Windows Mobile:
A Near-Perfect Gaming Environment?
Handhelds
running Windows Mobile (or its predecessors, WindowsCE and PocketPC) are the
other major player in the PDA market. Windows Mobile is the version of the
Windows operating system designed specifically for PDAs and cell phones. But,
like Windows on a desktop PC, Windows Mobile is bloated with useless features
and can hog a lot of memory and hard drive space. Despite these problems,
handhelds running Windows Mobile provide an excellent handheld gaming
environment. In fact, with the right games Windows Mobile devices are almost on
par with the dedicated gaming consoles.
And
those games are as neat as they are varied. You can download Windows Mobile
versions of classic shoot 'em up games, poker applications, versions of
solitaire, and simulators for board games like chess and backgammon. As well,
you can find knock-offs of arcade classics like Breakout, Centipede, and
Missile Command.
PDAs
running Windows Mobile have a couple of features that make them ideal for
mobile gaming. Of all handhelds, Windows Mobile machines have the highest
screen resolution -- ranging from 240x320 to a whopping 1024x768. The visuals
are crisp and clear, more so than any other handheld. Color seems to be the
norm with Windows Mobile devices, which is a bonus. On top of that, Windows
Mobile devices pack quite a bit of memory and really fast processors -- 64 MB
of memory or more, and processors that run as fast as 600 MHz or more. This means that Windows Mobile devices can
handle games that are more complex than those running under most other PDAs.
Conclusion
When
it comes to computer games, you can take it with you. Literally. The only
problems you'll run into are choosing a portable gaming system to use, and
finding time to play all those games.