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."

Comments

My Suggestion...

[BigDork1001]

My suggestion would be that before they release their next device they listen to their audience a bit more. There's no way they could have with the N-Gage. Or if they did go out and talk with the average gamer who would be buying their product the need to talk to a lot more people. This thing was getting bad reviews from the first I'd heard of it. All the flaws were stuff that could would should have been pointed out very early on and could possibly have been fixed or just scrapped all together and they start over.

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.

And Sony?

[Rellik66]

Was Sony ever considered a gaming company before they released the Playstation?

Re:And Sony?

[NanoGator]

"Was Sony ever considered a gaming company before they released the Playstation?"

I see what you're saying, but this particular example is a bit faulty on the grounds that Sony's had its hands in entertainment for years. Walkmans, VCRs, TVs, etc. It wasn't a huge leap for Sony to go into the gaming world, nor would it have been for Nokia really.

Re:And Sony?

[shadowcabbit]

Moreover, the Playstation was developed (initially, at least) in conjunction with Nintendo-- and anyone who says Nintendo isn't a gaming company is certainly on something mind-addling. Nokia developed the Ngage in a vacuum, and it shows (and suffered for it).

Choice B

[Snowspinner]

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.

Typical Marketing Department Rubbish

[Andy_R]

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.

Re:Sometimes maybe convergence isn't a good thing.

[NanoGator]

" 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.

The store demos were worthless

[caffiend666]

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 :)