Mass Effect, NBA Jam, Real Racing, Tiger Woods arrive on Windows Phone as Nokia exclusives

According to our source at Microsoft, there won’t be a general Xbox Windows Phone release this week. That could be because N.O.V.A. 3 still hasn’t passed certification yet (as Gameloft has informed us) and neither has anything else, or maybe Microsoft just wants Xbox fans focused on the Xbox One this week instead of their phones.
Don’t fret, though! Non-Nokia owners just got two new Xbox Windows Phone titles to choose from: Spy Mouse and Trivial Pursuit. And Nokia owners, boy is this a good week for you…
Nokia and Electronic Arts have just released not one, two, or even three new games. That’s right, FOUR new Nokia exclusives rolled in overnight: Mass Effect: Infiltrator (requires Windows Phone 8), NBA Jam, Real Racing 2, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12. In other words, most of the big games we’ve been looking forward to since EA and Nokia first announced their partnership!
The only bad news: Windows Phone 8 users with 512 MB RAM devices can't play any of these games, while Nokia WP7 users can. Weirdness...
Mass Effect Infiltrator
How fitting that the Mass Effect series, which started life on the Xbox 360 before branching out to other platforms has finally arrived on Windows Phone 8. Infiltrator is a side story to the main trilogy of games. It stars a Cerberus Agent named Randall Ezno (Ezno? I bet he got teased in school) who rebels against his employers when he discovers they’ve been up to no good.
As a companion game, Infiltrator focuses solely on the series’ third-person shooting and combat instead of its RPG elements. You move by swiping your left thumb and look and aim with your right thumb, not unlike twin-stick shooters and even Modern Combat 4. But the aiming and shooting is much easier here than in Gameloft’s FPS games because you can tap enemies to lock onto them and then just aim at specific parts of their bodies to fire – no separate shooting button, thankfully.
Ezno’s health recharges over time, but he’s bound to die if you don’t take cover. Actually attaching to cover can be difficult, though popping out to shoot and jumping to other pieces of cover works better. He also gets various weapons and Biotics (spells/powers) with which to kill anyone who disagrees with him. These weapons and powers, as well as melee abilities and armor can be upgraded with credits earned during gameplay. Like other Nokia exclusives, all four of these games lack the IAPs found in their iOS originals.
As the second Windows Phone 8-exclusive Nokia EA game (also the second $7 one), Infiltrator features fairly detailed 3D graphics and lavish production values. The story and even weapon descriptions in the store are fully voiced, so other than the pure combat focus, this feels just like a real Mass Effect game. Players sometimes get to choose between Paragon (good) and Renegade (bad) actions as well. Each choice can lead to a different ending and Achievement, so make sure you don’t mix and match before you’ve unlocked both endings.
Mass Effect: Infiltrator – Windows Phone 8 - $6.99 – 476 MB – Store Link
NBA Jam
The classic arcade basketball arrives on Windows Phone in fine form! Instead of 5-on-5, NBA Jam is a 2-on-2 game. This keeps the game much simpler and easier to follow than traditional basketball simulations. The whole thing boasts a fine sense of humor, with digitized player heads atop tiny bodies and the silly, iconic voice samples of announcer Tim Kitzrow. Boomshakalaka, indeed!
Choose from all 30 NBA teams before heading to the court. Each team has several real players to choose from, each with different stats. Not all players start out unlocked; you’ll need to earn Achievements to unlock the rest.
The Windows Phone version offers both virtual and swipe-based controls. I didn’t try swipes, but the virtual controls work like a charm. A virtual stick on the thumb controls running, while three buttons on the right represent shooting/blocking, stealing, and fire (a speed burst). Instead of having to hold two buttons at once to shoot while using fire, you just hit fire and then slide your thumb to the shoot button – a fine solution for touch screen gameplay.
NBA Jam offers three game modes: Play Now (single game), Classic Campaign (a series of matches), and local Wi-Fi multiplayer. Quarters can be set to two, three, or five minutes, so games take 8-20 minutes, depending on player preference. From my brief time so far, it looks like fans of the original arcade game will love playing this version on the go.
NBA Jam – Windows Phone 7 or 8 - $2.99 – 211 MB – Store Link
Real Racing 2
Windows Phone finally has a simulation-oriented racing game (think more Forza Motorsport than Project Gotham Racing) now that Real Racing 2 (also known as the last good Real Racing game) has arrived. For better or worse, it’s also a Windows Phone 7 game, so the graphics don't come close to matching Asphalt 7's beauty. But this game does provide a full and realistic cockpit view, which actually ends up being a very immersive way to play instead of a hindrance.
At the start of the game, you’ll choose between buying a 2010 Volvo C30 R-Design or 2010 Volkswagen Golf GTI for your first car. Yes, all 30 licensed cars are 2010 or earlier models since that’s when Real Racing 2 originally came out.
From there, you’ll select from a variety of events in Career mode. Events have restrictions on what types of vehicles can enter them, just like Forza. Some events host up to 16 AI racers, while others involve just two or four cars. They pay in either money (used to buy upgrades) or rep. Career contains 50 events and a total of 89 unique races, so Real Racing 2 should provide a lengthy racing experience.
The game offers several control options, including tilt, steering via virtual touch-screen wheel, or steering by touching the sides of the screen. Acceleration can be automatic or manual, while braking remains manually controlled. As with any racing game, I recommend touch-screen controls for their superior accuracy compared to tilt.
Real Racing 2 supports local Wi-Fi multiplayer, although one reader reports that Wi-Fi didn’t work when he tested it with two phones. Let us know your experience in the comments, won’t you?
Real Racing 2– Windows Phone 7 or 8 - $4.99 – 243 MB – Store Link
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12
It might not be FIFA, but the Tiger Woods series is another heavy hitter from EA Sports. Before heading to the links, you can create up to three golfers, choosing their gender, skin color, and style and color of clothing. These are realistic looking custom golfers as opposed to the cartoonish, premade characters found in Gameloft’s Let’s Golf 2. Stat upgrades can then be purchased with in-game funds, giving you control over how your golfer develops.
From there, aspiring golfers can participate in the PGA Tour career mode, which simulates a full year of golfing events based on the in-game calendar. Tiger Challenge mode contains a variety of individual events for players to purchase and participate in, though these must presumably be unlocked first in the PGA Tour. All events cost funds to enter, so you can’t just spend everything on character upgrades.
Tiger Woods 12 brings its own unique aiming system that differs from Let’s Golf 2’s more traditional system. After choosing the spot to aim for, you’ll draw a line down to select the power of your swing and then draw it back up to hit the ball. The straightness of the line determines the accuracy and spin of your shot. It takes a little getting used to, but certainly adds an extra degree of realism compared to just stopping a meter like other golf games.
This one supports local Wi-Fi multiplayer as well, but we’ve had the same report of the mode not working. Can any of you guys test it and report back to us?
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12– Windows Phone 7 or 8 - $2.99 – 225 MB – Store Link
Thanks to TNT Judbud and Marcel of InsideGames.Ch for the tip!
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Paul Acevedo is the Games Editor at Windows Central. A lifelong gamer, he has written about videogames for over 15 years and reviewed over 350 games for our site. Follow him on Twitter @PaulRAcevedo. Don’t hate. Appreciate!
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Great games!
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I agree!
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What happened to real racing 3?!?! That's the best one! Oh yeah its free.....
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My friends will laugh at me if they see me playing this "ugly" game...
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Get friends that don't judge you by your phone then.
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+1
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Get better friends, those seem shallow. Just saying, and I wear hand made suits.
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Your friends have nothing better to do than sit around and watch you play games on your phone? Ok.
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well said xD
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good game is not game with good graphics (example crysis 3 on pc)
good game is game with good gameplay (example killing floor, pc only game) -
Nicely said.
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Real Racing 3 is about 756 MB. It is means that lumia 720, lumia 620, lumia 520 will not support it cause of memory limitation.
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sorry but you just said some nonsense :(
temple run is 32mb and can't run on those device too because of all the ram occupied while running. When running an application it can "potentially" use endless ram, it's developer work to minimize it.
Sadly develpers on windows phone seems pretty lazy and none of those game run on my lumia 720 because of ram limitation :( -
Temple run now can run on 512MB devices!! Currently playing on my Lumi 520 <3 Sources --->>> https://twitter.com/TempleRun/status/347424390192967683
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Doesn't matter: Real Racing 2 requires 1 GB on Windows Phone 8 devices, so my Lumia 521 catagorically refuses to install it.
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Its 200mb... If you need space just upgrade or delete crap and send it to the cloud?!?
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Of RAM. It requires 1 GB of RAM on WP8 devices, while it lets WP7.8 and earlier slide by with 512 MB.
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1 Gig RAM, not space.
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The installment where you have to pay real money to refill your car's gas tank is the best one?
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You don't have to do it, you just have to wait 5-10 minutes depending on the car. And yes, if in-app purchases are good enough for some of the apps WPCentral staff has recommended (Monster Burner being the latest), then they're good enough for Real Racing 3. This arrogant behavior of the WPCentral staff toward any criticism is highly unprofessional.
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So if I want to play the game, I have to not play the game? That sounds terrible.
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You're the first one to provide any criticism in this discussion and I certainly wasn't being arrogant in the first place. Suppose I was to tell you that having a chip on your shoulder is unacceptable? As for my/our stance on IAPs and timing mechanics, it must obviously depend on the individual game, not some all or nothing viewpoint.
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He was criticizing Nokia, not you, but somehow you took it upon yourself to defend their decision to bring Real Racing 2 instead of 3. And you were quite arrogant about it, even if I agree with your fundamental point.
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People need to look up the word arrogant. Paul wasn't being arrogant, cynical maybe, which I enjoy a little. All he thought was that its interesting that the version you have to pay to play per use is the one you prefer.
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Thanks man. :)
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Your welcome Paul... First thanked by Sam yesterday, next by you today! I'm on a roll, and I'm just being realistic is all...
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+1
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We need real racing 3 and with the same level of graphics the android version has... Real Racing 2 looks like crap..
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Oh well, None for 512, but happy they are there for WP. more reasons to shut the mouth of those Android guys.
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Dammit 1gb again
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Omg. I love Nokia.
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IAP?
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In-app-purchases :)
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Thank you, that one really had me stumped! Surely this is a good thing though? Unless of course we're missing out on something worthwhile as opposed to the typical cr*p you need to pay for these days like skins or in-game money.
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It's not a good thing when a game that's designed to allow users to buy currency, items etc. with money loses that ability WITHOUT the game balance being adjusted to account for the change. Check out our Flight Control Rocket review for a great example.
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Great! Cheers Nokia! Defo going to check out ME and NBA Jam :D
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I had a few free gigs on my Lumia, aaaaand they're gone! :P
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Woof :P
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Yay I'm actually excited now if things are gonna pick up like this
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I don't mean to be ungrateful but why on earth did Nokia bring these old games? We want Mass Effect 2 and Real racing 3 for god's sake. C'mon guys, wake up!
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Errrm... Mass Effect 2 is a console game. Mass Effect Infiltrator is the lastest and only mobile version of Mass Effect as far as I know (and I'm damn excited to play it)
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It's good but on the the feature that mass effect infiltrator influenced your mass effect 3 multiplayer experience is missing in the WP version :(
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Yeah I'm a little disappointed about that as well. But honestly? I completed Mass Effect 3 twice already several months back, and finished all the DLC by now, so the connected experience is less important at this point.
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Yes i agree and I am a big mass effect fan but for 7€ and one year after the ios and android release, I would at least expect a full port of the IOS version with all features.
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I'm torn between the 2 of you. One one hand, my ME3 game is over and done with... 100% achievements, etc. I'm not going back and playing that anytime soon and I only played the online multiplayer for the sake of achievements. So the tie-in feature is whatever... but at the same time, it would be nice to have it. But still worth checking out the mobile game anyway. I don't buy EA games anymore, but when I do, they are EA mobile on my smartphone. lol.
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There was another Mobile Mass Effect game, ME: Galaxy. It was an iOS only game I believe and it was the inbetween ME1 and ME2. Needless to say it was awful.
I had Infiltrator on my iPad and thought the graphics were great, but the size of the device was the biggest limitation. Time to cash in some Bing Rewards to give this a shot! -
Isn't real racing 3 pretty universally despised because of the freemium model? Personally, I'm glad they went with RR2.
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Lets hope for a price drop on all 4 soon. Though i am grateful for these, these prices for incomplete port is a little steep.
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What is incomplete with NBA Jam? They made it 2-on-2 probably because 5-on-5 would be cluttred and sluggish on a mobile device. They could have expanded the rosters, I guess, but I'm not too bothered by that.
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NBA Jam is the full experience other than the lack of IAPs, which most players won't mind. Mass Effect is clearly missing the connectivity feature, and Real Racing 2's graphics are slightly dumbed down. Don't know if there's anythign else to complain about with these ports.
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Updated rosters are needed, IMO. To release this at the end of the 2012-2013 NBA season with Ray Allen on the Celtics is jsut a joke, IMO.
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Uh Jam has been 2 on 2 since the coin-op version.
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What about Space Jam, which was 3 on 3? :-D
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I haven't played it in so long I forgot. Literally, it's been probably 10+ years.
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And again a proof that Nokia leads the WP game :D
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Awesome awesome awesome, more more more
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Wow! That ano tech leaked guy was right about real racing
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Nope, he said Real Racing 3 and it is free. Forget him, it's May already
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None for 512mb :(
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What a joke for us non Nokia owners
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blame your phone of choice
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Even ½ of the Nokia users get screwed over aswell so don't bring choice into it
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We have the same on the pc since - ages. blame the ones who spend little money on hardware and think everyone will be able to run all programms
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That was unneccesary Dexterrino, the HTC 8X is still one of the best Windows Phone 8 devices available, as a thin premium device Nokia are only just catching up with their 925. Interestingly I would say that approximately 50% of the developers I know in London have HTC 8X's as their primary device, not least because the 720p resolution and tall aspect ratio suits Windows Phone extremely well
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Well its not really about the device itself but the lack of support from the company behind it, as htc has done their usual job of releasing a WP device and promptly forgetting about it in favor of their android devices. Fine phone but the wrong choice if you want Nokia -class support.
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The 8x looks cheap next to the 920 and feels that way too. I have both so I'm not bias to either. The 720p screen on the 8x is actually a negative. The 920's 768 resolution means no empty space gap on the the screen, unlike the 8x
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I disagree about it looking cheap but of course I respect your opinion. As for the 720p screen, that's only a negative when you're running Windows Phone 7 apps on the device, which is becoming less of a problem as the WP8 apps are being released.
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Respect the opinion, but I think the 920 (while sturdy) looks like a brick and feels like a toy next to the 8X and Ativ S. Can't wait for 925. I own all 3 and looking forward to fourth flagship!
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All of those phones are bricks/phablets. Stop arguing like little fan boys, people choose different hardware for different reasons.
I, for one, chose the 822 because it was smaller and has a SD slot. 2 things that were important too me. -
I like the brick-ness of the 920, though. I don't want some light, feathery feel to my phone. I thought that the 8X really felt like a toy because of its lack of weight. The side buttons felt too flush with the body (making missing them or hitting the wrong one easier). Overall, I though the hardware inferior. Couple that with the horrendous support HTC offered my Droid Incredible and their lack of good software on Windows Phone, and that device was a total failure, in my opinion.
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Normally I would agree with you Jay, but I wouldn't say they are only just "catching" up as if the 920 lagged behind the 8X because of some poor design. I happen to like the thickness and weight of the 920. And going into it, a lot of people should have known that if they choose HTC, they probably weren't going to get any exclusive apps. Nokia seems to be the only one doing that. At the very least, it pays to do research on your choice of phone before purchasing it.
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I think I made that caveat with my original statement "as a thin premium device Nokia are only just catching up with their 925", but I agree with everything you've said
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I think Dexterrino was *trying* to say is that we saw Nokia exclusives on 7.5, but did not see HTC or Samsung push new apps for their private catalog. This went into my decision to get a 920, and putting the rest of my family on Nokia. If HTC wanted more exclusives like Nokia then they need to back the platform a bit more and less HTC First. Not trying to start a flame war!!!
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Don't worry because these are only timed-exclusive.
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Graphics quality is very bad for real racing... Not even close to ios.. please don't make us ashamed and bring a better one..
lol and you want 7dollars for it.. nice.. i'm not gonna buy.. -
Well, it's perfectly understandable that it is if lesser quality. It has to be able to run on WP7.x devices, which doesn't sport any specs higher than 1.5 GHz single-core processors and 512mb RAM.
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Then they should create another version of some games for higher spec devices like L920.
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Yeah, and separate versions for all different Lumia colors too!
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No need to argue this.
I just have to say if you want to play high spec games go buy a high spec device. It is better than reducing the apps' quality... -
You provided just about the stupidest response possible there. Different hardware requires different software at time. The lesser hardware of 7.5 devices couldn't run a graphically-intensive version of this game, especially like the 920 and its ilk. To say a sluggish CPU and GPU from the 7.5 is IN ANY WAY similar to different colors is plain dumb, and not the least bit funny.
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Not because of the response. But because of buying a high spec device with a double price... And just hearing that "I'm stupid" from you...
Get a life, don't try to teach me these things... -
That would be too expensive.
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Actually, Real Racing 2 is $5, the same as the iOS version. It's the only game of the three that doesn't cost more on WP.
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11 TL(Turkish Lira) equal to 7 dollars. Anyway not gonna pay if it would be 1 dollar also.
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I'm sad that I have an 8x but those graphics doesn't look too good.
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Bought nba jam on xbla, love it
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Just awesome, will downloading 3 of these straight away!
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Sucks.... What a news..! Nothing for 512 ram. Nokia u.........!!! Hate u for this...
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Its those devs problem, not nokias, of course Nokia would have liked to have an version to work on all their lumias
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Lmaostfu. The games not coming to 512 devices is NOTHING to do with Nokia.
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Watever.. Nokia could have made it possible.. They are nokia exclusives...
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Nokia's not the developer. The responsibility falls on EA first and foremost.
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Ya but nokia could have asked developer to make for 512 ram devices...
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Are you really that thick?
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Not as you..
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You bought a 512mb device expecting to play alot of games on it? I would buy a 512mb device for my mom...
Seriously. You guys amaze me. -
I wouldn't do that to my mother.
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+1
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Oh just scram already!
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nevermind
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I love how people are still complaining.
Can't seem to please anyone these days. -
You said it, should be called Whiners Phone users!
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Shocking, right? Next headline: "Windows Phone overtakes Android as top platform!" First comment: "WHO CARES?! WE STILL HAVE NO INSTAGRAM!"
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LOL!
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LOL
Instagram is a dumb app anyway. Facebook, with pics only...with my same friends on Facebook... Who post all the same pics on Facebook... Oh but it has filters! WEAK. -
In a bit of fairness, Windows Phone does seem to suffer from fragmentation AT LEAST twice as bad as that of Android. That was one of the major things people on this side of the aisle threw at Android users, and now Windows Phone is leading the fragmentation race by a mile.
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Great games, but for me, im really need joypad...Moga pls..
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When can we expect to have Real Racing 3..?? Anyone wants it..??
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Me
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you'll get it around the same time when Real Racing 10 is being released for iOS and Android.
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Oops, well that's $12 gone! :)
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Why are graphics such a joke ?
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+920.
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So the games work on Windows Phone 7 but not Windows Phone 8 with 512MB RAM? Fuck sake.
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Nice na... What a work done by developers... We should appreciate.. Sucks... Developer n Nokia...
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I'm actually thinking about writing an article around all of this. It's clear that the 512mb RAM is showing more and more problems and is close to the equivalent of 256mb on WP7 (with the difference that all background tasks work). I've just had to submit an update to our app because 512mb devices were not functioning correctly
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Please do! I was very excited about the Lumia 521 being available locally, but it's becoming less and less appealing lately because of the RAM limit. First it was just a few games, but Amazing Spiderman, Batman: The Dark Knight Rises, Modern Combat 4, and now Mass Effect Infiltrator? And that's just the games side of things. Those are kind of make or break for someone like me who regularly has to make hour long commutes on the subway.
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What do you expect out of a $150.00 device? Jesus!
It's simple. You get what you pay for. -
How about a game that's multiple years old, ran just fine on my damned Palm Pre with its 256 MB of RAM, runs fine on WP7 devices with 512 MB of RAM, and yet somehow magically requires a full 1 GB of RAM to install under Windows Phone 8? http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/glyder-adventure-worlds/b26a... That's just absurd.
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I know, If it can run on an iPhone 3GS with 256MB of RAM and a 600Mhz CPU then it should run like clockwork on a Lumia 520 or any device with 512RAM and Dual Core Processor
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I think the time not so far when everyone leave this window phone platform....i really request to Microsoft plz do some thing for your platform....
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Don't let the door hit ya!
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I can sympathize with the non-gaming related complaints, but you really shouldn't have expected the graphic intensive games to run on your phone. What you SHOULD complain about is WP8 compatible WP7 games that refuse to run on 512 MB WP8 devices.
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Please do write that article. I am waiting for it.
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You won't understand it =/
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Ohh poop! Apparently my phone doesn't have the features to run any of those games!!!
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Nice, but "no thanks" EA.
I bought RR2 on my android tablet a year ago and it would crash, after 2 months I wasn't even able to re-install. Same with Mass Effect: Infiltrator. Customer Service sucks with EA, never will I buy another EA game, most certainly not for that price! -
I do hate EA on my consoles... but I love TW.
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OMG, MAass Effect, i Ma having a meltdown hoep fhits is a godo game
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Say again?!
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You really are having a meltdown!
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Seriously!!! My eyes cannot believe this. Mass effect on windows phone. Have to wait for pay day but totally buying this next month.
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NBA Jam is bloody amazing. Probably the only one ill buy unless I hear raving reviews about any of the other games.
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This is why you go Nokia!
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Ci.
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Windows Phone needs Trials HD as an exclusive.
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+520
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+1040
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+One
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+1776
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Mass Effect wow !!
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Come on and slam!
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Fuck Samsung, i'm gonna trade my Ativ S to a L920..
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We'll welcome you with open arms.
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Awwwweeeesome!
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Still useless on the 820.
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How is that out of curiosity? The Lumia 820 has 1GB of RAM and therefore is physically capable of playing these games. Unless you mean that the lack of storage makes it difficult? In which case I see your point and 820 owners who want to game need to be pretty tenacious about their memory management and get all their media on a MicroSD
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Yes is the storage. I actually have the 920 also but I've got a 820 in the crib as well. 0 games installed. Only a few essential apps. All media in SD card. Did everything in the forums including shrink storage a few times. SkyDrive auto upload off. Other storage takes up 5GB can't clear no matter what. System takes 2GB. I'm left with a few hundred Mb lol. So 1 major game can't even be installed. I can install doodle jump if I want to.... So I shall be patient....thanks though.
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Very fair point, I'm using the 820 as my main device right now to see what it's like living in the low storage world.
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@uopjo6 I have a 820 and the only time it is useless is for three games so far - Dark Knight, Spiderman and Modern Combat. This game has a download size of 500MB so it will install just fine on 820.
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We had the same problems with my sons Lumia 820. Even after using Nokias memory clenaning it would not download these apps. Then somenone here tipped us that we should try to download the app through the website (windowsphone.com).
And that worked! So try to download ti from the web... -
Yep the thing is like my reply to JayTBennet is that I can probably install 1 game and then I'm done. If I uninstall it will leave behind some memory I cannot clear. Did everything the web suggests. I shall be patient.
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822 FTW
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Another reason why there is no point of getting a non-Nokia Windows Phone ;)
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NBA is stupid FIFA is the best selling game every year we need it
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Well I disagree in America where we dominate basketball around the globe, its playoff time and its more popular than soccer here in the us where most of the purchases come from, (carrier billing,debit cards, and now all Nokia released) plus we have had several soccer games already no bball
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U must suck at bball, and I'd prefer madden than FIFA even though I do enjoy FIFA as well
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How can you compare a countries sport to a world sport very few countries play bball
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Because America>World... Fact... Sorry.
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Every country in the world plays soccer think about that including the beautiful major league soccer and their growing fan base in the USA.
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Soccer will never have the support in the US as it does overseas. It's a low scoring game and most people here in the US do not have the attention span to watch a 1-0 game. I have tried and tried to like and watch soccer and it just bores me to sleep.
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NBA all the way bro!
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Ok when madden or NBA takes FIFA spot as the best selling game then you can speak for now you lose i speak facts this is your opinion.
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Of course his preference for NBA is just his opinion. It's not a contest, and this was a silly discussion in the first place. ~ ~
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THEY SHOULD FIND A SOLUTION FOR THIS 512 RAM !!
There is currently only 3 WP8 Lumias (820-920-928) with 1 GB Ram , It means that theses games are only for 3 phones in the market --"
Fortunatly I have a Lumia 920 . -
Can't agree with you, people who buy cheaper phones can't expect to have the same software, and wouldn't be fair for us, who invested more to not have more advanced games, just not to hurt some peoples feelings. Not meant to be blunt, but it is what it is.
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@ mjparc This is almost like if I should complain about not being able to play Crysis 3 because my graphics card is not powerful enough. That would be my fault and my fault alone, not the developers.
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To be fair at least the WP7 compatible games should be able to work on his 512 MB WP8 device, since IIRC the higher end WP7 hardware still had lower RAM than low end WP8 devices, and they work fine on them.
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822, 922?, 925
Research you phone before buying it. If you weak hardware, you should expect weak games, apps, performance. Sorry. -
there is also the 810 from T-Mobile. Same hardware as the other Lumia 8xx WP8
I have the Lumia 820, so I am good in term of hardware, I don't know about the storage though -
again no support for 512 mb devices....i had a lumia 710 ,then wp 8 came out and i bought a lumia 620.......disappointed in windows phone....probably i will switch to android if nothing changes soon.....
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Same here..!!
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Wouldn't switching to a Lumia with 1 GB of RAM be a better solution?
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So true Paul if he was loyal he would get wp8 1gb of ram and stop being cheap.
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Why should I switch to another Lumia, with such behavior? And the incoming games? New lumia? So stupid answer. If even a 3GS can play this game, why in hell should I switch to another stupid lumia! WP sucks because that. Thats why I am selling this piece of crap and buying Iphone!
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Ta ta then.
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What? I sold my lumia. Hell I am happy. No more pain. God, I got a Iphone. I am going to www.imore.com on Mobile Nations. I don't need to stay here anymore. I have Vine and Instagram. I have all the games working nicely on Iphone 4s. No more headache, no more arguing if a game will run on my phone. Not begging for games, apps or developers to made avaliable to my device. God thank you.
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ok.
ta ta then. -
If you are rich enough to be able to afford an iPhone (which, unlike Nokia, is Apple's single flagship device released each year), why on earth did you buy the 620 instead of the 920?? The 620 is not a premium device, and Nokia never said it was...and that's why it's cheap budget phone and lacking some features. You certainly should have considered that before you bought it with expectations of playing demanding games on it. The blame for your disappointment is solely on your shoulders. Deal with it and stop complaining.
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Hello Firstly I Got a lumia 710, then after 3 weeks ago I bought a lumia 720. 500 dollars a Lumia 720 on my country. A iphone 4s is 600 dollars. And I have to remember you that even a 3GS can handle these games with 256mb ram. My sister have one, and plays nice some games. But I don't care anymore. I sold my lumia 720 to my friend and I got an Iphone 4s. Thank god.
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The 3GS might be able to handle some of these games, but to what effect? Have you compared it side-by-side with an iPhone 5 playing the same game and did not notice a difference? There would be a HUGE difference because the iPhone 5 is far better optimized for it. The fact that you can install it on a 3GS doesn't change that. I have a friend who uses an HTC that originally came with Gingerbread now running CM10.1. Sure he could install NFS Most Wanted on it, but the gameplay is horribly laggy and glitchy. That is what happens when you play a newer, demanding game on older hardware. By the way, notice that your sister's 3GS does not have all the features of iOS6, even though theoretically it should be able to run it? Those are intentional restrictions placed by Apple to frustrate you into buy a newer iPhone. You will surely experience something similar when iOS7 rolls by...your iPhone will lack key features from the OS because they want you to buy the new iPhone. (So when people bitch about WP 7.8's lack of features when it is clear Microsoft (admittedly exasperatingly) changed the kernel of the OS and restarted from scratch, I find it a bit rich.) It still comes back to the same thing - to get the best experience on a phone, you have to go for the latest and greatest...or live with the limitations you have to face instead.
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In developing economies like ours(India), buying a 1GB device is financially impossible for most.
Now you can of course say since we cant afford a L920 ,we shouldnt complain about high end games. Thats perfectly understandble but the problem is when we look around and see android phones(selling at prices even cheaper than L620) running these games. Am in no way an android fan, i love my WP device (and am not interested in playing these games) but then i too often see people here making joke of those who cant afford the flagship device. -
I agree! In Brazil a lumia 920 costs 1000 dollars! Why should buy this piece of crap if peharps next year games will require 2gb RAM. The truth is wp is bad developed and even a 3gs or a froyo android has better RAM management than this crap
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I wont call windows phone crap, that was not my point,i love it. It can surely get better, it will i believe :)
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You are insane to say that android has better ram management. Apps can flood your devices ram with no limits essentially which can slow your device down and drain the battery immensley. You aren't being terribly realistic. This is still a relatively new operating system that developers will have to learn in order to maximize memory usage. Can you be happy that some progress is being made? People these days are so ungrateful.
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Sorry bro I'm from Jamaica the island I know what you mean if I was still in Jamaica it would be impossible to own a lumia 920. But this is a ride Android didn't become the best overnight stick with windows we are getting there.
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completely agreed.
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I too am a 620 user and i find it ridiculous that games like these are only released for 1GB devices. Sure Mass Effect has 3d environments etc, so it's more demanding, but so was Asphalt 7 which is now available to us. But especially talking about NBA Jam, it's purely retarded they made it only 1GB compatible, especially considering that it was able to play on my old Xperia X8 which is a really cheap and slow android phone with only 176MB of memory(!!!). Sorry for the rant but I don't see any logic in all this.
P.S.: Besides, they simply lose potential customers who just don't want to buy a phone the size of a shoe. -
People who can't (or don't want to spend the money) afford a 1gb Windows Phone *for games* (512mb wp is perfect for my parents, for example), should, imo, buy an cheap android instead, that's pretty clear, they don't have much quality control over there, it's pretty anarchic. And coming here "threatening" to leave and go android, is well, there's no other way to put it - childishly pathetic... Just go, close the door on the way out. Ta.
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Did you not do your research? It's not Windows Phone issue. If you want to play the newest games you should have purchased a phone with 1GB ram at 32gb storage. If you go cheap you will miss out on features and Apps. It's the same in iOS and Andriod. You can't run everything on a Iphone 3gs or a Galaxy S2 so I don't get why people complain. Do your research and buy the phone that meets your needs not the cheapest one out.
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I'd like to try NBA jam. Brings back memories.
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Nothing for the 8X :(
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Sweet games
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I'm not a gamer and that could be the source of my confusion but the first line in the article says: "According to our source at Microsoft, there won’t be a new Xbox Windows Phone release this week" It then goes onto list 2 games for WP and 4 games for Lumia WPs released this week :S Are they different types of certifications and is that what was being alluded to?
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The two games for *everyone* are previously Nokia timed exclusives. Nokia ones were, most likely, certificated some time ago.
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The first clause refers to Xbox WP games available for all brands of WP. Nokia did release 4 Xbox WP games as exclusives, but those don't count as the general weekly release.
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Still waiting for Jetpack Joyride :3
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Awesome,just one game to finish collection off, fifa
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Real Racing 2 is WP7 based? They are not getting my money with those horrible graphics...
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We want FIFA the world best selling game every year we want FIFA 12,13 and the new FIFA 14 is that too much to ask for Microsoft.
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They will but it won't sell if most of the people around the globe font have premium devices or ways to pay for them, if u haven't noticed they appeal to the US first usually where NFL, and NBA are kings and is growing worldwide. Overseas games by both leagues is becoming the new norm
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I guess but USA is part of the reason FIFA is most sold game its/soccer the fastest growing sport in the USA
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The game sells but I wouldn't say fastest growing sport, especially not in the south we play the game cuz its fun we have no clue about actual soccer, the players or teams. NBA and NFL are the big dollars, advertising, the playoffs, the Superbowl is practically a holiday
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Regardless in the south has no soccer team its northern states play FIFA the states that play major league soccer fastest growing sport in USA average 30 thousand people each game Seattle sounders 50 thousand people every home game. It takes Time soccer will take the south too its already the world number #1 sport no sport has even half the fans of soccer FIFA can never go wrong facts.
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Yea facts can't go wrong Americans spend more timing watching, researching, investing and going to #1 football games #2 baseball #3 basketball #4 hockey #5 soccer so ur facts aren't adding up
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Chelsea vs Manchester united a regular season game has more views on tv and more people in the stadium than your super bowl. Smh football/soccer the #1 sport. Americans make their own sport cool but NFL and baseball put together still can't compare to a game that almost the whole world watch including millions of soccer fans in America....smh
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Yea soccer is worldwide yea we know that I'm talking strictly USA
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This "soccer is growing fast in the US" is a myth. No one watches attends MLS games, no one sells their merchandise... sports shows (ESPN, etc.) rarely even mention them... Sorry but soccer will never make it in America beyond the immigrant population.
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Finally someone understands I watch ESPN all day and nite and the only time I see soccer is the world cup, or David Beckham,yet its growing
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You know Windows Phone are worldwide right? In fact as far as I know they're not even selling all that well in the USA. So it really does not matter how big or small Football is there. Some of you Americans actually LIKE to live up to your stereotypes..
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WAS the fastest growing. Its dying down. Not hard to grow fast when you start with almost nothing. It will NEVER surpass NFL or MLB in the U.S....just like the NFL or MLB will never surpass soccer in Europe.
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That's a nice opinion but the facts don't support it. Maybe you should read about how the MLS just expanded to 20 teams with a joint investment from Manchester City and a certain New York baseball team. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-22/manchester-city-and-yankees-launch... enjoy.
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Wow 1 new team and MLS is taking over the US, and US is still at the top of WP sold, the percent is low but we buy the hell out some premium phones here.
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Dang nice job nokia
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NBA jam sounds interesting, haven't played an NBA game since NBA Street 2 back in the day ... The soundtrack got me hooked, especially Eric Sermon's react lol .
I will check out later when the exclusivity period expires ... I bought Mass Effect for my XOOM last July (for 25¢) & I still haven't played it yet lol -
Does anybody know if Tiger Woods has the 3-click swing option?
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I saw Mass Effect and thought it was Dead Space :(. Awesome anyways and will be buying them!
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Woo just in time for me to get my Nokia Lumia 928 in the mail today! :D
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I love how these people with these bottom lvl phones complain because it doesn't do the same as a phone that's several hundred dollars more, like comparing a $200 Acer laptop versus a $1500 Sony series. Yet y'all want for bigger better games with what memory??????
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I agree with you, but when some or most of the these games run on WP7 with the same/lower specs it starts to become understandable.
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Ok dummy smh you sound real smart......retard if you had enough to get sg3 why would you get low end lumia. Think about that retard.
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@Paul: How is the graphics of RR2 as compared to the same versions on android or IOS ?
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The graphics on the WP version look noticeably worse. This is because it's a WP7 game and constrained by the weaker EP7 hardware specs. It's not unplayable at all though. I dig the gameplay a lot.
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Thanks Paul.
I downloaded the trial, I like the gameplay but the graphics worries me. This was firmly set to be my first app purchase (No, I'm not a miser, I just never needed to buy an app yet) considering how muc I love RR3 on my roommate's Nexus 7, even though I hate the IAP and would have much rather outright bought the game without a second thought.
I even compared them to the Android versions, the graphics is noticeably wirse IMO. :(
I might buy an android or IOS tablet solely for gaming on the move, but WP is where I'm staying for my phone :) -
Honestly if they had released real racing 3, there would be people complaining that they didn't release the more fair and balanced real racing 2. Lol, sometimes I don't want on this planet anymore
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Yeah, I hate that people have different opinions. It disgusts me!
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No main Xbox game this week? Oh well, I've been left high and dry before. But FOUR Nokia exclusives in one week with absolutely nothing coming out for the rest of us?
This is merely an observation and not a complaint, but I'm starting to feel like there's a civil war going on within WP's ecosystem of devices. It's not good that a user can pay up for a great 1gb ram device like the 8x and still get stiff-armed like this because his device doesn't have "Nokia" engraved on the front of it. HTC and Samsung really have to get on the ball... -_- -
Nokia is simply offering incentives to buy their brand, because they are dedicated to the OS. Its also evident in their advertising, the other manufacturers... not so much.
No civil war, just dedication vs not. -
I agree, but just offer it to the other phones at a much higher premium. Not everyone could get a high end Nokia, because up until a week ago it was AT&T or nothing.
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Ah crap I really hate my Samsung Ativ S :(
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wow, these are top tier games...great news for WP8!! May pick up NBA Jam
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There is a glitch with real racing. If you download just the demo, do a few races, then buy the game. As soon as you exit the game you lose your progress. So make sure you completely exit the game after buying it.
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Why thr is no support for 512mb ram?
Why micro why?
Why EA why?
Why Nokia why? -
Because you have old, slow hardware. Sorry. Move on.
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you want good WP8 games? get a high end WP8 with 1GB RAM and lots of stockage, that's it and stop complaining. Low end devices will get low end games.
I bought the L820 instead of the L620 because I knew that the 620 has very limited hardware configuration. -
Dual core, 1 GB of RAM, 3D support, then I except good looking games not like old retro.
Real Racing 3 it's depend of Microsoft strategy... We need this game like a customers but Microsoft say no. -
Wow, Real Racing 2 looks awful. Mass Effect has me somewhat curious. I might have been more interested in Tiger Woods if it did have more of a cartoony look like Let's Golf. But they're EA games so I'll likely pass on them all.
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Why year old games? Real racing 2...
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I remember playing Real Racing 2 back when i got my iPod touch 4th gen newly around december 2010.
Can't believe its been 2.5 years already. -
These games should be free
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...
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You should get a job.
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The truth of the matter is that key titles such as these should be readily available for all Windows Phone 8 users, even those on 512MB RAM. If the limitation has something to do with the way WP utilizes memory, then MS should fix it and align with whatever its competitors are doing. Look, I love WP, the Samsung Focus was my first smartphone and I bought in December 2010, from there I've used the Lumia 710 and the 920. I am speaking from personal investment in MS here (L920, Surface Pro, Office 365 for business, etc), and I can bring out a list of key things MS needs to address in order to push this platform forward, and I daresay, make the most out of the NT kernel. For starters, we shouldn't be leaving our fellow WP users behind!
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This is such BS!!!! What's the freaking point of me having a HTC 8X If everything will be exclusive for only Lumia devices. I'm going back to android
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Don't let the door hit ya! Should have had the foresight of buying a Nokia.
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Some of us got tired of waiting for a good device from Nokia on Verizon.
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why did you bought the HTC if you knew that all (if not most) new WP8 games and apps are gonna Nokia exclusives? WP8 is out since last october with Nokia L920 and L820, so you should have known that when you bought the HTC
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32gb aint enought!!!!!!!!!!!!! Help, lol
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Lol can't wait till the 925 comes to T-Mobile USA and het rid of this lagging HTC 8X! Lol..
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This is crazy. Microsoft shouldn't allow this. Or perhaps they should rename the OS to Nokia Windows Phone and cut out all the other manufacturers.
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I agree!!! Smh Microsoft continues to drop the ball.
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Yeah, after freely giving their navigation and music service to the whole platform, they might as well give these exclusives up too, because all the hard work and negotiations that pulled off the deals were at the behest of the other lazy-assed OEMs anyway. Perhaps they could also chuck in the Pureview camera technology too, so that there wouldn't be a single distinguishing reason to get a premium Nokia device. Get over yourselves. It's like asking Google to force Samsung into making available the extra apps and functionality on their phones.
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Just Nokia...... :-(
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Anyone want to trade a L928 for my 8X?! Seriously wish Verizon would just let me trade phones.
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Yay! Mass Effect :D
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WHAAAAATTT !!!!! WHAT ABOUT REAL RACING 3 :(
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Maybe they'll update theses games for 512mb of ram support. Could be possible that only the 1gbs versions were ready and they wanted to go ahead and release them now. Microsoft and Nokia I hope so.
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only mass effect graphics look good IMO..
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Nokia - the best. Now we need - Dead Space, Worms, Metalstorm, Mortal Kombat, Tekken 3, Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxy, GTA (3, VS, SA), Max Pain, Samurai 3, Galaxy on Fire, Tetris (tron), Real Racing 3,
Apps - Nike+ (run, training, basketball), Mint, Instagram, Autodesk DWG, Audi MMI, MySpace, and 3d real maps for Nokia maps :) -
after reading at the end he ells me my phone is not getting the love ...lumia 630
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If the 720 had more RAM i'd totally get it...
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Christmas has indeed come early. With so many games coming available, is it possible Paul to include a numeric rating (maybe 1-5) with your reviews? Would certainly help filter out the bad stuff.
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I don't know about you guys, but I'm thrilled!
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really?.....none of this game can play in my Lumia 520. Oh, c'mon.....even my iPod 4th with 256MB can play this game!. Why....this happening to us!
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NBA JAM here I come!! Thanks Nokia you're the best on supporting your devices and bringing exclusives.
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Can't wait for FIFA.
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You have me at Volvo....
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Ha ha.
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Lol, if I had an HTC or Samsung I would be soooooooo pissed off right now. It's not only games its other things as well. Them companys aren't doing anything. Go Nokia.
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well if apps are made by nokia and they are exlusice that is ok and more then ok its gr8 because every phone should have some apps like nokia is doing, but for games i dont understand and 4 of them, wp8 needs games like this at this times so its bad for wp8, i hope this doesnot continue :(
but i am glad to see nokia rise again :D -
What?
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Yay! Waving a little blue Nokia flag. \0/
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Tip to Paul : Review of Polish game studio Artifex Mundi for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.
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If its going to be an exclusive it needs to be free! Otherwise what's the point?
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The point is that people who want these games and own a Nokia can buy them, while non-Nokia owners see them and wish they had a Nokia. Nokia and EA don't need to give the games away for them to act as an incentive.
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I understand that. But maybe not free. I have a question though is there really that many people that shell out 6.99 for a game versus one that is 99 or 1.99? I know for me id love one of these games but I can't see spending that much for something I'm only gonna play for a week or at most two weeks. I personally think they would get more buyers into Nokia if they made the exclusives at least better priced. I do agree that at least Nokia is making a push which is something nothing short of amazing so I can't knock them there. I have a l920 but personally seeing a game priced high wouldn't want me to jump ship from another device brand just to play a game. Again that's just me.
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More exclusive games we non Nokia people have to wait for. When I buy a windows phone I don't want to have to base my purchase on exclusives. Its not a game console for Christ sake. I should be able to walk in and buy the phone that I prefer the look and feel of without worrying about that stuff. Nokia phones are nice but are to thick and bulky for my taste. I'll stick with my sleek 8x and wait for the exclusive bs to stop
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Bought NBA Jam, I know this is unrelated but Hockey Nations Power Play deserves your money too if you are a sports fan. Its the best sports game for WP up until NBA Jams release.
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NBA Jam 2 on 2 brings back fond memories...BOOMSHAKALAKA!! He's on Fire!!!
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230 some people comment but only 12 downloads. What the F is that about?
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Wow 2011 is looking to be a great year for us! I mean only one of those games is from 2010 but it'll do. Oh wait....
Seriously if your going to do dirty ports of old games, show us some respect by making them run on all devices regardless of RAM size. Geez they run perfectly fine on older hardware on other platforms from YEARS ago. -
Just bought NBA JAM for my 900 its an awesome game.
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Maybe I'll wait until they're free..
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Isn't that a fancy way of saying you're not interested in these games?
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To be honest, I'm more excited about Trivial Pursuit being available for non-Nokia phones.
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Cant get NBA Jam to work on wifi multiplayer, just searches forever, any ideas?