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Nokia announced this week that it will co-publish and develop Leisure Suit Larry: Pocket Party for its N-Gage smartphone with TKO Software. The new game is based on Vivendi Universal Games' Leisure Suit Larry series. Earlier this week, Gamelof announced it was developing a version of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory for N-Gage.

In the game, you assume the role of Larry Lovage, nephew of the original Larry Laffer, and are immediately challenged by Larry's lack of social skills, charm, style and luck. In Leisure Suit Larry: Pocket Party, players explore a 3D college campus, while solving puzzles. As they search for the ultimate good time, gamers bump into Rosie Palmer, the head cheerleader at Larry's college. Attempting to win over Rosie's heart, Larry is thoroughly embarrassed by her jock boyfriend Chuck Rockwell.

Leisure Suit Larry: Pocket Party features more than 30 hours of gameplay and ten characters. In addition to Larry, Rosie and Chuck, players will encounter other personalities such as Loosey, Nigh T. Mishons, and Professor Drew Barringmore. It will also offer a head-to-head Bluetooth feature.

Leisure Suit Larry: Pocket Party is the first handheld version of the series and, Nokia claims, contains gameplay and features that are only available on the N-Gage platform. Leisure Suit Larry: Pocket Party is expected to be released in November 2004.

N-Gage

Nokia's sequel to its N-Gage gaming smartphone, the N-Gage QD, is slated to be released next week, more than a month after it was originally supposed to ship in the United States. Nokia started shipping the N-Gage QD game deck in Europe, Africa and the Asia Pacific back in May.

One of Nokia's goals with the N-Gage QD is to offer it at a lower price than the original, which sold for $300, more than most users were willing to pay. The new model is listed for $199. Nokia wants carriers to offer it for $99. In addition, Nokia’s first stab at a mobile gaming platform didn't sell well, nor did it receive good reviews. The N-Gage QD is supposed to be more compact and easier to use.

The new model runs the dozen or so games already produced for the original N-Gage. However, the N-Gage QD is more compact at 5.05 ounces and 4.65 x 2.68 x .87 inches., has a hot-swappable MultiMediaCard slot for easier game switching, longer battery life, improved gaming controls, a brighter screen, and a new N-Gage Arena launcher application.

The new launcher aims to make it easier for gamers to connect to N-Gage users around the world over mobile networks via the N-Gage Arena. The launcher is accessed from an icon in the game deck's main applications menu, similar to other N-Gage software. N-Gage Arena members can communicate with one another, download exclusive content, access rankings statistics, participate in events and activities, and more. The new launcher is being made available to owners of the original N-Gage. As with the original, N-Gage QD owners can participate in close-range multiplayer gaming via Bluetooth.

Gamers will be happy to know that the company has eschewed the "taco" style of the original N-Gage for a more traditional and more flattering phone style. According to Nokia, the changes listed above are a result of the feedback they've received. Senior Vice President of Games, Ilkka Raiskinen, said "with improved gaming ergonomics, gamers can now start to play games at the push of a button and enjoy the increased responsiveness of the game keys. We also added support for hot-swap MMC and extended the battery life. For phone calls, we reoriented the speaker and microphone to support 'classic talking'."

The N-Gage QD is available in two versions: a GSM 900/1800 variant (Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific), already shipping, and a GSM 850/1900 variant (Americas). As with all other Series 60 smartphones, the N-Gage QD also offers personal information management, an XHTML browser, email and the possibility to download and install additional Series 60 software.

Mobile Gaming

JupiterResearch, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation (the parent company of this website) announced back in May that the addressable audience of portable gamers will nearly double from 23 million to 43 million by 2009.

According to JupiterResearch, the addressable audience of portable gamers are users of dedicated game devices such as Nintendo's GameBoy, users of hybrid game devices such as Nokia's N-Gage or Tapwave's Zodiac, and gamers that play more than five hours per week on their PDAs.