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Nokia announces N-Gage. Again.

Published on 30th August 2007 by Joe Martin

The Nokia N-Gage is now being relaunched as a games service, not just a crappy handheld device.

The N-Gage is a failed gaming platform - this much everyone accepts, right? It didn't sell well, wasn't designed very well and didn't have very good games. Allegedly.

Still, Nokia are a big company with a helluva lot of money and they've insisted on pushing on with the product for the last four years. Now, Nokia is announcing the launch of the brand new N-Gage gaming platform, again.

Intended as more of a gaming service than a dedicated phone/handheld games console, the new Nokia N-Gage system will launch globally in November and will let you download the free client to your PC, according to Engadget. From there, the client can then be moved to all compatible handsets.

The service will offer free demos, with full games costing around €10 to buy, as well as online tournaments, global rankings and other events for the hardcore mobile gaming community.

A number of major publishers and developers have pledged to support the system, including EA, Capcom and Vivendi.

According to the official website, the system will allow players to create virtual profiles and gain achievements and points in a way that seems scarily similar to Xbox Live.

Officially, the first phones to be compatible with the new N-Gage system will be Nokia models N73, N81, N93 and N95, with more S60 handsets to be added at a later date.

Ever try the N-Gage, or do you prefer your nice PSP or DS? Is gaming-on-the-go really the future of the industry, or is it just a load of nonsense? Let us know what you think in the forums.

20 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

riggs 30th August 2007, 11:56

Had a quick go on Tomb Raider once...seemed pretty crappy tbh.

As a device, the N-Gage was lame, but keeping the brand and re-launching as a service could be pretty good. Just a shame I don't like Nokia phones - the 8210 was my first, and last Nokia...I'll stick with SE thanks!

Ramble 30th August 2007, 12:00

Wehn i think N-gage I think crappy POS. Why would Nokia want to keep this brand name?

ElZog 30th August 2007, 12:05

That name probably cost thousands in marketing and they just don't want to drop it.

Nokia's late 90s/early 00s dominance of the mobile phone market (ie the time when me and all my friends owned a nokia) is over and I don't think this is going to get people buying their phones with better alternatives on the market and established (ds and psp).

_crazy_crazy_ 30th August 2007, 12:59

i have the first ngage and i have to say its an awesome telephone you are only concerning about the games and stuff but the first one was one of the best phones I've had not for the games that well there was one or two that were nice but because of its other capability's the mp3 player , the radio , the software you can say whatever you want until know its still is one of the best phones i've even used mine for simple programming lol about the ngage qd that is a piece of crap almost no functionalities but the first was still a pretty good phone and resistant i've mine since the first week they were lauched and it simply still works like new i know that as an ngage owner i might be suspicious but if you surpass the gaming ideia it turned out to be a nice phone, and if you want to play oon teh go buy a psp or an gamegear looool

eek 30th August 2007, 13:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by _crazy_crazy_
i have the first ngage and i have to say its an awesome telephone you are only concerning about the games and stuff but the first one was one of the best phones I've had not for the games that well there was one or two that were nice but because of its other capability's the mp3 player , the radio , the software you can say whatever you want until know its still is one of the best phones i've even used mine for simple programming lol about the ngage qd that is a piece of crap almost no functionalities but the first was still a pretty good phone and resistant i've mine since the first week they were lauched and it simply still works like new i know that as an ngage owner i might be suspicious but if you surpass the gaming ideia it turned out to be a nice phone, and if you want to play oon teh go buy a psp or an gamegear looool

Ever heard of a full stop/period?

_crazy_crazy_ 30th August 2007, 14:13

ups lol sry , i was inspired lol

mattthegamer463 30th August 2007, 15:44

I played on an N-Gage for like 5 minutes once in a Radioshack, I couldn't even figure out how to make it play any games. Flawed system, hopefully they can revamp it. I only liked it for Call of Duty.

DXR_13KE 30th August 2007, 16:07

it was surely crap as a gaming platform.... but it could win as a game distribution method...

BlueDemon 30th August 2007, 18:22

Let's not forget about the hilarious sidetalking!! ;)

mikeuk2004 30th August 2007, 19:18

^^^^ that site is crazy :)

Dont you sometimes wish that some companys would just give up. I mean Noika do some really nice phones, but the N gage is their worst product and it harms the brand name.

DXR_13KE 30th August 2007, 21:20

yeahh we called it "dumbo phone"

evanbraakensiek 30th August 2007, 21:32

Did you ever honestly have or try a NGage? If no, then stop with the over zealous bullshit. I've had the original for four years now, and it's still going strong. The build quality and symbian series 60 operating system was great. Some of the games were genuinely good and the handset I used to play games, listen to music, transfer files and listen to the radio. The only thing it didn't have, was a camera. Else it really was perfection.

DXR_13KE 30th August 2007, 22:16

i did try an NGage but at the time there were much better mobile phones..... and as for games... i prefer the old method of getting something made for gaming.

Amon 31st August 2007, 01:14

I respect Nokia for what they are trying to splice into the market. However, their target niche is simply too narrow for it to ever enjoy a comfortable success these past four or five years.

It would have helped if they were more aggressive with promoting the product/platform through consumer review networks.

paul2345 31st August 2007, 08:27

there's a proverb in my hometown ,stand up from where u fall down.so i appreciate their encourage and wish them good luck

CardJoe 31st August 2007, 09:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul2345
there's a proverb in my hometown ,stand up from where u fall down.so i appreciate their encourage and wish them good luck

In my hometown we say: If you disagree with someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way you end up a mile away - and you have their shoes!

mikeuk2004 31st August 2007, 12:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardJoe
In my hometown we say: If you disagree with someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way you end up a mile away - and you have their shoes!

Remind me to stay away from where you live, I dont want my shoes stolen :p

boggsi 1st September 2007, 00:57

N-gage and the symbian platform (v1-2, not 3) were absolutely awesome. Not good for games? S60 had a megadrive emulator, it would be play all megadrive games very well. These were awesome phones, it was just a shame there slight complexity put off so many people. Its disappointing to see people who cant figure that out how to play games on a not that complex device reside in these forums, along with the grammar nazis.

CardJoe 1st September 2007, 10:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by boggsi
N-gage and the symbian platform (v1-2, not 3) were absolutely awesome. Not good for games? S60 had a megadrive emulator, it would be play all megadrive games very well. These were awesome phones, it was just a shame there slight complexity put off so many people. Its disappointing to see people who cant figure that out how to play games on a not that complex device reside in these forums, along with the grammar nazis.

Pretty much every device has a megadrive emulator, along with others. I can play sonic on my current mobile phone without paying for the right to have a 'GAMES MOBILE' - and my phone is years old. I can also play Monkey Island, Sonic etc and C64, MAME, NeoGeo emulators on my DS, PDA.

Hell, I can even play Half-Life on an iPod. The existence of an emulator doesn't make a platform good, especially an overpriced one with poor original games. Ngage was an...ok phone, but an awful games machine.

mikeuk2004 1st September 2007, 12:14

I couldnt believe the price of the games. They wanted the same price as Game Boy, DS and PSP games but they are so bad and I would not pay £30 for a mobile phone game.

If they charged no mor ethan £2-£5 for them it might have got somewhere