N-Gage's Space Impact updated to include social features
Chat with friends, organise clans, destroy the universe
It’s almost a year since Space Impact Kappa Base bagged a Pocket Gamer Silver Award, but it seems Nokia is thinking along the same lines as the iPhone’s App Store with a free update to the impressive N-Gage shmup’s feature list.
Considering it’s already a multiplayer shooter (one of the game’s more uncommon, and appealing, aspects), the addition of online clans seems like an excellent idea.
To facilitate the operations of such warrior collectives, Space Impact Kappa Base has also had an instant messaging system installed, so you can chat with your buddies about tactics, targets, comic books, whether Han Solo could have Captain Kirk - that sort of thing.
The most interesting news is that the update comes free to those who’ve already bought Space Impact Kappa Base, so this should be a great way to re-enthuse players about this aging, but still very serviceable, game. The price has also been dropped if the game isn't already in your library.
It’s interesting to see this update comes at the same time as Namco decide to offer a similar upgrade to its mobile game, Rolling with Katamari.
We’ve come to take these sorts of gameplay updates for granted with the iPhone already, but it’s great to see other platforms adopting a similar approach to improving the longevity of their products.