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N-Gage - Branding, Image, Follow-Up Possibilities
Thanks to Costik.com for its in-depth discussion of the Nokia N-Gage's advantages and disadvantages, a post sparked by Scott Miller's weblog post on the same subject, in which the 3D Realms founder argues "Nokia means cell phones to consumers. So, when Nokia jumps into the games market, it doesn't make sense to people", and concludes: "Nokia needs to create a separate company to handle the N-Gage. The 'Nokia' name should never be associated with this device, much like the Toyota name is not associated with Lexus." Greg Costikyan's reply counters: "Launching N-Gage as a Nokia device wasn't a bad idea; the flaws of the device were, however", and ends: "I personally would not be surprised if, two or three years from now, Nokia decides to give it another go, with a new device."
So next time Nokia go out and talk to your target audience some more. Go to a few malls or something and talk to some people buying games. Go to an arcade or two. Find out where the gamers are and ask them what they think. Don't just assume what we will and won't like. So far you aren't doing so good at that.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
Was Sony ever considered a gaming company before they released the Playstation?
Too many zeros, not enough ones
I've gotta go with choice B here - the fact that it said Nokia on it was not a problem (Any more than the fact that the Playstation said Sony on it, and Sony was known as a maker of Walkmen).
The problem was that it had a crappy display, crappy controls, and you had to take the battery out to change the games.
They could have released that under any brand name, and it would have bombed.
Philip Sandifer's academic website
If you've ever held one of these in your hands, you know what I'm talking about. The buttons are the same plastic normally used for cell phone keypads, which is too slick/hard for comfortable gaming. Using the phone keypad for fire buttons etc. meant that the buttons weren't located where you'd intuitively want them, and also, the buttons touch their neighbors rather than being separated by empty space (as they are in every other game controller I can think of.)
And who was dumb enough to think that people would be willing to take out the battery to switch cartridges?
Did they even think about any of this before they launched? What about user focus groups? It's hard to believe that no one in the company thought about these issues...which makes me think that at some point some Nokia employee said to himself "Damn, this thing is going to flop...but it's too late to turn back now!"
Honestly, when I got my hands on it, I thought the performance of the N-Gage from a framerate/resolution standpoint was perfectly acceptable, but the HCI issues were so poorly addressed that the device wound up just pissing me off. (Apparently I'm not alone.)
I was considering a humourous post about how we'd need something new to laugh about in a few years, but I'll be serious.
I don't care that it says Nokia. I don't care that it is a cell phone. I care that it's price is more than double a Game Boy SP. I care that it's execution was poorly thought out (see: removing the battery to change games; looking like a taco while talking). And the game selection: nothing to write home about. If Nokia wants to give it another go, more power to them and best of luck. Competition is a good thing, mayhaps next time they'll do a better job.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't people consider the Playstation 2 to have a pretty weak launch, without enough compelling games? People bought it for the promise of coming games, belief in the brand, and a secondary feature - DVD playback.
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But then, as someone commented about the time the first Playstation came out, nobody would say the competition put up much of a fight or had stronger launches when they did launch. It's all relative I suppose
The N-Gage would have been a flop whatever name was written on it, because it's a fatally flawed product.
The Lexus comparison is inappropriate. The reason Toyota created a different brand name for Lexus is because the knew there would be consumer resistance among executive car buyers to a very expensive Toyota, no matter how good it was. As the failure of the Volkswagen Phaeton shows, they were right.
The N-Gage isn't a premium product aimed at stuck-in-their-ways 50+ executives who are being asked to spend 6 months income in one go, it's a phone aimed at kids, so sticking a (formerly) respected phone company name on it is entirely appropriate.
Having said that, there *is* a really good reason the phone should not have had Nokia written on it that the article seems to have completely missed - there are a whole generation of kids growing up with 'Nokia = embarassingly bad design' lodged in their heads.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
"...in which the 3D Realms founder argues "Nokia means cell phones to consumers. So, when Nokia jumps into the games market, it doesn't make sense to people"
Pretty lame argument. If anything, the Nokia brand helped N-Gage. The problems they have with that machine have nothing to do with the name on the package. They have everything to do with it performing poorly as a cell phone and a game machine. A no-name company could easily wipe the floor with them in this space.
Don't get me wrong, branding can help. (It can also detract.) But slapping the name Nintendo on this machine wouldn't have done it a lick of good.
They should, instead, pursue the N-Gage SP.
"Derp de derp."
" I honestly can't say I've ever heard even one person say, "You know, I really wish I could make phone calls on this, too."
You're missing the point a bit. The reason why one would want a game machine/phone/camera/mp3 player/pda/etc is that most people carry cell phones around with them non-stop. Whereas a game machine, MP3 player, camera, pda, etc usually only go with you when you know you're going to want it. Often the moment comes where you want one of these devices for whatever reason, and you didn't bring it because you've only got so many pockets.
I can at least speak for myself. I have a Nokia 3650. It is my alarm clock and calendar. I get news on it from time to time via the internet, usually when I'm waiting for Burgerville to deliver my meal. Yesterday I played Snake while waiting for an appointment to start. Its camera has come in handy numerous times. Just recently I snapped a photo of my nephew being silly at a restaraunt. To do all this stuff traditionally, instead of carrying around a small phone, I'd have to wear a trench coat or something. I'd look like Inspector Friggin Gadget.
Seriously, though, the appeal is there.
"Derp de derp."
Tried playing an NGage in the store, a local Game Stop. The device was too complicated to figure out in the ten minutes I had. Had a small screen and the options were hard to set. Many buttons. Looked and worked more like an all-in-one remote than a handlheld game console.
They could have solved my issues by setting up some sort of kiosk where I can try the unit out completely and ask questions.
If I can't figure out a toy in under ten minutes, I'd better be able to program for it later on. Especially when the device costs > $100 and has monthly service fees.
Freedom is trouble :)
Here's to losing my Karma Bonus again....