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Artuk · 10-22-04, 03:01 PM

I keep my eye open for deals. Over time, I have picked up a number of decent titles pretty cheap. I am also very selective. A lot of PDA software is a complete rip off.. games like trade-winds which is just a facelift of stuff so old I played it on my trs-80. To ask $20 for it is criminal. Always play the demo. Chances are, that will be enough to tell you this is a game you would yawn at as a freeware java applet, never mind a 10-20 purchase.

Some games really have production value.. but sadly I have found that few PPC titles other then puzzle games live up to the hype. Most of the really good ones are conversions.. like AoE, Warlords II, and such. AoE was painful to play on the itty bitty screen and had some really poorly conceived interface conventions which sucked a lot of the fun out for me.

For Pocket PC specific games, my two favorites so far have been Pocket EQ ($20) and Strike Force (on sale for less then $10). For me, pocket EQ is fun more as a nostalgia trip, so that title may or may not appeal. I bought Warring Nations ($15) and Plant Tycoon (half off for $10) but they have not lived up to my expectation. Whish I had saved my money and bought Warlords II, the demo for which was great fun.

If you are looking for a way to play some decent games on the cheap, look into emulation. Morphgear is free.. and allows you to play any SNES roms, for instance.. of course you should own the roms you are emulating. I like military madness (a turbographx game) the best, and some snes games like chronotrigger, battle ogre (just getting into that one), monopoly, and nogabunga's ambition, sim city, and civ I. Ufortunately you are restricted to dpad and buttons which limits the fun of emulation. There is a product under development to allow you to hook up a psx paddle to a pda.. if that happens then emulation will be a whole other ball game.

Another good game that can sometimes be picked up for sale is Redshift Legacy. I have had some problems with the dpad response, and have trouble getting into a genre I burned out on 15 years ago, but its a great value if you enjoy that type of game. THe Demo lets you play to level 6 which is more then enough time to sample.

So.. to answer your question.. play a lot of demos. In the end.. you will find there is not all that much out there actually worth spending money on. The state of PDA games was a little dissapointing to me after I got my axim.

And NEVER NEVER buy a game you cant demo. Too many have glitches with different operating systems or just plain stink.

Regards,

Artuk

10-22-04, 03:01 PM	#14 (permalink)
Artuk Aximsite Minor League Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Maine Posts: 217 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I keep my eye open for deals. Over time, I have picked up a number of decent titles pretty cheap. I am also very selective. A lot of PDA software is a complete rip off.. games like trade-winds which is just a facelift of stuff so old I played it on my trs-80. To ask $20 for it is criminal. Always play the demo. Chances are, that will be enough to tell you this is a game you would yawn at as a freeware java applet, never mind a 10-20 purchase. Some games really have production value.. but sadly I have found that few PPC titles other then puzzle games live up to the hype. Most of the really good ones are conversions.. like AoE, Warlords II, and such. AoE was painful to play on the itty bitty screen and had some really poorly conceived interface conventions which sucked a lot of the fun out for me. For Pocket PC specific games, my two favorites so far have been Pocket EQ ($20) and Strike Force (on sale for less then $10). For me, pocket EQ is fun more as a nostalgia trip, so that title may or may not appeal. I bought Warring Nations ($15) and Plant Tycoon (half off for $10) but they have not lived up to my expectation. Whish I had saved my money and bought Warlords II, the demo for which was great fun. If you are looking for a way to play some decent games on the cheap, look into emulation. Morphgear is free.. and allows you to play any SNES roms, for instance.. of course you should own the roms you are emulating. I like military madness (a turbographx game) the best, and some snes games like chronotrigger, battle ogre (just getting into that one), monopoly, and nogabunga's ambition, sim city, and civ I. Ufortunately you are restricted to dpad and buttons which limits the fun of emulation. There is a product under development to allow you to hook up a psx paddle to a pda.. if that happens then emulation will be a whole other ball game. Another good game that can sometimes be picked up for sale is Redshift Legacy. I have had some problems with the dpad response, and have trouble getting into a genre I burned out on 15 years ago, but its a great value if you enjoy that type of game. THe Demo lets you play to level 6 which is more then enough time to sample. So.. to answer your question.. play a lot of demos. In the end.. you will find there is not all that much out there actually worth spending money on. The state of PDA games was a little dissapointing to me after I got my axim. And NEVER NEVER buy a game you cant demo. Too many have glitches with different operating systems or just plain stink. Regards, Artuk Last edited by Artuk; 10-22-04 at 03:13 PM.