N-Gage

The Nokia N-Gage is a mobile telephone and handheld game system based on the Nokia Series 60 platform. It started selling on October 7, 2003 . Its attempt to lure gamers away from the Game Boy Advance by including cellphone functionality proved disastrous: the buttons, designed for a phone, were not well-suited for gaming and when used as a phone the original N-Gage was described as resembling a "taco".

In 2005, Nokia announced that it would move its N-Gage games capabilities onto a series of smartphones. These devices and games will be available in 2007. See Future section for more details.

History

In the late 1990s, gamers increasingly carried both mobile phones and handheld game systems. Nokia spotted an opportunity to combine these devices into one handy unit. They developed the N-Gage, a device that integrated these two devices. Instead of using cables, multiplayer gaming was accomplished with Bluetooth or the Internet (via the N-Gage Arena service). The N-Gage also included MP3 and Real Audio/Video playback and PDA-like features into the system.

The N-Gage was not as commercially popular as Nokia estimated, having sold, by the end of 2005, less than half of the minimum six million units that had been Nokia's target for the end of 2004 despite asserting that they shipped one million N-Gages to retailers rather than consumers . The poor sales performance can be attributed to the poor selection of games compared to its competitors and its cost at launch; it was more than twice as expensive as a Game Boy Advance SP on release day. Poor sales were also amplified by game media being standard MMC memory cards and as with most consoles piracy did become an issue.

Besides its gaming capabilities, the N-Gage was a Series 60 smartphone, running Symbian OS 6.1, with features similar to those of the Nokia 3650 (it does not have an integrated camera, however). It was able to run all Series 60 software, and Java MIDP applications as well. Its main CPU was an ARM Integrated (ARMI) compatible chip (ARM4T architecture) running at 104 MHz, the same as the Nokia 7650 and 3650 phones.

As of September 2005, it was estimated that Nokia had shipped more than two and a half million N-Gage game decks. The "N-Gage" brand name still had a poor reputation within the gaming media and the few consumers who recognized the N-Gage brand, due to the weakness of the system's first games and the original model's limitations. Many gamers were unaware of the later QD redesign and still consider the N-Gage as a joke (see Penny Arcade's N-Gage Strip). The situation has not improved either with the arrival of the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS handhelds. As of September 2005, Nokia had more than 50 games available for the system.

While the N-Gage didn't have any significant financial successes, it did have a handful of critical successes. Pocket Kingdom: 0wn the W0rld received a handful of glowing reviews when it was released, and Pathway to Glory was Nokia's first self-published success. These games came perhaps too late to have much effect in improving the perception of the N-Gage hardware itself in the eyes of consumers or press.

In January 2005, UK sales-tracking firm ChartTrack dropped the N-Gage from its regular ELSPA chart, commenting that "The N-Gage chart, though still produced, is of little interest to anyone. Sales of the machine and its software have failed to make any impact on the market at all." Although only directly reflective of the UK market, this was interpreted by some as a serious blow to the N-Gage as a viable gaming platform. Despite this, Nokia reaffirmed their commitment to the N-Gage as a platform, to the point where a new version of the hardware was rumored after GDC 2005.

February 2005 saw Nokia appoint Gerard Wiener, formerly of Sega Europe, to the post of Director and General Manager for Games at Nokia. Wiener steered Nokia away from looking at the N-Gage as primarily being a games console to "this is a mobile phone that is great for playing games on." This strategy, along with targeting niche franchises such as the table-top Warhammer 40,000 series, the Rifts RPG series, and the Settlers of Catan board game, has kept sales of the N-Gage healthy and gotten the platform a modicum of respect from some quarters of the media. It should be noted that this change coincided with the initial releases of the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS.

The system continued to be sold in the Chinese and Indian markets.

The last game to be released in the US for the system was Civilization on March 2006 according to Metacritic.com. In November 2006 Nokia released its last game for the N-Gage QD. Combat racer Payload is still available to download for $19.65 from the Nokia Game Shop.

Devices

N-Gage Classic

The original phone was considered to have a clumsy taco shaped design: to insert a game, users had to remove the phone's plastic cover and remove the battery compartment as the game slot was next to it. Another 'clumsy' feature was the speaker and microphone being located on the side edge of the phone. This often resulted in many to describe it as if one was talking into a "taco phone" or "Sidetalking", where the user held the edge of the phone against the cheek in order to talk into it. The comfort factor of lengthy calls was also called into question. Despite the criticism, it is thought that the Sidetalking was there for a practical reason: if placed elsewhere, the screen would get in contact with the cheek and become smudged. However, almost all other cell phones have the screen against the cheek when the user is talking. Despite the questionable practicality, gamers were still unwilling to talk in such an awkward manner.

When considered from a video game point of view, the N-Gage was known for its unique screen orientation, a vertical one as opposed to a horizontal one (which is more popular with other handhelds). The reason for this was that the underlying operating system, Series 60, did not support horizontal orientations at that time (only supported since S60v3 ). Some felt this to be a negative feature, feeling that 'unconventional' does not necessarily mean improvement. Possibly due to this screen feature, as well as the public's luke-warm reception to the device, the game library was far from extensive. Despite this, the N-Gage did manage to garner some well known franchises such as Tomb Raider, Sonic, Rayman, Red Faction, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, among others.

From a cell phone standpoint, the N-gage also faced problems. Besides the unusual form factor, in the US it was initially sold primarily through specialty game outlets instead of through cell phone providers, which only called attention to its high pre-subsidy price, lack of games, and curious interface compared to other gaming devices (thanks to the Series 60 interface and unusual face button layout). Once cellphone retail outlets started carrying the phone, which didn't become a widespread practice in the US until well after the release of the N-Gage QD, it still faced problems. The N-Gage and its successor, the N-Gage QD, worked only on GSM networks, meaning that it was incompatible with the then-largest US cell service provider, Verizon Wireless, as well as all of Japan's cell networks. Where N-Gage was compatible with major cell phone networks its popularity varied. It was not well received in Canada and the UK for instance but received a much warmer reception in mainland Europe and in particular Asia where games on mobile phones were seen as much more desirable.

The original N-Gage, though, still had many benefits to developers and end-users. It had a large amount of executable RAM memory compared to Series 60 devices (the 66xx series); it had MP3 decoding in a dedicated hardware chip as Nokia 3300 (other Series 60 devices, including the N-Gage QD, rely on software decoding); it had stereo output from a standard 3.5mm jack plug; and it could be mounted as a USB Mass Storage device on any compatible computer without requiring the Nokia PC Connect software.

Hardware specifications: Weight: 137 g, dimensions: 134 x 70 x 20 mm.

N-Gage QD

The N-Gage QD was Nokia's successor to the N-Gage and was released six months after the first N-Gage, placing it in 2004. It revised the device's physical design, being smaller and rounder. It corrected the previous perceived 'flaw' of the cartridge slot with a more convenient one on the bottom of the device. This design also moved the speaker and microphone to the face of the device, rather than on the side, as in the previous model. Despite the revision, many were quick to criticize the unit, just as they did the original N-Gage. Some noted that the rubber fitting side that closed the gap between the device top and bottom casing could be easily loosened over a few months if it was dropped regularly, although this was hardly a recommended practice in taking care of the unit. Once the rubber piece was removed, the device became more vulnerable to water or particles entering the internals unless the fitting was replaced. The fitting was available at Nokia's service centers, and was also available in a variety of colors through various third-party sellers via online electronics suppliers or eBay.

The device retailed at a lower price, further aided by the fact that it was generally sold with a pre-paid cell phone service contract and the corresponding subsidy. In the United States, the N-Gage QD was available as a prepaid phone offered by Cingular for $99.99 at retail games stores such as Electronics Boutique and GameStop. This is no longer the case as the device has reached the end of its lifespan and the above mentioned stores have discontinued carrying the QD.

Some of the 'bulky' features of the system such as MP3 playback, FM radio reception, and USB connectivity were removed from the device, presumably to cut size and cost. The QD did not support MP3 internally; however, it could still play MP3s with third-party software, albeit only in 16 kHz mono. The audio output was a Nokia mono earpiece (with microphone) instead.

Instead of using the N-Gage with generic USB removable drive drivers, a user would use either Bluetooth or a separate MMC card reader to transfer files (for example, pictures, movies, or mp3s) onto an MMC card for use in the N-Gage QD.

Another change from the original unit was the "Orange-and-grey" theme of the face of the unit as well as the GUI. Some felt this was an unwanted change from the 'more colorful' GUI of the original N-Gage. Even then there were some third-party applications that enhanced the interface or replaced the system shell.

As for the telephone portion, it no longer supported the three GSM frequency bands 900/1800/1900; instead it came in two dualband variants, one for the American market and one for the European and Asian markets.

The rest of the N-Gage QD hardware specifications were otherwise the same as the original N-Gage; same vertical screen layout, button configuration, etc.

Hardware specifications: Weight: 143 g, dimensions: 118 x 68 x 22 mm.

N-Gage QD Silver Edition

Announced in August 2005, the N-Gage QD Silver Edition could be seen as an exercise in extending the life of the N-Gage product range while new N-Gage devices were developed and the N-Gage gaming range was integrated into the mainstream Series 60 product range. Apart from cosmetic changes and the replacement of the two specialist gaming buttons (5 and 7) with standard keys, there was no difference in the N-Gage QD Silver Edition to the regular N-Gage QD.

It was made available in the European, Middle Eastern, and African markets on September 1, 2005.

Demos and games

Before the launch of Nokia's first in-house N-Gage title, Pathway to Glory, a one level demo of the game was released to journalists to allow them to sample the game, and understand the concepts behind the turn based wargame. This demo was subsequently placed on the N-Gage.com website as a free download. Undaunted by the 16mb download size, fans jumped on the Pathway to Glory demo. The success of this demo probably led to both the sales success of Pathway to Glory, and proved to Nokia that this was a valid marketing route for future titles.

There are fifty seven full titles available for N-Gage. All but two of these titles (Snakes and Payload) were available on MMC. A selection can now be downloaded via the Nokia Game Shop. These are:

• Ashen (Available for download)
• Asphalt Urban GT
• Asphalt Urban GT 2
• Atari Masterpieces Vol. I
• Atari Masterpieces Vol. II
• Bomberman
• Call of Duty
• Catan
• Civilization
• Colin McRae Rally 2005
• Crash Nitro Kart
• FIFA Football 2004
• FIFA Football 2005
• Flo Boarding (Europe only)
• Glimmerati (Available for download)
• High Seize (Available for download)
• King of Fighters EXTREME
• Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer
• Mile High Pinball (Available for download)
• MLB Slam
• Moto GP
• NCAA Football 2004
• ONE (Available for download)
• Operation Shadow (Available for download)
• Pandemonium
• Pathway to Glory (Available for download)
• Pathway to Glory: Ikusa Islands
• Payload (Available for download)
• Pocket Kingdom
• Puyo Pop
• Puzzle Bobble VS
• Rayman 3
• Red Faction
• Requiem of Hell (Available for download)
• Rifts: Promise of Power
• Snakes
• Sega Rally
• Sonic N
• Spider-Man 2
• SSX: Out of Bounds
• Super Monkey Ball
• System Rush
• The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey
• The Roots: Gates of Chaos
• The Sims Bustin' out
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Team Stealth Action
• Tomb Raider
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
• Virtua Tennis
• Virtua Cop
• Warhammer 40,000
• Worms World Party
• WWE Aftershock
• Xanadu Next
• X-Men Legends
• X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse

Snakes

Hailed as one of the best games on the N-Gage when released in January 2005, Snakes saw Nokia take an innovative route to promoting the N-Gage platform. Likely spurred on by the success of the demonstration versions, the full version of Snakes was made available online. It also featured an option that allowed the game to copy itself to another N-Gage unit using bluetooth as the carrier.

Future

At E3 2005, Nokia announced their intention to make it possible to play games on their next wave of smartphones. (At E3, games were demonstrated on the Nokia 3230, 6680, Nokia 6630, and N90, but Nokia has not yet announced what phones will be compatible with this as-of-yet unnamed service). These phones won't be compatible with the games sold on MMC in stores, but will be able to download games over the cellular network, or play games downloaded on your computer. All of the details of this scheme have not yet been stated, but this network/scheme is expected for mid 2007.

During E3 2006 there were a number of announcements related to Nokia’s next generation mobile games strategy which continued to stress gameplay across a range of Nokia cellphones, rather than one particular 'gaming handheld', as before.

The company explained the core of the service as "...a pre-installed application which allows consumers to easily find, buy and play rich and immersive games on a range of Nokia Nseries multimedia computers and other Nokia S60 devices."

Nokia also announced that gaming communities, in a similar vein to Xbox Live, are another key element of the company's mobile gaming strategy. At the base of this it cited its already existing N-Gage Arena.

Nokia also announced deals with Electronic Arts and Gameloft and six new titles including, fishing sim Creatures of the Deep a follow up to its first party fighting game ONE, with ONE: Who’s Next? and System Rush: Evolution.

System Rush Evolution is now included as standard on the Nokia N93 and a version of ONE: Who’s Next? was demonstrated on the Nokia N93 during E3 2006 as well, both games demonstrate improved graphics.

Since E3 2006 Nokia has been relatively quiet. However, recently it announced findings of a study on mobile gaming behavior carried out by Nielsen research.

In December 2006, Nokia launched the Future Watch website to track the evolution of the next generation of the N-Gage platform. According to the site, the launch date for the next generation of the N-Gage experience is mid 2007.

On January 30th 2007, mobile games specialist website reported that Pocket Gamer was briefing leading games developers and publishers in secret workshops ahead of the launch of the next gen N-Gage.