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In Defense Of The N-Gage
Thanks to IGN Wireless, who, not content with vehemently defending cellphone gaming in general, have decided to step up and tell us why Nokia's N-Gage is worth a second look. As they eruditely put it, "E3 was not exactly kind to Nokia and it's [sic] new N-Gage mobile gaming platform," and they go on to compare Nokia's phone and 'mobile game deck' to another neglected system: "A lot of it depends on whether or not gamers are willing to take chance on an unproven system, or whether they'll let hype from Sony's PSP or an improved GBA prevent them from taking the plunge. Which would be a shame, because that's what happened to the Dreamcast in the face of the PS2, and now everybody sits around and talks about what a great system it really was."
"E3 was not exactly kind to Nokia and it's [sic] new N-Gage mobile gaming platform
Slashdot editors could sure tell IGN a thing or two about how to write high-quality, error free write-ups
"...that's what happened to the Dreamcast in the face of the PS2, and now everybody sits around a talks about what a great system it really was."
Except the Dreamcast actually was a good system. This article fails to mention some of the fatal design flaws in the N-Gage. Like this one: in order to change games, you have to take the back plate off the N-Gage, remove the battery, take the old game out and put the new one in, put the battery back in, and replace the plate again.
Is it just me or does this article reek of "we got paid to say something nice about N-Gage"? Really, this thing has almost NO redeeming qualities, and comparing it to the dreamcast is unfathomable.
What's wrong with it?
A) It costs 3x more than a GBA.
B) Can't use on planes.
C) You must remove the battery to change games.
I know more than you drink.
One thing many posters have ignored is the price of a GB SP + a good mobile phone, namly which is going to be ~$100-$200.
Wow, I should not post when knackered.
Folks, the word 'dreamcast' doesn't appear anywhere in the ign article. Read for yourself!
I've been a reader of IGN for years now, and I gladly pay the annual subscription rate. Their writing is generally top notch (compared to the competition), and the reviews impart an honesty I appreciate as a game junkie.
/. article, something about it seemed very contrived. I'm an optimist, and I'd like to think that IGN didn't take a payoff for this. If they had, I'd wager they'd have made a much better case for the platform. A more realistic view (imo) is that they're planning on starting a N-Gage channel. From day one, IGN has been extremely negative toward the system, but it's still gained support from a few well-payed-off developers. It's quite possible that IGN has identified the system as a legitimate contender worthy of daily report.
Upon reading this article however, I was surprised at the tone of it. I'm glad it ended up as a
Regardless of the reason, the article is poorly written and comes off as a bit of a showcase piece. I certainly hope IGN doesn't continue this trend.
If you could be anything you want, I'll bet you'd be disappointed.
All gamers diss n-cage but I believe it can be seller because it's firstly a cellphone, and only secondly a games machine.
Which would be the main reason that 'all gamers diss n-cage[sic]'.
It will be sold in cellphoneshops, not gameshops, the buyers are not gamers but "average joes".
I don't know where you live, but around here it's just now becoming common for 'average joes' to buy cell phones at all, and the vast majority of them buy a plan, and get the phone for free (they don't buy phones). The phones that are given away for free are nowhere near the n-gage in terms of market price.
Cellphonebusiness is a massive market, and I believe very different from game business. i mean the ps2 has sold what 70 million(?) units worldwide, that's a lot, but nokia can sell the same amount of ONE MODEL. The best selling model has sold about 110 million units worldwide if I recall correctly.
Nokia (and most cell phone makers, really) keeps predicting that this or that new technology will sell more phones for them, but the simple fact is that their best sales figures come from phones that cost very little, if anything, to the end user. Nokia can sell 110 million units at $0-100, but can they do 70 million at $200-300?
SO gamers, when n-cage is finally released, u might be surprised to see how that piece of junk games machine beats gba's sales. It's got nothing to do with quality, because most people who buy cellphones don't even know what a game boy is.
I know one person that buys cell phones that are even close to the price range the N-Gage is looking at. He hasn't even heard of the N-Gage. On the other hand, a GBA SP costs $100, and I'm planning on picking up a second one when the black ones are released here in the US. As for 'most people who buy cellphones dont even know what a game boy is', I don't think you understand the high end cell phone market very well. Game Boys have been around for close to 15 years now, and most people in the N-Gage's target market either had one or knew someone that had one within 5 years of the original Game Boy's release.
-PainKilleR-[CE]
most people who buy cellphones don't even know what a game boy is.
:)
OK, even we take your line of reasoning at face value here (and I don't. Personally, I think people who buy cel phones are more likely to know what a Gameboy is, as opposed to someone less interested in technology) what makes you think they would suddenly be interested in playing games on their cel phone? If they don't know what a Gameboy is, then they are not exposed to, and/or don't care about, hand-held video games to begin with. Sure, there will be the curious who might think it's novel to play games on their cel, but their numbers won't be significant enough to make the system profitable in the long term for Nokia. Nokia is in a lose-lose situation. This N-Gage will be a little footnote in hand-held retrospective articles on gaming sites a few years from now. Maybe with some "What was Nokia thinking?!" commentary thrown in.