to use. It incorporates the same menu system and general interface as the rest of the Blackberry range, and although the menus can be about as interes ng as a soggy tea towel, they’re s ll perfectly pleasant to navigate. As the 9105 isn’t a touchscreen, you’ll have to use the touch-sensi ve trackpad on the front. This is fine though, as it’s extremely precise and responsive, and although there’s always a concern (for me, anyway) that it’s going to break and you’ll be le without any ability to input or use your phone, it’s a great feature nonetheless. As the Blackberry Pearl 3G 9105 is all about social networking (even though, if that’s the case, why have they dispensed with the keyboard?) there are plenty of apps and features to help you keep track of your personal status. Facebook and Twi er apps are available, the standard Blackberry email and chat applica ons come as standard, and the 3.2MP camera – with flash- is highly impressive.

Another Godsend, especially for all music lovers, is the 3.5 audio socket. One thing that drives us insane here at Phonica UK is when we are forced to use the sub-par ear phones that come as standard ones with a phone, because the manufacture in ques on won’t let you use your far superior headphones instead. But on the 9105, you can listen to your music properly, without having to suﬀer using the Pound Land version of a headphone. That said, the jack input is located on the le side of the phone, so you’ll run the risk of snapping your jack as you squeeze it into your pocket. Not the smartest piece of design in history…

“IT’S A VERY NICE LOOKING PHONE, WITH DELICATE LINES, A SOLID FEEL, SOME SEXY CURVES AND THE SUPERB ADDITION OF SEVERAL DEDICATED MUSIC KEYS.” Other features that are worthy of a men on are Google Maps, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G, an impressive standby me of 432 hours and a gentle weight of only 93g. It’s a shame that an FM radio isn’t included, and that the standard interface is star ng to grind a li le a er all these years, but overall, there’s plenty to love and li le to loath. The Blackberry Pearl 3G 9105 is a very sturdy, social-orientated mobile. It has solid features, the impressive built quality we’ve always admired from Blackberry, the 3.5 jack is awkwardly placed but a hugely appreciated addi on, and, surprisingly, we actually like the 9105’s design. But we s ll can’t get our heads around the keyboard. Why have Blackberry gone to all that trouble of making a mobile that is primarily aimed at tex ng, emailing and cha ng, and then removed the QWERTY keyboard? It’s such a strange decision, which despite endless hours of contempla on, discussion, debate, experimenta on, medita on and hypnosis, we s ll can’t ﬁgure out. It has to go down - along with ques ons such as ‘why are we here?’, ‘is their life out there?’ and ‘why do men have nipples?’ - as one of the all me unanswerable ques ons. Just plain weird… Sco Tierney

phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS NOKIA C3 A CUTE LITTLE MOBILE, BUT IS IT TRYING TOO HARD? If there’s one thing I dislike, is someone in a suit trying to be cool. The epitome of this hatred is that banking advert, where the ‘hip’ and ‘trendy’ bankers are having a chuckle in a radio studio. It makes me cringe, as they try to act amusingly in the most PC constrained manner possibly imaginable, in an a empt to make their bank seem ‘fun’ and ‘funky’. God, they make me sick. If their make-believe ‘Bankers FM’ radio sta on did exist, I’d spend the rest of eternity prank-calling them, un l my voice was horse and my phone bill stretched out beyond the galaxy…that blonde one is quite cute though…she could spill her tea over me any me…anyway, the phone. The Nokia C3; what’s it like? The Nokia C3 is a cheap messaging phone, which takes the best parts of the Blackberry and Nokia’s other upmarket handsets, and tries to make them cool. It’s not the most advanced or classy mobile we’ve ever seen, nor is it the most glamorous in Highlighter Pink, but at around £100, you can’t argue with the price. Firstly, let’s look at the pros, and then move onto the cost-cu ng-cons.

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As the Nokia C3 is aimed primarily toward those with busy social lives, the keyboard is going to have to be good. This it is. The keys are maybe a li le small for some, but they are superbly easy to use and u erly graceful. They have a lovely rounded feel, like a collec on of ny purple grapes, and within moments you’ll become accustomed to using them at high speed. Other pros that cause a surprise at such a low price are the impressive music playback, the varied and extensive range of features, the addi on of Wi-Fi and a very impressive build quality.

“YOU DO GET WI-FI, BUT WHEN AWAY FROM A LOCAL HUB, THE INTERNET IS SLUGGISH.” Design-wise, it all depends on what colour you go for. To be frank, in pink the C3 is disgus ng. We could have tolerated the pink if it was set against a li le glimmer of white, or if at least they’d tried to vary the tones of pink, but it’s just too overpowering for our taste. It is available in either silver or gold, with the gold version looking par cularly swarve. The screen is very nice also, and despite a measly size of 2.4 inches, and a dis nc ve lack of punch, it’s s ll manageably sharp.

But now we come to the challenges with the C3, which can be mainly a ributed to the cost cu ng on Nokia’s part. The first major casualty is 3G, which has been removed to keep the cost down. As already stated, you do get Wi-Fi, but when away from a local hub, the internet is sluggish. The interface also leaves a lot to be desired, feeling old and dated before you’ve even delved into the menus. And without a touch screen, it’s not the most enjoyable task either. Also, the 2MP camera is disappoin ng, due to a lack of flash and some very iffy picture quality, the memory is scarce at 55MB (although is some cases, Vodafone do include a 2GB memory card) and the ba ery life can only just manage two and a half days.

Overall, the Nokia C3 is a cheap phone for those who like to keep up with the text-based gossip, and have a bit of fun networking online. The keyboard is great for tex ng, the build quality is more than respectable, and despite a few shortcomings and missing elements, you won’t be le disappointed. But the C3 tries to be ‘fun’, without actually being so. Like those horrible adverts I men oned at the start, underneath the snazzy paintwork, jolly appearance and funky features, the Nokia C3 is just a business phone. It’s a cheap, brightly coloured Blackberry at the end of the day, and although it tries to en ce you in with its awkward and forced laid-back approach, it’s just not cool. It should just do its job, and stop pretending to be funny, just like those bankers in that advert. ‘Hello, Bankers FM…YOU SUCK!’ Sco Tierney

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REVIEWS ALCATEL OT-808 A FEW GLARING OMISSIONS LET THIS LOVELY LADY DOWN. I like a mobile that’s a bit different, outside of the norm, a li le bit wacky. For a brief period I owned the Nokia 7380; a mobile that looked like a giant mirrored lips ck that had had 2001’s HAL glued needlessly to the side. The reason – it should be noted – that I had it for such a short period, is that it was, undeniably, rubbish. Its ba ery lasted as long as the average cough, the screen was useless if there was a glimmer of light in the room, the speaker quality was appalling, it had no keys so tex ng was excrucia ng, and it would o en disconnect during calls, just for a laugh. It was a horrible phone, and having just seen the new Alcatel OT-808, I think we might have just found it a stable mate. When first seeing the Alcatel OT-808, you’ll be struck by how intriguing it looks. Firstly, it’s...well, square. It has a glossy silver/pink body, that’s mildly reflec ve and smooth, which makes it look a li le like a ladies makeup pad. Also, you’ll no ce that the digital clock on the front is set at an angle across the face of the phone, so when it is displayed, the Alcatel OT808 looks like a pink diamond. So how does it open? Well from looking at it, you’d expect it to swivel open like an early morning flower stretching its petals. Or maybe it’ll revolve and split like a futuris c piece of alien technology? But sadly, it just flips open on the right, like a 50s cigare e case…oh. A er the disappoin ng opening, you’ll find inside a rather unimpressive screen, and a basic but usable QWERTY keyboard. The screen itself is very underwhelming, as although it has a nice contrast of colours and a solid display of resolu on, it is pi fully small and overly framed by the casing. That said, the menus are very nice, and although the overall interface isn’t spellbinding, we found it to be easily manageable if a li le confusing at mes.

With the QWERTY keyboard, you’d expect that the Alcatel OT-808 would be the ideal phone for tex ng and social networking; that’s what it’s designed and marketed for at the end of the day. Well you’d be half right, as that keyboard is great. But oddly, the Alcatel OT-808 lacks Wi-Fi and 3G. It seems a strange choice, as surely the whole point of having a keyboard is so you can make full use of buddy sites such as Facebook and Twi er? But without a solid web connec on that both Wi-Fi and 3G could have provided, you’ll find that connec ng and surfing the web is mely as well as frustra ng. Other features such as the low-res 2MP camera without flash, the low-par 80 MB memory (SD card can be added), the low quality music playback and the lack of a GPS receiver, go to show that the Alcatel OT-808 is not a par cularly well stocked or a well produced mobile. The Alcatel OT-808 reminds me of that dreadful Nokia 7380 I briefly owned for a few infuria ng days, before I hurled it into the sea and brought a sensible handset that actually worked. It has a dis nc ve, overly cute and hugely likable design, and it definitely has a certain charm, but the Alcatel OT-808 is let down by terrible features, cheap quality and the da omissions of Wi-Fi and 3G. It’s not an overly bad phone, but it is definitely style over substance. But despite that, I s ll love it, just because it’s a bit quirky, a bit weird, and most importantly, it’s different. I wouldn’t buy one, as it’s a phone for the most ladylike of ladies, but I would s ll be tempted, regardless of the flaws and the glances I’d get down the pub. Sure, I’m a sucker for an oddity, and it’d probably end up with its good friend the 7380, at the bo om of the sea. But I’d rather have the Alcatel OT-808 over a drab, lifeless, cold and soulless mobile, any day of the week. Buy hey, that’s just me. Sco Tierney

phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

CHESS CLASSICS PLATFORM: iPHONE & iPOD TOUCH GENRE: BOARD & CARD GAMES AVAILABLE: NOW

CHALLENGE THE BRAIN Being a chess player since in college I couldn’t resist purchasing this game from the iTunes App Store. Chess is a classic board game by which two players engage with the aim of capturing the opponent’s King (known as checkmate). While the game itself needs no dressing the cool calming colours and background music of this game sets the mood for preparing the mind for the task ahead. Before commencing a game you can do some customising, with four themes to choose from for your chessboard: Classic Wood, Mechanical, Glass or Tribal. I opted for Classic Wood and the clock started cking. Now, I don’t lay claim to being a chess expert or Master, but I’m skilled enough to play a great game. The AI for this game is exceedingly diﬃcult, to the point you feel there is no way you will ever win! Stalemate never works in your favour. It’s either you win, lose or abandon the game. Yes, Chess is a mentally s mula ng game that helps improve your thinking capacity and ability as you play (supposedly), but the computer is like the wicked witch of the west...show no mercy, defeat you at any cost.

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The controls for the game are great. Its smoothness compliments every aspect of the game (other than the wicked AI!) and does its best to ease your pain of repeated defeat. It also has a camera view feature, which gives you the op on to shi the view of your chess board 360˚. For the faint hearted you can opt to play another person, but they must be present as there is no online player func onality, something that Gamelo should seriously consider. Quiz mode and Classic Games are two other modes that could help break the monotony of your failed a empts at winning.

“THE COMPUTER IS LIKE THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST...SHOW NO MERCY, DEFEAT YOU AT ANY COST.” Out of 411 games played I won 17, drew 9, lost 160 and embarrassing abandoned 225 in fear of losing and frustra on. In spite of this I s ll love Chess Classics. It’s a great feeling when you do actually win against the Computer. Deﬁnitely worth buying! Kevin Leonce

REVIEWS

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REVIEWS SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 PUBLISHERS: NINTENDO DEVELOPERS: NINTENDO FORMAT: WII AVAILABLE: NOW

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REVIEWS MORE OF THE SAME…BUT IN A GOOD WAY! A er spending the past few weeks exploring the grim, aggressive and threatening landscape of Red Dead: Redemp on, we needed a pick-up, something to put the smile back on our sun burnt, world-weary portraits. Don’t get us wrong, we adored Red Dead, and shoo ng bandits repe vely in the face (in slomo on no less) made us grin from ear to sun-crisped ear. But at the end of the day, the heat of the desert can do strange things to a man, and we needed to just chill-out and have some cool, comfor ng, brow-soothing fun. And what be er way to do so than to fire up the always friendly Wii and pop-in the hugely an cipated pla ormer, Super Mario Galaxy 2. Ah, we feel be er already. Super Mario Galaxy was one of the finest pla ormers for a good while, and a shot in the arm not only for the genre, but also the Wii. With its mix of ac on, puzzling, charm and innova on, Super Mario Galaxy was everything you could ever want from a game, and it s ll remains arguably the best tle on the Wii today. But it’s fair to say that this new sequel takes it to another level, and excels in the areas that the original may have been lacking. As usual with almost every Mario tle, Princess Peach has gone and go en herself kidnapped, and yep, you guessed it, Bowser is to blame. But Bowser is not his usual self, and thanks to the magical powers of the strange Star creatures which have just fallen from the sky, he’s grown to gigan c propor ons, and has whisked the Princess off into outer space. So Mario does what he does best, and with the help of the Stars, he takes chase into the galaxy, in search of Peach and adventure. A simple plot, but it works superbly well, and es together the gameplay without ever interfering with the ac on.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, diversity is king. Every single level takes a new spin on the simple aspect of pla orming, and demonstrates how much life there s ll is in this old agile dog. There are too many excellent moments to men on, as when you think the game has peaked and the innova on has reached its limits, another level will be served up, oﬀering more variety and extraordinary thrills than the last. One level for instance, is based around diﬀering sec ons of gravity, with parts of the level being upside-down and others working sideways (it’s easier to play than explain!). As you work towards your target of the illustrious golden star, you’ll have to use your wits and experience, making full use of the excep onal controls to conquer the inverted landscapes and mirrored pla orms. Tricky, hugely enjoyable and rewarding.

“EVERY LEVEL IS A PRIVILEGE TO PLAY, AND ALTHOUGH SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 IS A SIZABLE GAME YOU NEVER FEEL AS IF YOU’RE DOING THE SAME THING TWICE. “ Super Mario Galaxy 2 is simply divine, largely thanks to its charm, imagina on and diversity. Every level is a privilege to play, and although Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a sizable game with an almost unlimited replay factor thanks to the hidden items challenge modes, you never feel as if you’re doing the same thing twice. Each separate level has its own challenges and tricks, and when you mix all these excep onal mini levels together, along with some wonderful visuals and revisited retro tunes, you get an overall game that is prac cally perfect, and deﬁantly essen al. Thank you Mario, our brows have never been so soothed. Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 19/20 STORY: 19/20 CONTROLS: 19/20 GAMEPLAY: 20/20 DURABILITY: 19/20

OVERALL

96/100 phonica magazine uk

COMPETITIONS

WIN A COPY OF

SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 IN THIS ISSUE ONE LUCKY READER COULD WIN A COPY OF SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2

THIS GAME COULD BE YOURS! ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!

COMPETITION RULES JOIN OUR GROUP ON FACEBOOK; SEARCH FOR PHONICA MAGAZINE UK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @PHONICAMAGUK. EMAIL YOUR FULL NAME, ADDRESS, EMAIL AND MOBILE CONTACT, ALONG WITH YOUR TWITTER USERNAME TO PHONICACOMPETITIONS@PHONICAMAGAZINE.CO.UK. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. Terms and Condi ons (1)The prize is one copy of Super Mario Galaxy (2) No cash or other prize alterna ves are offered. (3) All entries must be received no later than 20th August, 2010. The winner would be no fied within 7 days of this date and will be published in the following issue. (4) The Editor’s decision is final. (5) Compe on open to UK residents only, except employees of Phonica Magazine UK.

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phonica magazine uk

GREEN DAY: ROCK BAND PUBLISHERS: MTV GAMES DEVELOPERS: HARMONIX, DEMIURGE STUDIOS FORMAT: XBOX 360, PS3, WII AVAILABLE: NOW

MORE OF THE SAME…BUT IN A BAD WAY

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REVIEWS Last year we were swamped in a never-ending sludge of repe ve and red guitar-based games. The Beatles Rock Band was easily the best, and to be fair, a remarkable game in every aspect, but apart from the Fab Fours’ superb ou ng, every other tle, whether it be Guitar Hero 5, Lego Rock Band, Guitar Hero: On Tour or Guitar Hero: Van Halen, was one and the same. So here we are, mid-way through 2010, and the sludge of the guitar game is back, and this me, it’s green. Be er get the wellies… To be honest, there’s nothing new or enterprising in Green Day: Rock Band, and it’s fair to say that an extend review would only be a waste of your me. The gameplay is the same as in previous Rock Band games, with the standard Quickplay feature available for brief blasts and party picks, while the Career Mode lets you play through the catalogue of Green Day classics as you watch the band grow. You can either play lead guitar or bass, or if you think you have the tonsils, vocals via a mic is also an op on. One thing that should be highlighted regarding Green Day: Rock Band is the excellent art direc on. The whole backstreet-graﬃ style works superbly, and goes a long way to capturing the rebellious backbone of the band. Overall though, this is more of the same without any real shocks or surprises. The track list is solid, the interac on with the crowd is arguably the best it’s ever been, but the game is ﬂawed in the fact that there are too few stadiums and arenas to perform in. Green Day: Rock Band is a decent game, and to give it it’s dues, the best since the outstanding The Beatles: Rock Band, but overall it’s just another guitar game that copies the standard template and pastes without ingenuity, imagina on or a sense of risk. Sco Tierney PRESENTATION: 18/20 STORY: 12/20 CONTROLS: 17/20 GAMEPLAY: 15/20 DURABILITY: 13/20

OVERALL

75/100 phonica magazine uk

NO MORE HEROES 2: DESPERATE STRUGGLE

PUBLISHERS: RISING STAR GAMES DEVELOPERS: GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE FORMAT: WII AVAILABLE: NOW AN EXTENDED CELEBRATORY MIDDLE FINGER TO VIDEO GAMING

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REVIEWS Imagine the scene: A Wii console sits merrily on a grassy hill, under the gentle shade of a tender apple tree. The summer sun is glowing, the birds are singing, and the Wii is picking flowers for its sweetheart, the bright eyed Nintendo DSi. This scene perfectly sums-up the Wii as the family-friendly, cute and adorable console Nintendo have designed it to become, and how it is portrayed within the media and Nintendo’s adver sing. But now go back to that same summer hillside, and imagine this: The Wii rubs its li le white tummy, and starts to feel slightly peculiar. It feels faint, it sweats a li le, and it feels as if something is moving around behind its plas c casing. Suddenly, Travis Touchdown bursts out of the Wii in a violent spray of blood and sha ered chips. He then proceeds to cut down the blood-soaked apple tree, urinate on the flowers, kicks the trembling Wii in the face, and beheads all the now screaming birds. If there was an advert to perfectly capture the essence of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, this would be it. The original No More Heroes tle, released back in 2008, was an excep onal piece of punk gaming that went against everything the Wii stood for. It was nasty, coarse, repulsive, needlessly violent, but above all, tremendous fun. The sequel is very much more of the same, which in turn is both a good and a bad thing, as although it’s great to see the rough charm of the first game remain, it would have been nice to have seen a few updates and improvements. As in the first game, our foul-mouth hero, Travis Touchdown, is figh ng tooth-and-broken-nail in an a empt to climb the assassin rankings and regain his No.1 spot. A er walking away from the sport (if you can call it a sport?), Travis is now back, and he means business. But this me he’s got a rather more unpleasant mo ve, as one of his best buddies has been murdered by a mysterious gang. Seeking revenge, Travis starts at the bo om of the rankings, in 50th place, and begins his hack-and-slash-based climb to the top. To a certain extent that’s the main plot of the game, but luckily there are enough diversions and extra ac vates to make the journey more than pleasant.

If you enjoy a lot of mindless bu on-mashing, then you my friend are in luck. With no block op on, and a lack of any sense of tac cal staging, No More Heroes 2 encourages you to rush in at full lt and lay down as much carnage as possible. Most of the ac on takes place with a trusty laser sword in hand, with controls laid out around the Wii’s mo on sensors. Primary a acks with the sword are dispatched via the A bu on, swi kicks to the face with B, and for obscene finishing moves you’ll be prompted to slice with a quick swing of the remote. The controls are simple but very effec ve, although a major flaw is the posi oning of the camera, which is a constant frustra on as well as a hindrance to the fun. To quickly describe the problem; it’s never facing in the right direc on, and if a few obstacles or objects happen to get between you and the camera, you’re all but blind. If you get red of chopping off baddies’ limbs (can’t see how) then there are a wide selec on of mini-games to keep you entertained. These eight li le gems are a celebra on of the classic 8-bit tles of the late 80s (as to a certain extent is the whole of No More Heroes) and in a way they’re more fun than the actual game itself. A par cular favorite is the steak flipping game, where you have to cook steaks to perfec on, or be punished with a flying fork to the head. God bless the 80s. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is a raucous OTT ride, laced with smart in-jokes, comical violence and retro parody. It may not be perfect, with the camera flaws and repe ve nature causing a few stubbles. But otherwise, it’s a brilliantly vulgar tle that serves up exactly what the Wii needs to remedy it’s overpowering cuteness; bloody violence. If you do buy No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, you’ll have a washed up graffi -coated whale of a me, but if not, I’ll leave you with this cracking slice of dialogue from the man they call Touchdown. “Everyone deals with death differently. Some **** at funerals, I cut off heads.” How can you dislike a game that has dialogue of that quality? Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 17/20 STORY: 17/20 CONTROLS: 17/20 GAMEPLAY: 17/20 DURABILITY: 17/20

OVERALL

85/100

phonica magazine uk

MONKEY ISLAND 2: LECHUCK’S REVENGE: SPECIAL EDITION PUBLISHERS: LUCASARTS DEVELOPERS: LUCASARTS FORMAT: XBOX 360, PS3, PC, iPHONE, iPOD TOUCH AVAILABLE: NOW phonica magazine magazine uk uk 54 phonica

REVIEWS IF A WOODCHUCK COULD CHUCK WOOD, WOULD A WOODCHU…OH SHUT UP! Last year’s revitalized version of Monkey Island was without doubt one of my favorite moments of 2009. Seeing that old classic point-and-click once again, brought back past glories with a new lick of paint and an added soundtrack, it was beau ful. It was like seeing your Grandad clamber out of his wheelchair, dust himself off, and tap dance around all four walls of the room, thanks to the powers of modern medicine; magical. And now that Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge has been given the same ‘Special Edi on’ treatment; we just can’t wait to get that magical feeling again. But hang on… what’s up with the controls…why can I now control Guybrush separately? Has the world gone mad?! I’ll keep this short and sweet, as re-reviewing and re-explaining a nearly 20 year old game would be a waste of both your and my me, and chances are you’ve already played Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. So what’s the point? The game starts out with our faithful pirate wanna-be, Guybrush, dangling precariously from a rope in the middle of a cave. As Elaine arrives to give some sarcas c help, Guybrush fills her in on the past few months and from there we flashback and start from the moment of narra on. It’s a cracking tale, filled with the classic Monkey humor, parody and chortle charms. But how has the new lick of painted effected the game?

“THE BIGGEST NUISANCE IS THE WAY IN WHICH GUYBRUSH IS MANEUVERED.” In the most part, the reworked graphics, added music, voice ac ng and reworded anima on haven’t affected Monkey Island 2 in the slightest. Beneath that layer of digital paint, it’s s ll the same classic adventure we know and adore. But LucasArts have needlessly fiddled in a few places. Firstly, like in the first game, you can switch back to the original version of Monkey Island 2 (bulging pixels and all), and play it as you did 20 years ago. But, if you fancy mixing up the different formats, you can now have the voice ac ng added to the standard version. Personally I prefer it as it was, but each to their own.

There are also a few other li le changes, such as revised 3D models, making the characters move around with greater ﬂuidity and realism, and the menus have also been adjusted, so on the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, you have to suppress the triggers to reveal your items and select op ons. Why LucasArts felt the need to do this is beyond me, as it’s a far more awkward system than the last Special Edi on and the original games. Why overcomplicate it? But the biggest nuisance - one that drives me to near tears whenever I leap back foolhardily into Monkey Island 2 - is the way in which Guybrush is maneuvered. The standard method for moving in any point-and-click, is to point, and - yes that’s right - click. If you wanted Guybrush to explore the local Tavern, or walk across the beach in search of a clue, you just pointed where you wanted him to go, and he’d automa cally oblige. But now - for no sensible or explainable reason - you have to control Guybrush separately via the le s ck (for console versions), while you point the cursor with the right. Why? It doesn’t work. It doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t make life any easier. It’s just WRONG! Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge: Special Edi on is a fantas c revisit of one of the all me great adventure games. The visuals look tremendous, the voice ac ng is corking, the music is as toe-tapping as ever, and the charm that made the original games so special is s ll there in abundance. It’s just a shame that LucasArts had to go and ruin it with that pointless, irra onal, infuria ng and u erly stupid decision to change the controls. They don’t work, and they go against the very essence of poin ng and clicking. Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 14/20 STORY: 16/20 CONTROLS: 18/20 GAMEPLAY: 18/20 DURABILITY: 18/20

OVERALL

84/100 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

LEGO HARRY POTTER: YEARS 1–4 PUBLISHERS: WARNER BROS DEVELOPERS: TRAVELLER’S TALES FORMAT: ALL FORMATS AVAILABLE: NOW

PUTTING THE MAGIC BACK INTO LEGO The Lego games have taken a bit of a downward step lately. A er the brilliance of Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman, we were served the disappoin ng follow-ups of Lego Indiana Jones 1&2, and the pre y dire Lego Rock Band; games that le one with the feeling that the series was running out of ideas. But this new entry, which tells the block-based story of the loveable Harry Po er, looks to have rekindled the magic and charm that made those early adventures so enjoyable. As with previous Lego games, Lego Harry Po er lets you play through certain memorable moments from the ﬁlms. In this case, it’s the ﬁrst four ou ngs in the Po er series, which are the Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone for our American chums) Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire. As you’d expect, it’s very much the same mix of pla orming, tongue-and-cheek gags, puzzle solving and block hun ng, but whereas the past few tles have felt red, worn and weary, Lego Harry Po er feels fresh and alive.

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This new sense of freshness is largely thanks to the excep onal job that Traveller’s Tales have done in recrea ng not only the se ng and characters of the Harry Po er films, but also the magic and charm. As you walk around the grounds of Hogwarts, you’ll be struck by how alive the whole place feels. There are wizards and students walking around causing mischief, the pain ngs beckon your a en on and reward you with hidden prizes, hidden entrances open-up as you uncover more spells, and almost everywhere you look, there’s something to be unlocked or discovered. It’s a great se ng to explore between missions, and if you do lose your way around the maze that is Hogwarts, you can always count on a friendly ghost to lead you to your next mission. One problem that has always bugged Lego games is the complexity or overly fiendish nature of the puzzles. In Lego Indiana Jones 2, the gameplay would o en grind to a halt as you tried to solve a puzzle that was simple in theory, but blighted by the lack of any signpos ng or explanatory solu on. Thankfully, in Lego Harry Po er, this seems to have been fixed, and the puzzles are now far simpler yet s ll as enjoyable. That said, there are s ll a few occasions when you’ll get stuck in a room for hours, only to find that the solu on was so contrived it would have been impossible to solve without the aid of mind altering drugs or a concussion.

REVIEWS

“WHEREAS THE PAST FEW TITLES HAVE FELT TIRED, WORN AND WEARY, LEGO HARRY POTTER FEELS FRESH AND ALIVE.”

Overall, Lego Harry Po er is a fantas c li le pla ormer, which excels thanks to its wonderful charm and accurate portrayal of the original ﬁlms. The gags are funny, the levels are smart and rewarding, and although there are s ll a few enjoyment blockades thanks to the overly complex puzzles, they are a massive improvement over the past incanta ons. Where the previous Lego games have failed, Lego Harry Po er makes up in every department, and thanks to all these li le addi ons and reﬁnements, it has to be ranked alongside Lego Star Wars as one of Lego’s best. Sco Tierney

As Harry Po er is all about the magic, in the game you’ll have to manage a large quan ty of magical spells. The majority of the me you’ll use the standard spell that can zap baddies and move objects, but you also get such whimsical goodies as an invisibility cape, a light for scaring away nasty plants, and a wand for blas ng other such spooks. You’ll also get to play as diﬀering characters, such as Ron’s Rat, who can come in handy when tasks require a trip down a small pipe. Another worthwhile addi on is the level editor tool, which is similar to that found in Lego Indian Jones 2, but far more reﬁned.

PRESENTATION: 17/20 STORY: 18/20 CONTROLS: 18/20 GAMEPLAY: 17/20 DURABILITY: 18/20

OVERALL

88/100

phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

UFC UNDISPUTED 2010 PUBLISHERS: THQ DEVELOPERS: YUKE’S FORMAT: XBOX 360, PS3, PSP AVAILABLE: NOW

BEING KNOCKED COLD FEELS A LITTLE…COLD. If you’re not an avid viewer of the mixed mar al arts extravagance that is UFC (Ul mate Figh ng Championship), chances are you’ll have seen one of those brilliant ‘Top 10 Knockout’ videos on YouTube. You know the thing; people ge ng kicked in the face, thrown to the ﬂoor, chocked, poked, punched in the guts, elbowed in the cranium, snapped in two then fed into a wood chipper, spraying their juices over a cheering and gargling crowd; all good fun. Well, if you want to do some of those grizzly acts I’ve just men oned (minus the snapping and wood chipping, that was a joke…sadly), then the newest edi on in the UFC series has arrived, all oiled up and looking for a whooooooping. Let’s get it on!

“IT’S A GREAT GAME, BUT IT’S O TRICKY, WITH ENDLESS LISTS OF MOVES, THAT ALTHOUGH PROV DEPTH, SUCK THE FUN OUT OF T

UFC 2010 has a made quite a few changes over last years excellent incarna on, UFC 2009 (obviously!). Aside from the sublime, almost touchable visuals, Yuke’s have tweaked and tuned the controls and gameplay mechanics, in an a empt to make UFC 2010 a much smarter and intense experience. Alongside the inclusion UFC Undisputed 2010 is a rough and ready figh ng of new branded clothing and some new arenas (GM game, which a empts to mix strategic and technical Place, Centre Bell and The O2 have all been startlingly maneuvers with bloodthirsty brutality and carnage. recreated), the major changes are centered around the Just like in the real UFC, fights either last a ma er of controls, which have been modified to make clinches and grappling easier to manage. With a swi movement of seconds - when a compe tor gets sparked by a the right s ck, you can hurl your opponent to the floor, lucky shot – or several rounds as the two change posi on when in a grapple, defend from a change fighters roll around on the floor in a ballad of in stance, or go in for the clinical finishing hold. Also, the precision wrestling. Whether UFC 2010 is too walls of the cage can now be used to pin an opponent, technical for it’s own good is a point I’ll come back and the fight can be ended if an injury or cut becomes too to shortly, but for now, let’s look at the dangerous. Add to this a reworded Career Mode – which ‘improvements’ that have been made since last s ll isn’t perfect but is arguably easier to progress with years’ version. - and you have a much richer fighter experience to enjoy.

58 phonica magazine uk

OVERLY COMPLEX AND F CONTROLS, ACTIONS AND VIDE A GREAT DEAL OF THE FIGHT.” There are a few flaws to contend with though, that do niggle away at the experience like a dripping cut or a cracked rib. Despite there being more than enough fighters to choose from (a staggering 107, plus bonus fighters, in total) the Character Creator op on is a li le under stocked for our liking. Although there are lots of different faces, bodies, clothes and novelty items to choose from, you can’t make the delicate altera ons such as lengthening the bridge of a nose or fa ening a face. It’s not a major problem, but you can’t truly create a character in your image, but rather one that has a slight resemblance to yourself. Also, the Career Mode is s ll a bit resome at mes, and although it’s an improvement over the 2009 version, it’s s ll clu ered with repe ve menus and frustra ng gaps in play.

UFC Undisputed 2010 is a terrific fighter, that packs plenty of punch but s ll remains smart and tac cal enough to provide longevity (un l next years’ version anyway). But to answer the ques on from earlier - of whether UFC 2010 is too technical – we have to end on a slightly bum note. The reason we love the UFC is because it always serves up violent, unhinged and stark measures of carnage. Yes, we o en enjoy the technical aspect, but at the end of the day, all we want to see is someone get knee-dropped into next week. UFC Undisputed 2010 just lacks that thrill, that sense of danger, that wildness. It’s a great game, but it’s overly complex and tricky, with endless lists of controls, ac ons and moves, that although provide a great deal of depth, suck the fun out of the fight. UFC Undisputed 2010 is one of the best fighters we’ve played, but it’s also one of the coldest. It may not be that realis c or clever, but at the end of the day, we don’t care, as it’s a whole lo a fun! Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 18/20 STORY: 15/20 CONTROLS: 20/20 GAMEPLAY: 15/20 DURABILITY: 17/20

OVERALL

85/100 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

phonica magazine magazine uk uk 60 phonica

REVIEWS ROCKET KNIGHT PUBLISHERS: KONAMI DEVELOPERS: CLIMAX STUDIOS FORMAT: XBLA, PSN, PC AVAILABLE: NOW

BACK TO BASICS FOR THIS EXCELLENT 2.5D PLATFORMER, BUT IS IT A LITTLE PRICY FOR AN OLD-STYLE GAME? I was a huge fan of the original Rocket Knight Adventures, which graced the Mega Drive, way back in 1993. It was a fast, funny, varied, spunky and also an extremely feisty pla ormer, that mixed daring pace with classic puzzling. Bouncing off the walls while being strapped to a rocket pack, blas ng naughty pigs and shoo ng down flying monsters was a tremendous way to speed the evening a er school, and for me, Rocket Knight Adventures will always be one of the very best tles of the 90s. But now we have a reworked - updated, reimagined… whatever – version, which looks set to bring that classic early 90s tle slap-bang into the modern age. Rocket Knight is a 2.5D (not quite 2D, not quite 3D) pla ormer, which focuses on zapping baddies, outwi ng bosses and flying around solving puzzles. It’s the classic pla ormer formula that has been around since the 80s, and although there’s a point to be made that it’s a li le dated, and the 2D format is all but dead, it’s s ll a welcome look-back for the genre. We’ll come back to this point later, but firstly, let’s have a look at the best bits of Rocket Knight. The story starts with our rocket-powered hero, Sparkster, living the quiet life in a li le country se lement. Life is good for the li le fella, tending to his crops and keeping his nose clean, but when the peace is disturbed by an army of Wolves and their flying ba leships, he dons his Knight’s ou it once more, and sets off to save the day. Think of it as Rambo, but with a talking Possum in a suit of armor and a rocket pack, and you’re about there.

What made the original Rocket Knight Adventures so appealing and enjoyable was the pace. Thanks to Sparkster’s rocket pack, he could fly across the screen at an almighty swagger, blas ng away baddies as he went. Thankfully this quick pace has remained in Rocket Knight, and with the reworked viewpoint - that has been withdrawn to give the player a wider view of the level it’s also a lot easier to control Sparkster when at full pelt. Sparkster also has a few more tricks up his sleeve, with the ability to hover briefly when in mid jump, and the advantage of extra range being added to his sword a ack. This all comes at a price though, as with every rocket a ack and moments of flight you expend, you use up a segment of fuel. It recharges though, so it’s not all bad. But now we come back to the ques on of whether this type of 2D pla ormer is now dated, and ques on its capabili es to compete with the top pla ormers of today, mainly Super Mario Galaxy 2. Well, Rocket Knight is a fantas c li le game, that’s simple in its premises but also tricky at its most heated moments. It’s great fun, but it is, at the end of the day, dated. When playing Rocket Knight, you don’t think of it as a new game, but rather a look-back to a past me in gaming, when pla orming was the number one genre and games were far simpler. We love Rocket Knight, as it’s adorable and as cute as the games we used to play. But that in essence is the problem, it’s a game that we used to play, and at a rather excessive price of around £10+, for what is in reality a pre y short gaming play me, that’s a lot to play for an old game. It’s s ll worth a look though, and if you hanker for some old-school pla orming, you can’t go far wrong with Rocket Knight. PRESENTATION: 17/20 STORY: 14/20 CONTROLS: 17/20 GAMEPLAY: 15/20 DURABILITY: 15/20

Sco Tierney

OVERALL

78/100 phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

PHONICA’S 20 RECOMMENDED WEIRD YET WONDERFULS ZACK AND WIKI: QUEST FOR BARBAROS’ TREASURE

DE BLOB

PSYCHONAUTS

COOKING MAMA

SAMURAI ZOMBIE NATION

(Wii)

(Xbox, PS2, PC)

(Wii, DS)

(NES)

“Very strange to say the least, but one of the best Wii tles you’ll ever play.”

“At mes this is beau ful, as you bounce around as a big ball of paint colouring in blank ci es.”

“Going inside the mind of a crazy person is a li le disconcer ng, but immensely enjoyable.”

“Who thought cooking could be so much fun? No, we don’t either.”

“Control a ﬂying head that blasts zombies, all the while catching suicidal vic ms from the roo ops...you can also shoot lasers from your eyes...yes indeed”

AMERICAN MCGEE’S ALICE

PARAPPA THE RAPPER

PORTAL

PIXELJUNK EDEN

SUPER MONKEY BALL

(PC)

(PS1, PS2)

(Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

(PS3)

(Gamecube, Arcade)

“Dark and extremely unnerving, but one of the best tles of the early 00s”

“Is it just us, or does that li le puppy really freak you out, to? He’s plo ng something, we tell you.”

“Rediscover the original before the doubtless brilliant sequel hits.”

“Another bargain from the Playsta on Store: smiles and swearing in equal measure.”

“Some great puzzles, but at the end of the day, remember - you are controlling a monkey in a ball.”

62 phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

BRAIN TRAINING

LEMMINGS

FLOWER

NOBY NOBY BOY

GRIM FANDANGO

(Wii, DS)

(Everything)

(PS3)

(PC)

“Boost your noggin with some teasing li le tests. Is this really gaming?”

“Stop them, before they fall to their un mely deaths. We’re accustomed to it now, but it’s all very weird when you look back at it.”

“Beau ful, calming and a genuine delight from start to ﬁnish.”

“A game without rules from the creator of Katamari.”

“Another Tim Schafer classic. The guy is mucked up.”

KATAMARI DAMACY

MICHAEL JACKSON’S MOONWALKER

MR. MOSQUITO

TIME GENTLEMEN, PLEASE

WORMS

(PS2)

(Mega Drive)

(PS2)

(PC)

(Everything)

“We’re not even going to try to explain this. All we’ll say is that it’s mind-blowing, and leave it there.”

“The ﬁlm was just plain odd, but the game was something else en rely. Dancing a baddie to death? Come on!”

“Suck the blood of a showering teenage girl, without ge ng slapped to death. We’ve all been there.”

“Time travel, Nazi Dinosaurs, inappropriate humour: sounds like our kind of game.”

“A er endless hours of playing, we tend to forget that we’re actually controlling mini armies of worms. Incoming!”

phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

Size weight Frequency Screen Pixels camera resolu on memory/compa bility bluetooth GPRS WLAN Browser Java Messaging Radio Music downloadable games downloadable ringtones Ba ery talk me - mins (max) Ba ery standy - hours (up to) bluetooth carKit compa ble

Nokia 7230

Nokia 6730

Nokia 5530

Nokia E75

Nokia 6210

98 x 48 x 14.8 mm 100 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 3.15 MP 45 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

112 x 46 x 12.6 mm 83 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 3.15 MP 48 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

104 x 49 x 13 mm 107 g Quad-band/3G 640 x 360 3.2 MP 70 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/AMS Yes

111.8 x 50 x 14.4 mm 139 g Quad-band/3G 320 x 240 3.2 MP 50 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

103 x 49 x 14.9 mm 117 g Tri-band 320 x 240 3.2 MP 120 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

MP3/MP4/WAV/WMA

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/WAV/WMA MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/WAV/WMA

MP3/AAC/WAV/WMA

MP3/WAV/AAC/WMA

Yes MP3 300 370 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 600 500 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 294 351 Yes

Yes MP3 340 264 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 222 244 Yes

Sony Ericsson W395 97 x 47 x 14.9 mm 96 g Quad-band 176 x 220 2 MP

Sony Ericsson C903 97 x 49 x 16 mm 96 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 5 MP

Sony Ericsson Aino 104 x 50 x 15.5 mm 134 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 420 8.1 MP

Sony Ericsson Yari 100 x 48 x 15.7 mm 115 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 5 MP

Sony Ericsson Naite 108 x 47 x 12.6 mm 84 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP

10 MB/Memory S ck Micro

130 MB/Memory S ck Micro

60 MB/microSD

100 MB/microSD

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA No Wap/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/AAC

MP3/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMA

Yes MP3/AAC 420 480 Yes

Yes MP3/AAC 600 400 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 270 360 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 600 450 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 564 380 Yes

64 phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

Nokia E63

Nokia N97

Nokia 3720 classic

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music

Sony Ericsson W995

113 x 59 x 13 mm 126 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2 MP 110 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm 150 g Quad-band/3G 640 x 360 5 MP 32 GB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Wi-Fi WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

115 x 47 x 15.3 mm 94 g Tri-band 320 x 240 2 MP 20 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 11 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm 109 g Quad-band 640 x 360 3.2 MP 81 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Yes WAp/xHTML/HTML/WML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

97 x 49 x 15 mm 113 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 8 MP 118 MB/Memory S ck Micro Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes Wap/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/WAV/AAC/WMA

MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/AAc/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA

Mp3/MP4/AAC

Yes Polyphonic & MP3 660 432 Yes

Yes MP3 570 430 Yes

Yes Poly/MIDI/Real Tone/MP3 420 450 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 528 406 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 420 360 Yes

Sony Ericsson C901 105 x 45 x 13 mm 107 g Quad-band 240 x 320 5 MP

Sony Ericsson C510 107 x 47 x 12.5 mm 92 g Quad-band 240 x 320 3.15 MP

HTC Desire 119 x 60 x 11.9 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 5 MP

HTC Magic 113 x 55 x 13.7 mm 118.5 g Quad-band 320 x 480 3.15 MP

HTC Hero 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 320 x 480 5 MP

120 MB/Memory S ck Micro

100 MB/Memory S ck Micro

ROM:512 MB/RAM:576 MB/microSD

288 MB/microSD

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes HMTL Yes,via 3rd party SMS/MMS/Email(Push)/IM Yes

Yes/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Wi-Fi HTML Yes,via 3rd party SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

Yes/A2DP/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Wi-Fi HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/AAC/MP4

MP3/AAC/MID/M4A/WAV/WMA

MP3/MP4

MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA 9

Yes Poly/MP3 570 430 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/Aac 420 400 Yes

Yes Mp3 400 360 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 450 420 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 420 750 Yes

phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

Apple iPhone 3G S

Apple iPhone 3G

INQ Chat 3G

BlackBerry 8520

BlackBerry Bold 9000

11.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 3.15 MP 16/32 GB (internal)

11.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm 133 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 2 MP 8/16 GB (internal)

114.5 x 61 x 12.8 mm 93 g Tri-band/3G 176 x 220 3.2 MP 120 MB/Memory S ck Micro â&#x201E;˘

109 x 60 x 13.9 mm 106 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2 MP 256 MB/MicroSD

114 x 66 x 14 mm 133 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 2MP 1GB/microSD

Yes/USB

Yes/A2DP/USB

Yes/A2DP/microUSB

Yes/A2DP/USB

Yes/EDGE Wi-Fi HTML (Safari) No SMS/MMS/Email No

Yes/EDGE Yes HTML (Safari) No SMS/Email No

Yes Yes Net Front Yes SMS/MMS/Email No

Yes/EDGE Class 10 Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

MP3/MP3 VBR/AAC/WAV

AMR/AAC/AAC+/eAAC

MP3/AAC/WMA/AAC+/MP4/WMV MP3/WMA/AAC+

Yes

Poly/MP3

AMR/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/MP3/WAV

Poly/MIDI/MP3

Poly/MP3

720 300 Yes

600 300 Yes

480 170 Yes

270 408 Yes

300 310 Yes

Samsung B3310

Samsung Jet

Samsung U900

LG GD510 Pop

LG GM750

91 x 54 x 17 mm 101 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP 40 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

108 x 53.5 x 11.9 mm 103.2 x 49.3 x 10.9 mm 110 g 81.5 g Quad-band/3G Quad-band 480 x 800 240 x 320 5 MP 3.2 MP 2/8 GB (internal)/microSD 80MB/microSD Yes/microUSB Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 12/HSDPA Yes/EDGE Class 10 Wi-Fi No WAP/Dolphin WAP/xHTML Yes Yes SMS/MMS/Email/Vidoe/MS Exchange SMS/MMS/EMS/Email Yes Yes

97.8 x 49.5 x 11.2 mm 87 g Quad-band 240 x 400 3.15 MP 42 MB RAM/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 12 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

109.8 x 53.5 x 12.9 mm 120 g Quad-band 240 x 400 5 MP 128 MB RAM/256 MB ROM/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes Yes WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/MP4

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA/AMR

MP3/MPEG4/AAC/eAAC/WMA

MP3/MP4/WMA

MP3/MPEG4/WAV/eAAC+/WMA

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 300 380 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 492 422 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 210 220 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 200 360 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 380 450 Yes

66 phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

BlackBerry 8300 Curve

Samsung Galaxy S

Samsung Pixon 12

Samsung S5600V Blade Samsung Genio Touch

107 x 60 x 15.5 mm 111 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2MP 64MB/microSD

122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9 119 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 5 MP 8GB/16GB/microSD

108 x 53 x 13.8 mm 120 g 480 x 800 pixels 240 x 320 12 MP 150 MB/microSD

102.8 x 54.8 x 12.9 mm 92 g 240 x 320 pixels 240 x 320 3.15 MP 50 MB/microSD

103 x 56.5 x 12 mm 90 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP 40 MB/microSD

Yes/USB

Yes/A2DP/microUSB

Yes/A2DP/USB

Yes/USB

Yes/EDGE No HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

Yes/EDGE Class 12/HSDPA Yes HTML Yes,via 3rd party SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

Yes/EDGE Class 12 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/

MP3/MP4/WMA/eAAC+

MP3/WMA/AAC

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMV/WMA

Yes

Poly/MP3

Poly/MP3/WAV

240 408 Yes

803 750 Yes

180 250 Yes

120 250 Yes

480 730 Yes

LG BL40 New Chocolate

Dell Streak

128 x 51 x 10.9 mm 129 g Quad-band 345 x 800 5 MP 1.1 GB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/EMS/Email/IM Yes MP3/WAV/DivX/eAAC Yes Poly/MP3 240 400 Yes

152.9 x 79.1 x 10 mm 220 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 5 MP 16GB/512MB ROM/512MB RAM/microSD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 12/HSDPA Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email No MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA Yes MP3 580 400 Yes

phonica magazine uk