Who Else Wants Some More First-Class Mobile Content?
Itsmy.com makes gifts
Itsmy.com has made its users a Christmas gift – 1 million Christmas ringtones. 12 tracks have been covered by the famous DJs Montana and DJ Goodcut and feature such famous compositions as Little Drummer Boy, Oh Christmas Tree and Silent Night. All of them are released in the for m of mixes.
Gofrest, the company that owns itsmy.com, promised to donate 1 eurocent per each download to the international humanitarian aid organization. Ringtones are available for over 2500 phone models – realtones for the devices that support MP3 and polyphonic tracks for others. Itsmy.com has over a million registered users in the US and Britain.
MSN Mobile will be full of Thumbplay content
The American D2C giant will treat the visitors of MSN Mobile to ringtones and other stuff. Content by Thumbplay (ringtones, wallpapers, games, video) will of offered on web- and wap- portals of MSN Mobile.
The service that offers 50 000 various content items will support 2000 phone models including Windows Mobile 6 powered devices.
Another agreement has recently been signed between Thumbplay and AOL.
Are Traasdahl, Thumbplay’s CEO and founder, commented:
“This deal is defining for Thumbplay. I’m pleased to say that this reinforces Thumbplay’s position as the leading U.S. provider of mobile content to consumers who are looking to discover mobile content, manage it, and share their personalized mobile entertainment experience with others”
Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Vringo sign agreement
The news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) has signed agreement with Vringo. The goal of the collaboration is offering news video-clips as mobile ringtones. The service will allow ringtones on the incoming calls plus adjusting the user’s personal video-ringtone which will be observed by those whom he/she calls (of course, the user who receives a call is one of Vringo clients and is included in the list of the caller friends).
There springs up an issue about the demand on the new clips-ringtones, but if the videos are the archives of different popular news, it may turn out to be quite a popular service.
The most important detail of the agreement is that there are no obvious risk for either of the sides. AFP won’t make a fortune out of the service, but at the same time the investments into the project are more than modest. Vringo will benefit as well as it will provide a wider assortment of the available video-services.
Mobile Music Content by Nokia and NTT DoCoMo
Mobile Music Content by Nokia and NTT DoCoMo
Free Music by Nokia and Universal
The companies Nokia and Universal are increasing their share of the market of music downloads. Having signed an agreement, they offer a 1-year free access to the music of Universal artists for the purchasers of Nokia’s music phones.
The peculiarity of the service is that the users can save songs on their phones even after the free trial period of 12 months. The user will have to buy Nokia’s phone supporting the service, but at the moment such phones are still not available. The unique PIN-code will supply the users with the access to the music shop where they will be able to download songs to their phones. Nokia is trying to involve other record labels in the participation in the service “Comes With Music,” which the Finnish company is planning to release at the beginning of the next year.
Rob Wells, Senior Vice President for digital operations at Universal, told Reuters:
“I believe the announcement will act as a catalyst for a whole number of business partners to step forward. It’s definitely going to stimulate the business next year. We are moving into an access world. Consumers will have access to all the recorded music available through the price of the device, or the price of service, or the price of broadband.”
Music Service by NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is introducing the new music service Napster-Tower Records as a part of its Music & Video Channel channel. The channel offers weekly-updated programs. Each of them provides from 8 to 10 full-time tracks which the users can listen to up to 3 times a week. The first two programs by Napster-Tower Records - Napster HITS and Tower Records Must-Hear Recommendations.
Each of the services supplies the users with links to the service Napster Mobile, ringtones shop and full-time tracks. The new programs will be available on 22 NTT DoCoMo phone models. A monthly subscription costs $2.90 as a part of the service Music&Video Channel by NTT DoCoMo, the cost of which is also $2.90.
Game Time: Guitar Legend. Get On Stage
Game Time: Guitar Legend. Get On Stage
You are sure to have heard the phrase “Rock-and-Roll is dead” hundreds of times. It is true that the era of heavy guitar riffs, long hair and aggressive lyrics is long gone. The following fact can serve as the proof: even the idols of rock-music the band “Metallica” have had their hair cut and have changed their image. One has to keep up with time. They say, that rock died together with Kurt Cobain - the last star on the horizon of heavy music. It might be that way, but it would be unjust to say that rock is not claimed for nowadays.
But let us not plunge into the detail of the divisions and subdivision of rock music and argue which band plays real rock. Let us get down to the game devoted to the dream of about every second schoolboy – to become a rock star and gather stadiums by his masterly guitar riffs.
Gameplay
Having chosen one of the three heroes you start a rock guitarist career from garage concerts and eventually you become more and more popular by performing in small clubs at the beginning and then in huge clubs etc. Each stage of your career consists of 5 songs which you have to perform as brilliantly as you can. The quality of your performance affects not only your further fate but the amount of money you earn (and the money in the game are used instead of game points). Moreover, the quality of your performance affects the title your get after every song.
You won’t perform as a lone guitarist on stage. Your task is to perform the major guitar part of the composition. The songs you are going to perform can be easily recognized ( the game features the all-time hits like Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana), Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple)), that’s why it will be easier for you to hit the motive. Having floundered you will “brake” a song very realistically which can be quite frustrating and disappointing. Don’t worry and try to come into the rhythm as soon as possible.
Graphics
In spite of the simplicity of the idea, Guitar Legend looks quite OK in the respect of graphics. The heroes you are offered move naturally and are brilliantly made. You might even get some kind of 3D illusion. As was mentioned before, there are 3 heroes in the game. The punk-girl Kat Nilds with the motto: “You know that you are a rock start when you get up with a hangover” (the fact that a number of rock idols have problems with alcohol consumption is known, but JavaGames notifies you about the overwhelming consumption and the problems it may cause). The seconds hero is “Saw Rob.” He looks like a typical rocker – long hair tied with a headscarf, a shirt with a scull, tattoos etc. His motto: “Sing 50 songs about a dinner with a Satan…I’m out!” The third hero is Exel Carnaby, a real fop, dressed in the Britpop style - tight jeans and a gangster hat, a tie and striped shirt. This guy says: “It is OK to climb the ladder until you are too old.”
Conclusion
The game is the second one by Gameloft dedicated to rock-music and it is great! It is great that this way we are not allowed to forget the powerful period in the music culture and the legendary rock hits. The dynamic gameplay and bright graphics add to the brilliant impression from Guitar Legend. The game is a must for rock fans and people who wanted/want to become rockers.
Juiced 3D - 3D Mobile StreetRacing
Juiced 3D - 3D Mobile StreetRacing
It is peculiar that illegal races appeared during the “prohibition” in the USA in the 1930s. it was the time when gangsters needed additional drivers’ mastery, because they frequently had to drop cops. The cars, of course, were slow and unreliable. Nowadays streetracing is a huge industry of tuning companies and even manufacturer companies.
Streetracing get more and more legalized. In Europe and the USA there are a number of official contests. It looks like the discipline might one day become an Olympic one.
On one hand it is good, because illegal racers are a great threat for other participants of traffic and pedestrians. On the other hand, the legalization of streetracing deprives it of that feeling of romance and adrenaline rush, because the police chase is an inseparable part of night races.
In the game I will write about you won’t have to fight the law. You will race in tough rides totally legally on specially created tracks. It looks like the way streetracing will look like in the near future.
The Gameplay
The fact that the game is a streetracing one, but not a rally is seen only from that you have personal contact with rivals who are going to challenge you and provide the possibility to load your car’s nitro system. The other attributes of streetracing – night and the police – are absent. It makes me depressed, but doesn’t make the game worse than its competitors.
One of the pluses of Juiced 3D is the presence of various game modes including Bluetooth multiplayer. It is much more interesting to race with your friend that compete with soulless bots. In order to race with a friend, you both must have the game installed, and both the phones must support Bluetooth. One of you creates a server, the other connects – that’s it!
The single player as well provides various modes: Quick Race, Arcade mode, Career mode. The most important is, of course, the latter. It is the career mode where you unlock new tracks, races types and cars. You can use these unlocked things in Arcade Mode. You choose track, race type and car. In Quick Race everything is random selected.
In Career Mode you can tune your car and see the statistics in between the races. In order to make your car more aggressive and increase its performance you have to earn some money winning races. At the beginning the prizes are not that high - $100. But the cost of tuning is appropriate, that’s why winning a few races will be enough for the first visual and performance upgrade. Each new bumper, spoiler or hood you install will make your car both more attractive and will increase its performance (seems like due to the increasing aerodynamics of the car).
There are a lot of streetracing kinds. 6 of them are represented in the game:
- The simplest is a Standard Race. You compete 1 on 1 with your opponent. You goal is to drive 3 laps faster than he. No 2nd places, you win or lose.
- It is similar to the next type of race – Solo Race. There will be no rival, just an implacable stopwatch.
- Sprint is an analog of streetracing – straight road racing where your success is measured by your ability to shift gear fast.
- Accurace Race (it is a speaking name) is the type of race where you have to rival, but you have to drive without touching anything.
- Relay Race will be available only when you unlock at least one more car. You have to finish the race changing the selected cars.
- Eliminator – the type gave the name to the game. The type is similar to Standard Race. It consists of 3 laps. After each lap the driver who goes last is eliminated from the race. It is peculiar that you won’t see all your rivals at once (it might be the graphic peculiarity of the game), but will overtake them gradually.
The existence of automatic accelerator makes the control of the car much more convenient. You won’t have to press gas constantly – the car accelerates automatically and you have to turn, brake and press nitro-acceleration button. Nevertheless the simultaneous braking and turning is not a simple issue. The gameplay facilitates the process because the cars are undamageable – the crashes only decrease your speed. It is better to overtake your opponent right from the beginning of the race and later on try not to crash in order not to lose speed.
The Graphics
3D mobile races always please the eye and this game is not an exception. At the same time the advantages of Juiced 3D over the similar projects are not that multiple. The weather and day/night shift is almost avoided – the sky is always grey and the lightning conditions suggest early morning or afternoon. Nevertheless, the landscapes are superb – it is various buildings etc. The background has a number of layers which makes the landscapes look better. In options you can which the screen to the horizontal position which makes you see the race better, but also complicates controlling your car. Cars are good. During a race you see ¾ of the car. You can admire the tuning of your supercar before and after a race, in the garage. You can rotate it. Although the car resemble the existing models they bear neutral names: Veloauto, Tormenta etc. The car moves according to the speed and installed equipment – the physics in the game is realized brilliantly. The number of special effects is poor and the only peculiar of these is the flame coming out of the pipe when nitro is pressed. The game heroes are good. You can see clear detailed faces on avatars.
The Sound
There are two very similar tracks in the game – the first in the menu, the second – during a race. It is hard to say if tranquil and calm music is appropriate for cruel races, but it doesn’t tense – after some time you just stop paying attention to it. All the major “racing” sounds are present in the game – crash sounds, braking sounds in turns, nitro sound etc. The only thing that is missing is the roar of engines. The vibration works in crashes and nitro-accelerating.
The Conclusion
I wouldn’t say that Juiced 3D is something out of ordinary. It is just an ordinary modern 3D mobile races. The major pluses – the multiplayer and various modes. The minuses – complacency, low realism and minor control problems. But in general these disadvantages of the game won’t disturb the fans of races enjoy it.
Scroll-Shooter with Explicit Background Images - Erotic Galaxy 2