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."

Comments

Poor Defense

[sandalwood]

"...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.

Re:Bad analogy

[cicatrix1]

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.

Price tag...

[mlk]

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.

Concerned about IGN

[Tom Courtenay]

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.

Upon reading this article however, I was surprised at the tone of it. I'm glad it ended up as a /. 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.

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.