I’ve been really enjoying the new N-Gage platform, especially the Arena, where I can play some games head-to-head, such as System Rush, and other games I can upload my scores, to see how I match up against others. The multiplayer aspect is really what it supposed to set N-Gage apart from other mobile gaming platforms, and I have say, it works just O.K. However, there’s a huge issue that I want to point out.
I can add my friends in N-Gage, so that we can see when each other is online, available for a match or whatever. The problem lies in setting these games up. Currently, N-Gage has it backwards, requiring you to chat with your buddy about the game, and then you have to leave the chat and go into the game, setup a room, and wait (fingers crossed) for your buddy to find that same room, and join the game.
The issue rears its head again, but hints at what’s needed, when you want to play in the Arena, and you’ve not seen who’s online. Let’s say you just want to play System Rush, so you go in, and look for available games, but no one’s online. That sucks, now what?
The problem is that N-Gage sets up multiplayer games backwards. I should be able to pick a game, say, Mile High Pinball, and go to create a game. When I do this, I should get a popup asking if I would like to invite a friend to play. Choosing yes would bring up my friends list, and allow me to see which of my friends are currently online, available for play. I could then send them an invite, which would show up as a popup, saying that Rcadden has invited them to play Mile High Pinball, and would they like to play?
Taking that a step further, we need to be able to schedule games from within the application. Let’s say that I know tomorrow at 4pm I’m going to have some time to play Mile High Pinball. I should be able to setup a gaming match against a friend, for a future time and date, and we’d both get a reminder ~15 mins (or some other time frame) before the match is set to begin.
What other improvements to the multiplayer feature does N-Gage need to make to be more usable?
Bonus Link: Tzer2 at AllAboutNgage.com has recently created a set of ‘rules’ that N-Gage games need to follow. Brilliant, a must-read.
