N-Gage
Encyclopedia
The N-Gage is a mobile telephone and handheld game system by Nokia
, based on the Nokia Series 60 platform, released in October 2003. It began sales on October 7, 2003. The N-Gage QD
replaced the original N-Gage in 2004.
N-Gage attempted to lure gamers away from the Game Boy Advance
by including cellphone functionality. This was unsuccessful, partly because 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 smartphone
s. These devices have been available since early 2007, and a pre-release version of the N-Gage application
allowing users to purchase and download games was made available for download from the official N-Gage website on February 4, 2008. The full version of the N-Gage service was released to the public on April 3, 2008. On October 30, 2009, Nokia pronounced the end of the N-Gage service at the end of 2010. It was never released in Japan.
s. Nokia spotted an opportunity to combine these devices into one 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.
With a launch price of US $299, the N-Gage was not as commercially popular as Nokia estimated. In its first weeks of availability in the United States, it was outsold by the Game Boy Advance
100 to 1. Within 17 days of the deck's release, popular retailers GameStop
and Electronics Boutique
began offering $100 rebates on the deck's price.
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.
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 (other than those that require a camera), 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 August 2007, it was estimated that Nokia had shipped more than two 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. The situation had 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 did not have any significant financial successes, it did have a handful of critical successes. Pocket Kingdom: Own the World 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 earned 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 last game to be released in the US for the system was Civilization in March 2006 according to Metacritic.com. In November 2006, Nokia released its last game for the N-Gage QD - combat racer Payload.
The system continues to be sold in the Chinese and Indian markets.
In 2004, Nokia claimed in a press release that it had shipped its millionth deck, represented as a company milestone despite falling short of the company's initial projection of six million decks by the end of 2004. However, this number shipped does not give a reliable picture of the actual sales of the deck. Nokia ultimately shipped 2 million N-Gage decks by 2007,.
The original phone's taco-shaped design was considered clumsy: 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", or simply that they had one very large ear, because 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 speakers were 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 unusual 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
, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
, The Elder Scrolls
, 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 did not 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
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 mini headphone 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.
explained to the world during E3 2005 that they were planning on putting N-Gage inside several of their smartphone
devices - rather than releasing a specific device (although their N81
model with its two dedicated gaming-buttons next to the screen is being marketed as a phone built for gaming). Working behind closed doors, it took a little more than a year before Nokia actually started showing off next-gen titles such as System Rush: Evolution and Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, with the fighting game ONE
perhaps being the most visually impressive - even making use of motion capture
.
On February 4, 2008, after several delays ever since the beginning of 2007, the new N-Gage platform was released to the public - though limited only to users of Nokia’s N81
device. This period of time was referred to as "First Access" and only a public test of the client which could be downloaded for free from the N-Gage website. While not the final version, the user had access to most of the features that the new application had to offer along with three games to try out: Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, System Rush: Evolution and Space Impact Kappa Base. Eventually, Nokia also released Tetris
, Block Breaker Deluxe
and World Series of Poker: Pro Challenge
for the users to try out. None of the games are entirely free but all offers a limited trial for testing purposes. In order to experience the full game - it has to be either purchased or rented. First Access ended on March 27, 2008 and on April 3, 2008, Nokia
released the full version of the N-Gage application.
Because the N-Gage mobile gaming
service is a software based solution, the first generation MMC
games are not forward compatible, though some games are making a comeback in form of a sequel (e.g. System Rush: Evolution) or a remake/port (e.g. Mile High Pinball
). Similarly, games developed for this next-gen N-Gage will not work on the original N-Gage nor N-Gage QD
models.
So far, the N-Gage website has the following devices listed as being compatible with the new N-Gage platform: Nokia N81
, N81 8GB, N73
, N78
, N82
, N95
, N95 8GB, N93
, N93i, N96
, N97
, N85
, N79
, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic
, Nokia 5630 XpressMusic
and Nokia 5730 XpressMusic
.
On November 2, 2009 it was announced that the N-gage service would continue through 2010 before being shut down for good. This means Nokia will stop shipping Nokia phones with the N-gage application installed. Nokia has been announcing its OVI store as a replacement service, which will be more comparable and competitive to Apple's iTunes Store and Microsoft's Zune Marketplace, an online store that will not only sell games but applications, media content, etc.
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 the download paved the route for future titles.
There are fifty-eight full titles available for N-Gage, however only 56 of these saw North American releases. The titles that were not released in North America are : Flo Boarding (Germany and UK only), Sega Rally (Australia only). All but two of these titles (Payload and Snakes) were available for retail purchase. These are:
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
, based on the Nokia Series 60 platform, released in October 2003. It began sales on October 7, 2003. The N-Gage QD
N-Gage QD
The N-Gage QD is a handheld game console and mobile phone by Nokia, and the successor to the N-Gage. It was unveiled on April 14, 2004.It revised the device's physical design, being smaller and rounder. It corrected the flaw of the cartridge slot with a more convenient one on the bottom of the device...
replaced the original N-Gage in 2004.
N-Gage attempted to lure gamers away from the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
by including cellphone functionality. This was unsuccessful, partly because 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
Taco
A taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, chicken, seafood, vegetables and cheese, allowing for great versatility and variety...
".
In 2005, Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
announced that it would move its N-Gage games capabilities onto a series of smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
s. These devices have been available since early 2007, and a pre-release version of the N-Gage application
N-Gage (service)
The N-Gage service was Nokia's mobile gaming platform that is available for several Nokia S60 smartphones. It is a follow-up to the N-Gage handheld game console. N-Gage is a part of Nokia's Ovi initiative....
allowing users to purchase and download games was made available for download from the official N-Gage website on February 4, 2008. The full version of the N-Gage service was released to the public on April 3, 2008. On October 30, 2009, Nokia pronounced the end of the N-Gage service at the end of 2010. It was never released in Japan.
History
In the late 1990s, gamers increasingly carried both mobile phones and handheld game consoleHandheld game console
A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place...
s. Nokia spotted an opportunity to combine these devices into one unit. They developed the N-Gage, a device that integrated these two devices. Instead of using cables, multiplayer gaming was accomplished with Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
or the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
(via the N-Gage Arena service). The N-Gage also included MP3 and Real Audio/Video playback and PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
-like features into the system.
With a launch price of US $299, the N-Gage was not as commercially popular as Nokia estimated. In its first weeks of availability in the United States, it was outsold by the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
100 to 1. Within 17 days of the deck's release, popular retailers GameStop
GameStop
GameStop Corporation is an American video game and entertainment software retailer. The company, whose headquarters is in Grapevine, Texas, United States, operates 6,500 retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New...
and Electronics Boutique
Electronics Boutique
EB Games is an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by Emmanuel Baxter with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prussia Mall near Philadelphia, the company has grown into an international corporation...
began offering $100 rebates on the deck's price.
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
Game Boy Advance SP
The , released in February 2003, is an upgraded version of Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. The "SP" in Game Boy Advance SP stands for Special. The SP was marketed at US$99.99 at launch. In September 2004, Nintendo lowered the price to US$79.99...
on release day.
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
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
, however). It was able to run all Series 60 software (other than those that require a camera), and Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
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
Nokia 7650
The Nokia 7650 is a smartphone belonging to the fashion and experimental series. The phone was released on the second quarter of 2002 for around 600€. It was notable for a number of firsts: first Nokia smartphone with the Symbian OS ; first Series 60 ) platform device; first Nokia with built-in...
and 3650 phones.
As of August 2007, it was estimated that Nokia had shipped more than two 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. The situation had not improved either with the arrival of the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
handhelds. As of September 2005, Nokia had more than 50 games available for the system.
While the N-Gage did not have any significant financial successes, it did have a handful of critical successes. Pocket Kingdom: Own the World received a handful of glowing reviews when it was released, and Pathway to Glory
Pathway to Glory
Pathway to Glory is a tactical turn-based game for the Nokia N-Gage, by Nokia and RedLynx, released in late 2004.-Story:In the summer of 1943, special forces are urgently needed in the struggle for Europe...
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
Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
series, the Rifts
Rifts (role-playing game)
Rifts is a multi-genre role-playing game created by Kevin Siembieda in 1990 and published continuously by Palladium Books since then. Rifts takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, deriving elements from cyberpunk, science fiction, fantasy, horror, western, mythology and many other genres.Rifts...
RPG series, and the Settlers of Catan
Catan
Catan is the Xbox Live Arcade version of Klaus Teuber's The Settlers of Catan, developed by Big Huge Games in collaboration with Teuber. It was released on May 2, 2007 for 800 Microsoft Points...
board game, has kept sales of the N-Gage healthy and earned 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
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
.
The last game to be released in the US for the system was Civilization in March 2006 according to Metacritic.com. In November 2006, Nokia released its last game for the N-Gage QD - combat racer Payload.
The system continues to be sold in the Chinese and Indian markets.
Sales
There is some disagreement in sources about the actual number of N-Gage decks sold. Nokia initially claimed 400,000 sales in the first two weeks the deck was available. However, independent market research firms Chart-Track and Arcadia Research claimed that the N-Gage had sold only 5,000 decks in the United States in that time, and 800 decks in the UK. Critics suggested Nokia was counting the number of decks shipped to retailers, not the number actually purchased by consumers. Nokia later admitted this was the truth.In 2004, Nokia claimed in a press release that it had shipped its millionth deck, represented as a company milestone despite falling short of the company's initial projection of six million decks by the end of 2004. However, this number shipped does not give a reliable picture of the actual sales of the deck. Nokia ultimately shipped 2 million N-Gage decks by 2007,.
N-Gage Classic
Taco
A taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, chicken, seafood, vegetables and cheese, allowing for great versatility and variety...
phone" or "Sidetalking", or simply that they had one very large ear, because 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 speakers were 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 unusual 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
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was originally released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn, with MS-DOS and PlayStation versions following shortly thereafter...
, Sonic, Rayman
Rayman
Rayman is a platform video game published, produced and developed by Ubisoft and is the first game in the Rayman series of videogames. Originally released on the PlayStation in 1995, it was re-released for the Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn and MS-DOS in 1996. It has also been ported to various formats,...
, Red Faction
Red Faction
Red Faction is a first-person shooter video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ. It was released for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows and Mac in 2001. A version for the Nokia N-Gage was developed by Monkeystone Games. The game was also re-developed as a top-down shooter for...
, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
-Reception:The game was very well-received by most critics, scoring an outstanding 92 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews for the PS1 version. IGN gave the N64 version of the game a 9.1 out of 10 praising the gameplay for "genius control, combo system and design" despite little criticism with sound...
, The Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls is a role-playing video game series developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.-History:...
, 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
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
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 did not become a widespread practice in the US until well after the release of the N-Gage QD
N-Gage QD
The N-Gage QD is a handheld game console and mobile phone by Nokia, and the successor to the N-Gage. It was unveiled on April 14, 2004.It revised the device's physical design, being smaller and rounder. It corrected the flaw of the cartridge slot with a more convenient one on the bottom of the device...
, 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
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
, 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
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
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
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
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 mini headphone 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 (mobile gaming service)
The new N-Gage, also referred to as N-Gage Next Gen, N-Gage 2.0 or the N-Gage platform/application, saw a change in concept as NokiaNokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
explained to the world during E3 2005 that they were planning on putting N-Gage inside several of their smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
devices - rather than releasing a specific device (although their N81
Nokia N81
The Nokia N81 is a smartphone announced by Nokia on August 29 2007. The phone is compatible with the N-Gage 2.0 mobile gaming service.- Problems :The Nokia N81 suffered from lower sound output due to the release of the new firmware version...
model with its two dedicated gaming-buttons next to the screen is being marketed as a phone built for gaming). Working behind closed doors, it took a little more than a year before Nokia actually started showing off next-gen titles such as System Rush: Evolution and Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, with the fighting game ONE
ONE (N-Gage game)
ONE is a fighting game for the N-Gage and N-Gage 2.0. It was developed by Digital Legends and published by Nokia.- External links :* * * *...
perhaps being the most visually impressive - even making use of motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
.
On February 4, 2008, after several delays ever since the beginning of 2007, the new N-Gage platform was released to the public - though limited only to users of Nokia’s N81
Nokia N81
The Nokia N81 is a smartphone announced by Nokia on August 29 2007. The phone is compatible with the N-Gage 2.0 mobile gaming service.- Problems :The Nokia N81 suffered from lower sound output due to the release of the new firmware version...
device. This period of time was referred to as "First Access" and only a public test of the client which could be downloaded for free from the N-Gage website. While not the final version, the user had access to most of the features that the new application had to offer along with three games to try out: Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, System Rush: Evolution and Space Impact Kappa Base. Eventually, Nokia also released Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
, Block Breaker Deluxe
Block Breaker Deluxe
Block Breaker Deluxe is a video game developed by Gameloft for mobile phones. It was also released for iPod, Windows PCs, the N-Gage platform and the Wii as a WiiWare game...
and World Series of Poker: Pro Challenge
World Series of Poker: Pro Challenge
World Series of Poker: Pro Challenge is a poker game by Glu Mobile for mobile phones and the N-Gage 2.0 platform.- Features :...
for the users to try out. None of the games are entirely free but all offers a limited trial for testing purposes. In order to experience the full game - it has to be either purchased or rented. First Access ended on March 27, 2008 and on April 3, 2008, Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
released the full version of the N-Gage application.
Because the N-Gage mobile gaming
Mobile game
A mobile game is a video game played on a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, tablet computer or portable media player. This does not include games played on handheld video game systems such as Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable....
service is a software based solution, the first generation MMC
MultiMediaCard
The MultiMediaCard is a flash memory memory card standard. Unveiled in 1997 by Siemens AG and SanDisk, it is based on Toshiba's NAND-based flash memory, and is therefore much smaller than earlier systems based on Intel NOR-based memory such as CompactFlash. MMC is about the size of a postage...
games are not forward compatible, though some games are making a comeback in form of a sequel (e.g. System Rush: Evolution) or a remake/port (e.g. Mile High Pinball
Mile High Pinball
Mile High Pinball is a late 2005 pinball video game developed by Ideaworks3D and published by Nokia for the Nokia N-Gage.-Game Play:Unlike most pinball games, the object of Mile High Pinball is not to score points. Instead, players must keep bouncing their ball higher and higher, into different...
). Similarly, games developed for this next-gen N-Gage will not work on the original N-Gage nor N-Gage QD
N-Gage QD
The N-Gage QD is a handheld game console and mobile phone by Nokia, and the successor to the N-Gage. It was unveiled on April 14, 2004.It revised the device's physical design, being smaller and rounder. It corrected the flaw of the cartridge slot with a more convenient one on the bottom of the device...
models.
So far, the N-Gage website has the following devices listed as being compatible with the new N-Gage platform: Nokia N81
Nokia N81
The Nokia N81 is a smartphone announced by Nokia on August 29 2007. The phone is compatible with the N-Gage 2.0 mobile gaming service.- Problems :The Nokia N81 suffered from lower sound output due to the release of the new firmware version...
, N81 8GB, N73
Nokia N73
The Nokia N73 is a smartphone by Nokia officially described as a "multimedia computer". In common with other Nokia 'Nseries' and 'Eseries' phones of its time , the N73 comes loaded with many software applications, including contacts, messaging, picture and video galleries, a music player, a Visual...
, N78
Nokia N78
The Nokia N78 is a multimedia 3G Smartphone made by Nokia, designed by Joeske Schellen. It was first introduced at the Mobile World Congress in February 2008, and was launched on 26 May 2008 for €350 before taxes and subsidies...
, N82
Nokia N82
The Nokia N82 is a smartphone produced by Nokia. It is part of the company's Nseries line of smartphones which features the N-Gage gaming platform and the Nokia Music store...
, N95
Nokia N95
The Nokia N95 is a smartphone produced by Nokia as part of their Nseries line of portable devices. It was released in 2007. The N95 runs Symbian OS v9.2, with a S60 3rd Edition user interface. The phone has a two-way sliding mechanism, which can be used to access either media playback buttons or...
, N95 8GB, N93
Nokia N93
The Nokia N93 is a smartphone by Nokia especially designed for multimedia use. It was introduced in April 2006 and released in July 2006.The N93 has improved camera capabilities compared with the earlier N90. The phone has a 3.2 megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss optics and 3x optical zoom as well as a...
, N93i, N96
Nokia N96
Nokia N96 is a Nokia smartphone in the Nseries range of products. It is the official successor to Nokia N95.The handset was publicly announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 2008, and started shipping in September 2008. Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific are the first locations...
, N97
Nokia N97
Nokia N97 is a touch screen mobile phone in the Nseries of smartphones by Nokia, with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard...
, N85
Nokia N85
The Nokia N85 is a smartphone produced by Nokia. The N85's functions include those of a camera phone and portable media player, in addition to offering e-mail, web browsing, local Wi-Fi connectivity, text messaging and a built-in GPS receiver, allowing satellite navigation using no external...
, N79
Nokia N79
Nokia N79 is a smartphone and a member of the Nokia Nseries multimedia smartphone family. It was officially announced by Nokia on 26 August 2008...
, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic
Nokia 5320 XpressMusic
The Nokia 5320 Xpress Music is a Symbian OS S60 smartphone, released by Nokia in 2008 as a part of their XpressMusic line of portable devices. The phone has a rugged candybar body with outlined keypads. It emphasizes music and multimedia playback...
, Nokia 5630 XpressMusic
Nokia 5630 XpressMusic
The Nokia 5630 XpressMusic is a multimedia and music-dedicated smartphone announced in March and released in May 2009.-External links:* *...
and Nokia 5730 XpressMusic
Nokia 5730 XpressMusic
The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is a multimedia and music-dedicated sliding smartphone announced in March and released in June 2009. Its features include a full backlit slide-out QWERTY keyboard, dedicated camera, volume, gaming and music keys as well as Wi-Fi connectivity and a basic accelerometer...
.
On November 2, 2009 it was announced that the N-gage service would continue through 2010 before being shut down for good. This means Nokia will stop shipping Nokia phones with the N-gage application installed. Nokia has been announcing its OVI store as a replacement service, which will be more comparable and competitive to Apple's iTunes Store and Microsoft's Zune Marketplace, an online store that will not only sell games but applications, media content, etc.
Demos and games (first generation)
Before the launch of Nokia'sNokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
first in-house N-Gage title, Pathway to Glory
Pathway to Glory
Pathway to Glory is a tactical turn-based game for the Nokia N-Gage, by Nokia and RedLynx, released in late 2004.-Story:In the summer of 1943, special forces are urgently needed in the struggle for Europe...
, 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 the download paved the route for future titles.
There are fifty-eight full titles available for N-Gage, however only 56 of these saw North American releases. The titles that were not released in North America are : Flo Boarding (Germany and UK only), Sega Rally (Australia only). All but two of these titles (Payload and Snakes) were available for retail purchase. These are:
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NCAA Football 2004 NCAA Football 2004 is an American football video game released in 2003 by Tiburon. The player on the cover is former USC quarterback and current Oakland Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer. The game is available for play with the N-Gage... ONE (N-Gage game) ONE is a fighting game for the N-Gage and N-Gage 2.0. It was developed by Digital Legends and published by Nokia.- External links :* * * *... Operation Shadow Operation Shadow is a third person action video game released on September 30, 2004 for the N-Gage handheld game console. It was developed by Torus Games. It received generally poor reviews, averaging a 46.60% on Game Rankings.-Story:... Pandemonium (video game) Pandemonium! is a platform game, for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows, N-Gage, and iPhone OS. It features Fargus, a joker, and Nikki, who unwittingly casts a spell that destroys the town. The goal of the game is to reach the Wishing Engine, where they can wish the town back to... Pathway to Glory Pathway to Glory is a tactical turn-based game for the Nokia N-Gage, by Nokia and RedLynx, released in late 2004.-Story:In the summer of 1943, special forces are urgently needed in the struggle for Europe... Pathway to Glory: Ikusa Islands Pathway to Glory: Ikusa Islands is a tactical turn-based game for the Nokia N-Gage, published by Nokia and developed by RedLynx, released in late 2005. The game is a sequel to the original Pathway to Glory.... Red Faction Red Faction is a first-person shooter video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ. It was released for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows and Mac in 2001. A version for the Nokia N-Gage was developed by Monkeystone Games. The game was also re-developed as a top-down shooter for... Requiem of Hell Requiem of Hell is a 2004 roleplaying video game developed by Digital Red and published by Nokia for the Nokia N-Gage.- Story :When a master demon from Hell named Dalu raises an army of undead, demons and fiends to ravage the world, an old wizard steps forth to stop Dalu and his forces... Rifts: Promise of Power Rifts: Promise of Power is a video game licensed for the Rifts role-playing game from Palladium Books, released on September 10, 2005 for the Nokia N-Gage. It is currently the first and only adaptation of the Rifts RPG series to an electronic media format... Snakes (N-Gage game) Snakes is an update to the classic Snake game from Nokia. It is freely downloadable from the , and can be copied to another N-Gage handset via Bluetooth.... Spider-Man 2 (video game) Spider-Man 2 is the name of several computer and video games based on the Spider-Man universe and particularly the Spider-Man 2 film. It is a follow up to the game Spider-Man: The Movie and was followed by Spider-Man 3 to promote the release of the third film in 2007... |
Super Monkey Ball Super Monkey Ball is an arcade platform game developed by Amusement Vision and published by Sega. The game debuted in Japan in 2000 as an upright arcade cabinet called Monkey Ball and was released the following year as one of the launch titles for the Nintendo GameCube.-Modes:Super Monkey Ball... System Rush System Rush is a futuristic racing game for the Nokia N-Gage platform. It was released in 2005 and available Worldwide through leading retailers.-Story:... The Sims Bustin' Out The Sims Bustin' Out is the second title in The Sims console series. Bustin' Out was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance and N-Gage in the fourth quarter of . As the title suggests, the Sims can get out of the house to visit other locations such as Shiny Things... Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is a golf video game published by EA Sports. It was released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and the N-Gage. It was the first to feature the Game Face feature, in which the player can create his or her own player... Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm is an expansion of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon for the PlayStation 2. It contains the content of Island Thunder along with eight new single-player missions set in Colombia and additional multiplayer maps... Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a critically acclaimed action-adventure stealth game, developed and published by Ubisoft. Chaos Theory is the third game in the Splinter Cell series endorsed by writer Tom Clancy.... Tomb Raider Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was originally released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn, with MS-DOS and PlayStation versions following shortly thereafter... Tony Hawk's Pro Skater -Reception:The game was very well-received by most critics, scoring an outstanding 92 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews for the PS1 version. IGN gave the N64 version of the game a 9.1 out of 10 praising the gameplay for "genius control, combo system and design" despite little criticism with sound... Virtua Cop Virtua Cop is a lightgun shooter arcade game created by Sega-AM2, and headed by Yu Suzuki. Its original incarnation was an arcade game in 1994 and it was later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995, and Microsoft Windows in 1997... Virtua Tennis Virtua Tennis is a 1999 tennis arcade game created by Sega-AM3. The player competes through tennis tournaments and various arcade modes. For the home console market the game was expanded with the introduction of the campaign mode. It was later ported to Dreamcast in 2000, and for Microsoft Windows... Warhammer 40,000: Glory in Death Warhammer 40,000: Glory in Death is a turn-based strategy video game for the N-Gage, produced by THQ. It is based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe by Games Workshop.... Worms World Party Worms World Party is an artillery game, which is a type of Turn-based strategy game. It was developed by Team17 as the seventh game in the Worms series, and was released in 2001... WWE Aftershock WWE Aftershock is a professional wrestling video game released on the N-Gage on July 11, 2005. The game features 11 superstars .WWE Aftershock is the only WWE video game to be released on the N-Gage.-Gameplay:... Xanadu Next Xanadu Next is a 2005 role-playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom and published by Nokia for the Nokia N-Gage and Windows. The game is a spin-off of the 1985 action role-playing game Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu.- Story :... X-Men Legends X-Men Legends is an action role-playing video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. It was released on the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles in the fall of . Barking Lizards Technologies developed the N-Gage port of the game, which was released in early... X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is an action role-playing game released in 2005 for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, N-Gage, PlayStation Portable, and GameCube video game consoles as well as the PC... |
See also
- Mylo (Sony)Mylo (Sony)My Life Online is a device created and marketed by Sony for portable instant messaging and other Internet-based communications, browsing Internet web sites and playback and sharing of media files. The pocket-sized, tablet-shaped handheld device has a screen which slides up to reveal a QWERTY...
- Ogo (handheld device)
- Danger HiptopDanger HiptopThe Danger Hiptop, also re-branded as the T-Mobile Sidekick, Mobiflip and Sharp Jump is a GPRS/EDGE/UMTS smartphone produced by Danger Incorporated from 2002 to 2010....
- Scalable Network Application PackageScalable Network Application PackageScalable Network Application Package or SNAP Mobile is an online gaming platform from Nokia. It is intended for use for Java multiplayer online games...
- Xperia Play