Spore, the revolutionary game from EA, has been rocking the gaming world. It’s no wonder then that Spore would emerge as the best mobile game of the year 2008.
The game is all about creating your own species, making it evolve and finally reaching the top of the food chain as the ultimate predator. In other words, the gamer plays god and may be it is this aspect of the game that has made Spore so popular ( we humans love to play god, don’t we?)
The mobile version of Spore succeeds because it includes just the right aspects of the Spore game for PC, thereby making sure that the game is enjoyable and playable on a mobile. Spore for mobile is a 2D game and is in no way inferior to the full blown 3D version. The game also concentrates only on a fraction of the PC version - the cellular levels. The creature creator is limited as well, but still allows for some level of customization. The basics of customizing our creations, like adding scales, teeth, antennas, etc and changing the size and shape have been reatained and are enough for hours of pure fun on a mobile.
Bottomline is that Spore Mobile is a 2D shooter that allows you great scope for customization- limited, but still great fun on a mobile. Spore is the Game of the Year, without an iota of doubt!
EA has introduced an intriguing concept called Console Boost, through which gamers can improve their stats on the console version of a game by playing the mobile version.
Tiger Woods 09 is one such game to have the Console Boost. Get both the console and mobile versions , and by playing on the mobile you can actually improve your rating on the console side. The console features works in both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 versions.
It basically works by storing your mobile performance in your EA account and by linking the account to your console and thus applying the CONSOLE BOOST, the skill level increases in the console version. Of course, some kind of translation formula will be applied while translating from mobile performance to console performance.
I dont actually see the utility of the feature, except some marketing gimmick on the part of EA. Playing a MMORPG game on your console and with your mobile, both reflecting the performance in the other, is a neat concept. But what do I get by playing golf ( of all games!) on my mobile and see the achievements on console? Even if EA extends CONSOLE BOOST to other games, I wouldnt be interested. And hey, one has to buy both the console and the mobile versions? Get real EA!
The popular game from Electronic Arts is moving into a new dimension. EA has entered into partnership with Z corporation to make real 3D sculptures of the gamers’ spore creations. Now, that’s great work EA. Nice try at diverting us from the DRM issues plaguing the game.
Anyway, coming back to the sculptures, Z corporation’s advanced technology ( Do I really care what the technology is? Nay) will be used to convert the virtual spores that gamers create into sculptures that can be used for, hmmm, showing off to their friends maybe. Pardon the sarcastic tone, but what’s the purpose really? Spore is an excellent game to play where you give life to a creature, see it evolve, and make sure it reaches the top of the virtual food chain, but what will it in do in my bedroom?
Like I said, EA seems to be taking steps to promote the widely acclaimed game that was tarnished a bit due to the DRM issues. Many will like to get tangible versions of their spores, but am not amongst those and am definitely not alone. Dragging and dropping “body parts” to get our spore up and alive is the game is so much, but a sculpture? Get real! People have better things to do, hopefully!
When it comes to mobile games, be it the high-end N-gage games or the pixelated JAVA games (sorry, am always biased against JAVA games), two game developers standout from the rest of the crowd- Gameloft and Electronic Arts (EA).
But which is better? Which game developer manages to create games that have your thumb, sorry, heart, aching for more. Both the game developers churn out wonderful games and we would like to have games from both of them in our mobiles. But who is the leader of the mobile gaming industry? The choice is difficult, but my vote goes to Gameloft.
Gameloft wins over EA because of the sheer variety of games it has released. Just when you thought Gameloft has come up with the best game ever, they go on to outdo themselves by bringing in an even better game. When Asphalt 2 was release for the older N-gage QD, I spent hours before the little screen pushing my car with help of tons of nitro and drifting my way to the finish line. I can still remember going stealthily through buildings with night vision on in Splinter Cell Chaos theory for the QD.
Asphalt 2 and Chaos Theory were gems. But Gameloft had made sure that more such gems were released from its stables. With the onset of the new N-gage and even the Apple iPhone, Gameloft has managed to keep giving us those games we love to play. They are in a lofty position indeed when it comes to mobile games!