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Something to Sidetalk About

Posted by Zonk on from the adventures-in-poor-design dept.

nigelthezebra writes "The N-Gage is at it again, what with the news that the price is being dropped and that the redesigned handheld is going to be redesigned again. In "Something to Sidetalk About," AllRPG.com's Richard Goodness recounts his experiences with the N-Gage QD. To put a long story short, it's very obvious why the system is failing. When you can't even figure out how to turn something on, you know it's time to go back to the drawing board." From the article: "I've always been a big proponent of the axiom, when in doubt, see if Mr. Casual can do it. Games ought not to need big instruction booklets. They should be simple enough to figure out by picking up and fiddling for a moment or two. Turning a system on, that goes without saying."

3 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. Nokia's problem... by oGMo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nokia's problem is that they think like a cell phone company. They're making a phone, with extended gaming features. They're not making a gaming box with cell connectivity.

    Maybe they'll eventually get it right, and even be successful. But they need to make the thing play games completely and exclusively. Give it a few (FEW) buttons and a dpad, a bigger screen, and make it simple and elegant. And get some damn games.

    That's why the PSP is looking to be such a winner. Sleek, elegant, simple. And a ton of games that are getting suprisingly good reviews (especially for launch titles!).

    --

    Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    1. Re:Nokia's problem... by nunchux · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, they think like a cell phone company... And that's WHY the N-gage isn't going away. I don't believe it was ever intended to truly compete with the Game Boy. Like a cameraphone or MP3 player, the N-gage is an attraction used to sell phones. And even if they don't break even selling them, the technology will continue to be pushed and eventually incoporated into other phones in their line.

  2. Can't even turn it on?? by Kris_J · · Score: 2, Insightful
    How do these people know how to breathe? It's a mobile phone for crying out loud, you don't want to be able to accidentally turn it off.

    I guess I might be annoyed at the severe lack of big name titles for my N-Gage if;

    • I actually liked most of the big name titles out there for other systems.
    • It wasn't the cheapest way to get a well-specced Series 60 mobile phone.
    • I hadn't bought it for the C64 and Gameboy emulators.
    Really, this N-Gage bashing is just getting embarasing. If you really didn't like it, you wouldn't bother posting all this anti-N-Gage stuff.