N-Gage Here To Stay?

Joystiq has commentary on the possibility that Nokia plans to keep the N-Gage around for the forseeable future. We've previously discussed the waning N-Gage market impact, but with statements like "Our approach to this is, let's continue to take what we've learned, what we've done right, and where we need to make corrections, and that's in retail, in games development and in the deck itself...", it's possible that Nokia plans to try another iteration of the cell phone/game deck.

Comments

It needs SO MUCH MORE

[MBraynard]

This thing is really nothing more than a re-packaged series 60 phone. While the Series 60 phone (based on Symbiam OS) is excellent, and I intend to replace my Nokia 3650 with another series 60 phone, to make a good gaming deck/cell phone combo, they need to completely repackage it as a portable gaming tool and then slip a phone in there- not the other way around.

Or at least bring back the original model's best feature.

Good For Them

[BigDork1001]

I say good for them. I don't see much of a down side for them to keep trying with the N-Gage. I'm sure some stock holders might not be happy with the decision but me, as an average gamer, has no problem with them trying again and again and whatever until they get sick of it. At it's worst it'll be a waste of money for Nokia and at best it'll add something new to the video game industry. I doubt the N-Gage will ever succeed but if it does I'll be there to get one.

Re:Good For Them

[Chi Hsuan Men]

I agree with you, to a certain a degree.

While I believe Nokia should keep trying, if they continue to release models that fail, they will completely tarnish any sort of name for themselves in the gaming / mobile phone hybrid market.

They MIGHT get it right with the NGage "X" (insert any integer / letter combination), but if all of the others flopped before it, who is really going to pay attention?

The article does not indicate whether or not the N-Gage is going back to R&D or they are planning on releasing another model. IMHO, N-Gage should be in R&D until they get several stamps of approval from the gaming industry and gamers at large.

You know, the people who predicted that it would never work in the first place....

NGage needs more but it's still not bad...

[rwrife]

I've been generally pleased with my NGage (I had the original and used it as a taco phone and now I've got a QD and use it only for games/development). I think the NGage's use of S60 was kind of a bad idea since most gaming consoles (don't know of any besides the Vectrex) that use a tall screen instead of a widescreen....don't get me wrong, it's a nice OS. I think the NGage would have had more success had they either not used S60 or modified it for widescreen use and it would have been nice to have 1) faster processor, 2) more internal memory, and/or 3) some kind of 3D accelerator. As for the games, I feel that NGage has quite a few quality games (only portable system in the US right now with a real playable version of Tony Hawk) and if they continue the trend I can't imagine them not being successful...I'd like mention that I actually have more fun with my NGage than my Nintendo DS. Overall it's not a bad system. What I'm hoping to see from future NGages is: more mem, faster proc, true 3D, and less emphasis on that fact that it's a phone. It would also be nice if they would offer an alternative means to getting online with the device...using expensive, slow GPRS isn't really acceptable for online gaming. Perhaps they should offer wifi and/or strong arm cellular companies into offering discounts on GPRS (or better yet CDMA).

Re:It needs SO MUCH MORE

[Dehumanizer]

I'd also like to add that my Palm Zire 71 has been gathering dust since I bought my N-Gage (yes, it would be the same for every S60 phone). I can't find a reason to have a PDA these days... and I used to be a Palm fanatic.

Re:hmm

[superpulpsicle]

They are the perfect example of what happens when you don't market. I consider myself a fairly knowledgable video game fan, and I had to dig deep online to find out any info on the system.

This thing is not a regular console, it's something very different requiring some commercial edumacation. To wait this long after the launch to market is committing business suicide.

Collatoral Marketing

[blueZhift]

Interestingly enough, N-Gage might be a collatoral beneficiary of the coming PSP vs DS war. Why? Because Sony and Nintendo are going to focus the public's attention on mobile/wireless gaming like never before. That means that the casual gamer is going to be thinking about it a little more than usual. So how does N-Gage benefit from this? They benefit the same way that Xbox and Game Cube benefit from PS2 shortages. There won't be enough PSPs and DSs to go around when things really heat up, but people are always buying cell phones. The casual gamer probably already has some cell phone games. When he can't get a PSP or DS, he may opt for an N-Gage. Nokia may not move a lot of consoles this way, but since the casual gamer may not appreciate the differences and wants a phone anyway, N-Gage may do okay.