We're not going to bore you with details, but we are going to tell you that it's more than worth your while to watch this demo video for the iPhone title "Endless Racing Game." We can't attest to how fun (or not fun) the game is to play, but the clip is certainly worth your 90 seconds of attention. Check it out after the break.

[Thanks, Lena]

Yes, we know Madden's nothing new on phones, but we had to highlight Madden 2010 for iPhone -- which EA just confirmed today will be ready in time for the start of the NFL season -- because it looks really damn good. Console quality, even. That's great and all, but Madden's the kind of franchise that really needs quick reflexes and a whole lot of buttons positioned conveniently around the entirety of a console-ready controller to control with any precision, and buttons are something the iPhone distinctly lacks. So yes, we get it, the iPhone's capable of some stellar graphics -- but the real question is whether you'll be able to play through four quarters without punting it into the opposition's territory.

Palm's webOS has never been a platform to stir the interest of the casual gamer. While there are many advantages to being built around HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, those tools don't excite game developers who need direct access to advanced graphics hardware to render animations smoothly. Unfortunately, as described by Craig A. Hunter, a self proclaimed "pretty dedicated iPhone developer" who's been poking around the WebOS SDK, Palm does not provide the environment to develop serious games or the kind of sophisticated apps users now expect from their handhelds. Chief among his concerns is lack of OpenGL access despite the hardware supporting it. Palm also limits devs to a 4Hz sampling of raw accelerometer data, far short of the 20Hz minimum required for games utilizing tilt control. In his summation:

With such amazing software capabilities flourishing on the iPhone, Palm can't afford to wait a year while they make the transition from web apps to native apps in their SDK. Palm might have had a chance against the 2007 Apple SDK, but not the 2009 version. Not even close. With this limitation, webOS will not be taken seriously by consumers who place importance on games or sophisticated third party apps.

Of course Palm, now with its deep Apple roots isn't blind to the issue. In fact, the kids at PreCentral have uncovered a Palm job listing from June 29th seeking Game Frameworks Engineers who will "design, implement, debug, and optimize frameworks for game development." So while the beta release of the webOS SDK might be limited, we'll key on the word beta for now. Remember, Super Monkey Ball wasn't built in a day -- it took a bit more than 365 of them before being offered after the launch of the original iPhone.

Read -- Craig A. Hunter
Read -- Palm game engineer listing

Launch details for the Satio was the 800-pound news gorilla out of Sony Ericsson today, but slotting in right underneath that set are another couple of phones that are still very much in the higher end of the range -- the Yari and Aino. The Yari slider (pictured left) is being billed as a gaming device, featuring gesture-controlled actions in the same vein as the Wii (and for the record, that's Sony Ericsson's comparison as much as it is ours). It features a 2.4-inch display, GPS, and support for the company's PlayNow services; it'll be available in the fourth quarter for about €400 ($558) unlocked. Next up, the Aino takes some cues from the Satio with a relatively large 3-inch touchscreen -- but also tosses in a numeric slider for good measure. It's got an 8.1 megapixel cam, Sony Remote Play support, GPS, HSPA, and a scratch-resistant mineral glass display; it'll be ready to rock in the same timeframe as the Yari in black and white, though we don't have pricing stats just yet -- needless to say, it'll be more than the Yari.

[Via SEMC Blog]

If you've been getting bored of your Versa's QWERTY module, boy, have we got some splendid news for you: as promised, the snap-on game pad is now available. It slides along the back of the phone's body for storage (unlike the QWERTY, which requires that polarizingly-designed brown pleather wallet) and features an 8-way directional pad, four dedicated SNES-style gaming buttons, and the envy of absolutely everyone you've ever known. Grab it now for $29.99 -- you wouldn't want to be that one chump Versa owner who doesn't buy it, would you?

[Thanks, Daniel]

The last time we saw the Pre's Classic Palm OS emulator in action, we had a few lingering questions in our mind, chief among them being how well can it game? From the looks of this latest video, released by Motion Apps to answer that very question, pretty well so far. In addition to confirming sound support for the latest build, we also get a brief glimpse of the software handling 3D driver GTS World Racer. Of course, seeing this makes us even more curious about the gaming potential for the native webOS, but alas, we're in the cold there. In the meantime, check out some classic 3D racing in the video after the break.

Tough news for N73, N93 and N93i owners -- a respected N-Gage Arena Forum moderator has just stepped forward to let the world know that the aforesaid phones will not be N-Gage compatible. For folks who've moved on to newer, more powerful handsets, we're sure this tidbit means nothing; for those who've held tight to prior promises to bring the N-Gage experience to this trio, it's far more detrimental. We're told that Nokia tried for months on end to make it all work, but in the end they simply weren't satisfied with the experience on these aged devices. No need to tear up though, it's just the perfect excuse to line up for that N97 you've been eying.

[Via All About Symbian]

Hey, Palm, you know when isn't a good time to brag about your rich, time-honored tradition of gaming software stretching back some ten-plus years? Right before the release of webOS and the Pre, a device you've straight-up told us isn't intended for games -- that's when. A lighthearted post on Palm's official blog today waxes poetic about the top Palm OS game downloads on Handango and mentions a few favorite classics from around the blogosphere, but here's the thing: unless Palm wants to get serious about bringing entertainment to the Pre, this just rubs salt in our TurboGrafx-16 emulator-craving wounds. The TI-sourced OMAP3430 underneath the Pre's skin is more than capable of knocking console-quality games out of the park, so we'll just have to twiddle our thumbs for a few months and see how this plays out; at the end of the day, it might simply be a question of how open Palm ultimately wants to get with its SDK.

Have a Symbian S60-based handset in your pocket, do you? If you've a fever that can only be cured by more Commodore 64, you're in luck. The FrodoS60 application brings C64 emulation right to your N95, N96 or any other S60 mobile, and the updated version (1.5) even includes accelerometer support. Head past the break for a quick look at how much joy this little app could bring to your life, and hit the read link if you're interested in getting in on it. Which you are, so stop denying it.

[Via digitoday, thanks Antti]

Hot on the heels of Electronic Arts kinda-sorta slamming Nokia for its lackluster N-Gage gaming platform comes word that the video game giant will be dabbling in the world of Android here shortly. Unsurprisingly, we're informed that Tetris will be the first Android title out, while Bejeweled and Monopoly should follow suit in November. According to EA Mobile vice president Adam Sussman, "Android is another exciting new platform to offer customers great games with enhancements like touch and tilt capabilities," and while we weren't given specifics outside of the aforesaid titles, more games are definitely "in development."

It shouldn't come as any huge surprise that the handset gaming market isn't exactly thriving, and with these curious economic times surrounding us, we have all ideas that folks have better things to worry over than what their N-Gage buddies are doing. And so does Nokia. According to Jaakko Kaidesoja, head of Nokia's gaming operations, he "expects challenging times to continue," noting that the "overall gaming market is likely not growing." Predictably, he was fairly bullish on the eventual success of the N-Gage platform and the iPhone, but he did confess that pre-loading the N-Gage software onto mobiles would greatly help adoption (you think?). In related news, EA Mobile's Peter Parmenter thrashed Nokia by calling N-Gage "not quite polished yet" and referring to it as a soft launch. It's okay Nokia -- we still have to find something to do on the can, so surely gaming fits in there somewhere.

[Via mocoNews]

Read - Nokia's take
Read - EA Mobile's take

Contrary to what Zeemote is implying with its latest release, this isn't the first time we've seen a handset maker embrace (as in, literally hug) its JS1 Bluetooth controller. Nevertheless, the Zeekey application will enable S60 device owners to play N-Gage games and control S60 apps with the aforementioned JS1. We're told that the program will come pre-loaded on "featured handsets as special gaming bundles," though it'll also be available by its lonesome on Nokia's website. If only you could work up the will to actually buy that JS1, you'd be in business.

[Via Pocket-lint]