Remember when playing Quake III at a decent resolution required a $5,000 Alienware? Man, those were the days. Now, we can't help but be thankful for a few special Nokia handsets (the N95 8GB, E90 and N82 in particular) that can all handle the game by their lonesome. In fact, the latest version of the software adds a few remarkably awesome extras. For starters, users can now take advantage of on-phone server support, meaning that your handset can actually host a Quake III multiplayer battle (and may we recommend the server name "trashaccident?"). Also of note, the devs have tossed in support for Bluetooth mice and keyboards. We know, right? Tap the read link for all the juicy installation instructions.

[Via Decoder, thanks Olli]

[via Unwired View]

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We love seeing console and even old-school arcade games being ported to cellphone screens, and Verizon Wireless has done us a solid in that respect. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved can now be landed on the screens of those with Verizon's 'Get It Now' service. Want some gameplay deets? The BREW-based Geometry Wars version serves up Untouchable, Survivor, Monster, Trenches, Speed, Multiplier, Feline, and Bomber modes. We call that mobile game playing paradise. Get it now for a one-time $6.49 fee or $3.49 for a month of use. It's now available on 25 Verizon handsets, including the MOTOKRZR K1m and the LG enV.

Making a grab for our adult wallets by aiming for our childlike love of video games, Samsung has recently filed a patent for a clamshell cellphone which can transform into a 2600-style controller. Last time we checked, killing at "Snake" on our phone wasn't so difficult that we needed to collapse or otherwise totally re-jigger the device to play it, but as mobile games become increasingly complex, using the keypad is starting to feel just a little limiting -- and that's where Samsung's engineers step in. The basic premise is that the bottom half of your flip-phone would pivot not only open and closed (or backward and forward), but also left and right, thus allowing you to escape from Blinky more quickly, jump over barrels more deftly, and generally get a serious game on.

[Via Unwired View]

Middle aged gamers for teh win (or something)! The NPD Group is reporting that in an average month, 29 million cell owners play games on their mobile devices and more than 7 million download games -- though there isn't any mention of where they are downloading from. NPD further break this down with 29 percent downloaded by people aged 24 - 34, 27 by the 18 - 24 set, and 15 percent by the youngest group aged 13 - 17. No shocker here -- the oldest group typically has the means, a credit card to shop with, and depending on the career choice, time.

[Via mocoNews]

If you're a mobile gamer, odds are you're probably not using a BlackBerry -- but if a major publisher has any say in the matter, that may not be true for long. Gameloft, Europe's biggest mobile phone games provider, announced this week that it will soon be making and selling games for the BlackBerry platform. This is quite a boost for BlackBerry owners who have probably wanted official support for cutting-edge mobile games for some time. Right off the bat, Gameloft titles such as "Asphalt Urban GT 2," "LOST" and "Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones" will be the first titles for the BlackBerry platform released by Gameloft, and will cost from $5.99 to $7.99 each depending on where the carriers price each title. With the U.S. mobile gaming market seeing 2006 revenues of $722 million, it's no wonder Gameloft saw such a nice opportunity here. BlackBerry owners aren't all business, right?

We usually don't have to wait long for some tech industry exec to give us new fodder for CE-Oh no he didn't!, and Karl Woods, pusherman/Executive Vice President of sales and marketing for mobile developer and publisher Kiloo delivered the goods earlier this week. He decided we should witness the strength of his street knowledge by comparing his job of marketing mobile games to, and we're quoting here, "the crack cocaine model." (Could someone tell him that his company is named "Kiloo," not "Kilo"?) Says Woods:

"You offer the customer a free rock, and they get hooked. That's what we're going to have to do with the 90 per cent. But everyone has to do it, the whole industry has to try and crack this, or we'll just keep fighting over that 10 percent."

We feel you, Karl. All the crackhouses on our block learned years ago how to stop fighting over that 10 percent and go after the mass market.

[Via MoCoNews]

Just because you're a Mobile reader. doesn't mean you can't join in on the E3 fun. Nokia used the world's biggest gaming show to unveil several upcoming titles compatible with not only the N-Gage, but N-series and some S60 devices as well. Among the six games announced were three sequels to popular franchises, Space Impact, System Rush: Evolution, and ONE-Who's Next?, which improves upon the 2004 fighter with better graphics, frame rates, and support for landscape mode. The new titles also look rather promising, and include an Internet-enabled version of Texas Hold'em called Pocket Aces, which allows players to convert winnings into digital swag for their online avatars, and even allow those avatars to play in their stead. Rounding up the bunch are the N-Gage Arena-compatible Pro Series Golf and a fishing simulator called Creatures of the Deep that uses vibration feedback to enhance the otherwise boring activity of watching a fishing pole on your phone's tiny screen.