S60v3 games are unofficial N-Gage games

Do you want to know a secret? You can get a lot more N-Gage games for your N-Gage-compatible phone than Nokia is telling you about. These unofficial games are known as S60 Third Edition (S60v3) games, and they're technically the same thing as N-Gage games. S60v3 games have just as much access to the phone's hardware as N-Gage games, and their graphics and sound can be just as good too. Click on the headline of this item to find out where to get S60v3 games, how to install them on your phone, and which ones you should get.

What are S60v3 games?

If you think your N-Gage-compatible phone can only do official N-Gage games, you're missing out on all the unofficial N-Gage games. They're called "Symbian S60 3rd Edition" games, because N-Gage-compatible phones run on a software platform known as Symbian S60 3rd Edition. This is a bit of a mouthful, so it's often shortened to just "S60v3", and some people also call it "Series 60 v3" or "Series 60 Third Edition".

S60v3 games can access an N-Gage-compatible phone's hardware much more directly than Java games, which means better graphics and smoother gameplay.

In fact N-Gage games are really the same thing as S60v3 games, "N-Gage" is just a brand name for S60v3 games sold through the N-Gage application.



Where to find S60v3 games

There are lots of commercial and free S60v3 games out there. Almost all of them are available as special installation files that end with .SIS or .SISX. These can be installed onto your phone directly by downloading them through the phone's web browser, or indirectly using your computer and the Nokia PC Suite application. Don't worry if that sounds complicated, it's very easy, and there's a link to a step-by-step tutorial later in this article.

Commercial S60v3 games are usually sold through retail sites such as Handango.com and Clickgamer.com, which provide you with a downloadable file that you can install onto your N-Gage-compatible phone (they'll probably also e-mail you an activation code which turns the demo version into the full game).

If a shop asks for your phone's IMEI number, don't panic! Every phone's IMEI number is printed on a metal plate underneath the battery, and you can also find it out by typing *#06# which will display it as a "serial number". The reason they ask for this is so they can lock the game so it only works on your phone, in order to fight piracy.

Free S60 games are usually available as .SIS or .SISX files from the game developer's website.



Which kind of S60v3 games are compatible with N-Gage phones?

All N-Gage-compatible phones are Symbian S60 3rd Edition (aka S60v3) devices. If you can get hold of an S60v3 game, it should work on your N-Gage-compatible phone.

Some sites may offer S60 3rd Edition games in a variety of screen resolutions, which can be rather baffling. It's very simple though:

All N-Gage-compatible phones have QVGA screens, which means they can run games that are 240x320 pixels (in portrait/vertical mode) or 320x240 pixels (in landscape/horizontal mode). You can also use lower resolution 176x208 games too, but these will have a black border around them.

Some games will be able to support both modes, and perhaps even switch between them while you play, but other games will only support one mode or the other.

If you're in any doubt about compatibility, download and install the game's demo on your N-Gage-compatible phone. If the demo works, then the full version will work too.



How to install S60 3rd Edition games on your N-Gage-compatible phone

There are two basic methods, both of which are very easy once you get the hang of them.

- You can download and install the game straight onto your phone using the phone's web browser. This method works best for free games, as they are usually available as direct links to the .SIS or .SISX file, so you can just click on the link to download and install the game.

OR

- You can download the game onto your PC, then install it on your phone by connecting it to your computer using the USB cable. This method works best for commercial games, as they often require you to purchase the game on sites that are difficult to navigate on a small screen.

Which S60v3 games should I get?

Some S60v3 games are great, some aren't so great, and some games are sold as S60v3 but are actually Java (you can tell which games are Java because they have file names which end in .JAR or .JAD instead of .SIS or .SISX).

To help you out, here are some S60v3 games which we recommend for your N-Gage-compatible phone. Some of them are free, some are commercial. The free games tend to have less impressive graphics because their development budgets tend to be lower, but they can be just as much fun to play as the commercial games.

The "Review" links below all have numerous screenshots of the games along with detailed reviews, and the "Where to get it" links take you to sites where you can download or purchase the games.