GameSpy Game Of The Year 2004

GameSpy included an N-Gage section in this year's Game Of The Year and guess which game won? ...


Of course, it was Pocket Kingdom. Actually, I was extremely suprised at this announcement. I am please PK won, but I honestly though Pathway To Glory would beat it, simply because it's a more popular style of game (and more hyped). Still, PTG did come in a respectible second. Finally, Colin McRae Rally 2005 made third place (which is good news because I think the wife is buying me it for christmas !!!).

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Pocket Kingdom for £9.99

As reported by All About NGage, Play.com have slashed their N-Gage prices to £9.99 for the older titles and some recent ones also. Amazingly, Pocket Kingdom is in there for £9.99! I wish I waited before buying it now!

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Amazing! My own PK Site

This is amazing, believe me - I have just been over to the Pocket Kingdoms site and noticed it's been updated...

In the top right corner of the site there is a link allowing you to login to "My Kingdom". When I clicked on it, a page dedicated to me and my Pocket Kingdom was displayed. Not only that but there was a full report of a battle I had last night where I lost - the report was quite accurate as well. Amazing!

The "My PK Site" is a fantastic addition to the Pocket Kingdoms universe - not only does it provide useful information about your own Kingdom, but it also tells you find out where other kingdoms can be located!

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Worms World Party Delayed!

Allack - the excellent online N-Gage store - has received the latest release dates from Nokia, which confirm that Worms World Party has been delayed until 11th March 2005.

The highly anticipated Worms game was originally due for release during the Christmas period. Then rumors circulated that there would be a delay and the new expected release was January. Now, we must wait until March! Oh, well, it just means I have more time to strengthen those Kingdoms in my Pocket!

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Yet another Excellent PK review!!

Yep, Pocket Kingdoms is definitely grabbing the media attention - 1UP.com have awarded the game 90/100 in their brief but very positive review.

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Pocket Kingdoms FAQ Updates

I have updated the PK FAQ (see sidebar for link) and added a section for unanswered questions (there is only one at the moment, but soon there will be many!). Please, if you can help lets make this the ultmiate FAQ providing answers to every question a n00b could possibly ask!

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Pathway To Glory Reviews

Three new (ish!) Pathway To Glory reviews have appeared! Wow, N-Gage reviews are coming in thick and fast now, but what's the verdit? .....

Here they are:

• eToyChest - 90% (wow!)
  
• Wireless Gaming Review - 8.1
  
• GameSpot - 8.1 also.
  

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Official Pocket Kingdoms Tournament!

Get ready to own the world, officially! Registration for the Pocket kingdoms Tournament is underway so make sure you get your name down if you want to pwn the w0rld and maybe make some "real" l00t in the process!Registration ends on the 1st of January then all online battles are recorded and you are ranked in a regional "monthly" leader board! So I suppose it's time to start taking this seriously then :)

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Even More Pocket Kingdom Reviews!!!

Two new Pocket Kingdom reviews have appeared. It seems the media can't make their minds up about the game...



Console Gameworld awarded PK a respectible 88/100 commenting that overall they were impressed but there were some "minor gripes".

The other review from Wirless Gaming Review is slightly more negative, awarding the game 6.8/10.

So overall, it seems Pocket Kingdoms is getting mixed reviews, which is pretty fair really (and obvious in hindsight).

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Blog Updates

Just a few blog updates to tell you about...

Firstly, the Pocket Kingdoms FAQ is now online. It's a very early stage and I should be adding more questions on a daily basis. It's accessible from the "Sections" heading in the sidebar - keep and eye on the sidebar by the way - I will be added more sections to the site soon.

You may have noticed that the main page now only contains a brief section of each blog - just click on the "Read More" link to see the full post.

Finally, there is now an email icon at the end of each blog which allows you to send a link to the blog to a friend!

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Another Pocket Kingdoms Review

Gamespot have now reviewed Pocket Kingdoms and it seems they didn't like it much.
Still, it's a well written review and worth checking out. Most of their comments are true, although I bet they would eventually become hooked if they persevered with it for a bit longer :)

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New Worms World Party Interview

Checkout the new Ask the Worms World Party Team article - there is some interesting information regarding not only the Worms game but also latency and GPRS issues.

Also, there is a new entertaining website for the new Worms game, complete with an excellent interview from the producer and some other neat videos and screenshots.

Looks like this is gonna be another must have N-Gage title! Hey, a couple of months ago I never thought I would be writing that sentence!

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New Pathway to Glory Review

Gamespot have reviewed Path Way To Glory. The Verdict is...

They awarded it 8.1 complaining that online connectivity is unreliable but in general the game is excellent. Check it out for yourself.

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Pocket Kingdom FAQ

Well, here it is - everything you ever wanted to know about Pocket Kingdom!

Well, not quite. As a n00b myself I don't have all the answers so I would appreciate it if other PK'ers could help gradually improve this FAQ. There is one rule: Please don't ask questions or provide answers in the comments - I would prefer to update the FAQ myself so if you could send me your questions/answers it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Before asking questions please browse the pk.warcry site thoroughly - it is extremely thorough and you will usually find your answer there, or in FAQ below. If not, by all means send me your question.

Note this FAQ is always under development - more questions/answers will be added regularly.

Contents

Unanswered Questions - Please help!
General Questions
Menu System Questions
Gameplay Questions

General Questions



1. How much will Nokia charge me to play Pocket Kingdom online

Nokia charge no fee for using the N-Gage arena so it's free in that sense (when compared to XBox Live which charge approximately £5 a month just for a subscription to the network). However, there are GPRS charges where your phone provider will charge you for the amount of data sent and received via GPRS. It is difficult provide any figures regarding how much cash Pocket Kingdom eats up in GPRS charges because all providers have different rates. Some providers have a fixed rate GPRS tariff where you pay a fixed monthly fee where as others tend to charge per KB.

In the coming months I will look into this issue further and try to come up with some general figures regarding GPRS charges but for now you can check out the Pocket Kingdom forum and search for "GPRS" to find out how much it's costing other PK'ers.


2. Is it worth buying Pocket Kingdom for the offline mode only?

The offline mode in Pocket Kingdom is certainly worth playing but as many players have commented, it can get boring. It's really just a matter of taste but it would be a shame to miss out on the online mode to be honest.


3. What's the difference when playing online?

In a nutshell the experience is exactly the same except you can attack (and be attacked) by other online kingdoms. There is also an online auction system where you can bid for items and put your own items up for bid. However, if you want to rank highly on the "All Time Owner Board" you need to be owning other player's kingdoms online. It doesn't matter how much VP you earn offline (or online) beating NPC bosses, you need to get online and pwn some real kingdoms!


4. I can't find anyone online. Why?

I am having the same problem and it seems the general answer from PK gosu's is to give it time. Wait until after Christmas and there should be many more players. In the meantime, just keeping searching!


5. But I am getting bored with the offline mode. If online is pretty much the same then I may just give up and play Pathway To Glory instead.


That's not a question! Anyway, slow down a bit! Don't give up on PK just yet! I think many players have questioned whether PK is really that good, until they own their first "real" kingdom online! You see, PK is all about the rush of victory! So persevere and you will soon realise what makes this game special.

Also I find that PK can get boring if you play it non-stop all day and allow it to take over your life! I recently bought Colin McRae Rally and played it for a few days, but I soon started to miss PK! It really is a great game. Fact. :)



The Terrible Menu System



6. The menu system in Pocket Kingdom is a bit shit. Why?

No one knows I'm afraid, Sega probably concentrated on ensuring the battles and the Arena features were working, forgetting that players spend most of their time in the menu system! Hopefully, a patch will be released but don't hold your breath.


7. But those transitions! Can't I turn them off so the menus appear instantly?

Nope!


8. But what about Ranking up? Currently I must create an emblem, then remove my unit from the party, then perform the RankUp then replace the unit in to the party. There must be some menu shortcuts or something?

There isn't, damn it!


9. What about the shop? Are you seriously telling me if I want to buy or sell multiple items, I must do it one item at a time

Yep!


10. Jesus! That's frustrating. There must be at least one tip to make this less painful, no?

Well, funny you should ask that! There is one small, tiny feature that some players may not be aware of. When scrolling through the menus, you can use LEFT and RIGHT to affectively PAGE UP and DOWN, which is far quicker than using UP/DOWN. This helps a little, but as for the other problems, you just have to put up with it I'm afraid.



Gameplay Questions




11. I am just starting out and I can only buy Soldiers and Nobles. How do I get better units?

You need to RankUp your units. To do this, buy a RankUp mold then start experimenting with combinations to produce an Emblem. For example, to make a Warrior Emblem, use the RankUp mold, Copper Ore, Garnet Jewel and a Black Leaf. Once you have the emblem, go to the RankUp section in the Lab. Here you need to figure out the correct combination of Emblem and Unit. Also keep in mind that the unit must meet the level requirements and you must have a certain amount of Victory Points (VP) to perform combinations. Have a look at the Unit Guide over at pk.warcry for more information about how to RankUp each unit.


12. The N-Gage arena option is disabled in the main-menu! What is going on?

You can't access the online feature of the game until you have completed area 3 - at that point you are given the Online Crest and the N-Gage arena option on the main menu will be available. The idea is that up until area 3 you are really playing a tutorial and becoming familiar with the game.


13. No matter what I do I can't RankUp. What's I am doing wrong?

You must have 10 Victory Points (VP) before any RankUps become available. To earn 10 VP, simply attack (and win) one of the boss NPC castles. For better units you will need more VP. Refer to The pk.warcry Unit Guide for more information. For example, lets say you want to create a Rogue. Just go to the unit guide and select the Rogue to display it's details. So, to create a Rogue you need to RankUp a Thief with a level of 2 or higher using the Soldier Emblem and must have at least 70VP to be able to perform the RankUp.


14. When I look at my units stats in the List option, I don't understand all the abbreviations. What does AGI, DEF, etc mean?




• Name = Unit name (e.g. Cheat Code)
  
• Class = Unit type (e.g. High Priest)
  
• Race = Unit race (e.g. Priest)
  
• Rank = Unit rank (e.g. 5 bars)
  
• Move = Movement type (e.g. Walk)
  
• Slot = How many slots this unit occupies (e.g. 1)
  
• HP = Hit points (aka health points; e.g. 62/62)
  
• Level = # of battles this unit has survived (including KOs)
  
• ATK = Attack; governs hit strength
  
• DEF = Defense; governs hit resistance
  
• AGI = Agility; governs evasiveness and search power
  
• DEX = Dexterity; governs accuracy
  
• WIS = Wisdom; governs Ability power
  
• INT = Intelligence; governs Ability accuracy
  
• Ability = Any special attack/spell this unit can perform (e.g. Restore)
  
• Hit Rate = % chance of landing a successful attack (e.g. 28%)
  




Answer provided by ch3mical fusi0n





Unanswered Questions


If you have any unanswered questions you would like adding to this list please send me an email.


15. What are the rules that govern whether a unit is OUT or OWNED? Is it just a random thing or is there some logic behind it?

If you know the answer to this question please send me an email.


16. Does race or class affect what items can be put on a unit?

If you know the answer to this question please send me an email.

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The N-Gage Massive Fight Back

LOL! LOL! LOL! I have never laughed so much! It seems our advice for all N-Gage and PK lovers to get over to Gaming Headlines and slate their terrible review did the trick.

That Tobias bloke actually responded to all the flames telling everyone that he didn't care about their opinions! Not only did he write a terrible review but he further tarnished his reputation (if that's possible) by responding in such an amateurish way.

When I first saw this review I was angry about it. Now, I can't stop laughing at it! If I didn't know any better I would say Tobias is a comedian and he did this on purpose to make everyone laugh until their kidneys burst!

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My Pocket Kingdoms Rant

It's time. Time for me to babble on about how fantastic Pocket Kingdoms is. For those who are unaware, the N-Gage has not been very successful since it's launch in 2003 (some might say that's a substantial understatement!). Despite all the claims from the media that the N-Gage was a failure Nokia seemed strangely calm. Within roughly six months a new machine was launched to address some of the issues with the original, and at around the same time, news filtered through regarding new titles.

Two titles stood out from the crowd mainly due to their N-Gage specific features. Of course these games were Pathway to Glory and Pocket Kingdoms. Now, these games are released and Nokia is 100% relying on their success - they are certainly intended to be the killer apps for the N-Gage. Today, I am focusing on Pocket Kingdoms, so is it any good?

Put it this way, it's very different and many typical gamers will hate it, but I am not one of them. This is great stuff, so much so that I am trying to MAKE time to play it which can only be a positive thing.

I am not going to rant on about how the game plays - this is not a review. If you want to read reviews about PK then check out the following sites:

• GameSpy Review
  
• Warcry Review
  

And completely ignore the Gaming Headlines UK review :)

If you already have PK and are finding it difficult to progress then check out pk.warcry - an excellent site with all the information you need to know to owning the world!

I am certainly finding the game difficult, but I think it's because this is totally new territory for me. I have never been interested in RPG's or strategy games before, preferring FPSs, Adventures and pick-up-and-play games like Super Monkey Ball (GameCube version). Currently, I have 50 Victory Points (don't laugh!) and that's why I am finding the game difficult. I am unable to rankup my characters until I improve my rating. You see, until I started studying the pk.warcry site I was unaware of this! I was totally lost - when I tried to rankup I couldn't seem to get any unit/emblem combination to work and when I attacked a kingdom all my units were being owned by other kingdoms! For a long time I just coudln't get anyway in the game. But pk.warcry has come to the rescue so thanks a lot guys!

I must say, the PK instruction manual or the tutorial could have pointed some of these things out for us n00bs (or am I too crap to be in that category!). I have decided to write a FAQ for Pocket Kingdoms so keep your eyes peeled - I will post it here soon!

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New Pocket Kingdoms Review (5/10)

Pocket Kingdoms has been awarded 5/10 by Gaming Review UK.

Never heard of the site before, and judging by the quality of the review, it's obvious why. Take a look for yourself and you'll see what I mean. I urge all the N-Gage faithful to add a comment trashing the review ASAP!

Of course, I am not going to go around trashing all sites which award PK a bad score - everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, it's sooooooOOO frustrating when reviewers abuse their position and write bias, inaccurate reviews which damage the N-Gage's (already shocking) reputation unnecessarily. Damn Them! :(

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The Welcome Rant

I have decided to start this blog as I am constantly surfing the N-gage websites for information, so much so that sometimes I notice things like new websites, new information etc, before they appear in other sites. So I have decided to share my knowledge and create a blog which is updated daily (except when I am out getting pissed!) with all the news in the N-Gage community. Enjoy :)

For this first blog it's tempting to rant on about Pocket Kingdoms which is taking over my life, so much so that the wife is threatening to leave me! Well, not quite but if I keep on the way I am - honestly, it looks like the N-Gage is glued to my hands! - it will happen, I'm sure. Anyway, I will resist the urge and leave my PK rant for another day.

Instead, I would just like to mention how healthy the N-gage lineup is heading into the Christmas season. The N-gage faithful have stuck by Nokia for a year without hardly any releases, then all of a sudden we get about a dozen in the space of a month. I mean, what are we N-gager's supposed to do? Do Nokia think we are all millionaires? I'm only joking of course, because such a healthy release schedule can only be a good thing for Nokia. In fact, many critics in the media - who dismissed the N-gage when it was launched - are really surprised by the steadily slew of releases. Why? Because they all thought the N-gage was dead and buried about 3 months after release. They were unaware that Nokia were working night and day for almost a year preparing not only a new version of the N-gage, but also a bunch of innovative, high-quality games.

Without a doubt, Christmas 2004 is a good time to be playing N-Gage.

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