Nokia's Gaming Phone Returns From the Dead ... Again
Back in 2003, the Finnish cell phone giant launched the ill-fated phone-based gaming platform, which was not only ignored by the public -- it was widely made fun of for its taco-like shape and the bizarre way you had to hold it in order to make a phone call (which, itself, launched the popular site, Sidetalkin'). There was also the lackluster game selection, and the annoying fact that you had to remove the back cover and SIM card every time you wanted to swap game cartridges.
Oh, did we forget to mention the game cartridges? Yes, instead of letting you download games like every other phone at the time allowed you to do, the N-Gage required game cards you had to go out and buy. A year later, the N-Gage was redesigned slightly to address some of these problems (though it still required game cards) and was relaunched as the N-Gage QD. Again, it failed to capture any interest.
Despite these failures, Nokia is hoping the third time is a charm, reanimating the N-Gage back from the dead one again, this time as a multiplayer gaming service.
Unlike previous incarnations, this new N-Gage won't be a dedicated piece of hardware, nor will it require those stupid game cards. Instead, N-Gage is the name of a new service that can be installed on a number of different Nokia smart phones. It will serve as a bridge to bring gamers together, much like Microsoft's Xbox Live. Gamers will be able to download demos to try them out before they buy and then meet up online with gamers of similar skill levels. Game industry leader EA has already signed up to support the reborn platform, though no other big-name publishers have signed on at this time. So, it appears this new N-Gage still has a lot of work to do if it's to avoid the same fate as its predecessors.
What's next -- Microsoft resurrecting the Zune? Oh...not dead yet.
From textually.org and New York Times
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