The N-Gage Will Rise Again

[wraggster]

via slashdot

The New York Times has an article up this week talking about Nokia's third attempt to get their N-Gage brand into the minds of gamers. This time it's a service, not a device, and the company is betting that branding mobile games will be a better tactic than their previous attempts.
"The Ideo and Nokia executives concluded that users mainly want to play against their friends and, at the very least, they want to know the skill level of their opponents. As a result, the new N-Gage permits users to see what games their friends have on their phones and whether they are online. They can also see how many points a person has earned in the game, as well as how much time they devote to solitary play versus group play. The researchers also asked players what their greatest frustrations were. High on the list was buying a game that turned out to be disappointing. In the new N-Gage service, customers will be able to sample games free before buying them. The selection will lean toward the casual side of gaming, with soccer and fishing titles and the popular puzzle game Bejeweled, among others. Nokia has not yet discussed prices."

[-Xandu-]

..and will fail. Again.

[ICE]

lol wait.. again? as in for the second time? did i miss something?

[devdj]

this new n-gage will probably be like the apple i-phone a total failure

[bowmessage]

this new n-gage will probably be like the apple i-phone a total failure

I hope thats sarcasm O.o

the iphone has some nice homebrew, and is selling a lot anyways XD.

[JKKDARK]

I hope it gets success

[ish420ism]

The AgaiNGAGE
I would like to see the specs. I'm very happy with my first gen ngage. I'll probably get this phone as an upgrade.
I've seen some next gen phone games and some look very prommising. Even on t.v. out mode. A good switch if you think lugging around a heavy psp is too much.

[mat_dizzy]

The only things that will make this good are

. Bigger Selection Of Games
. Nicer Design
. Graphics/Playability to compete with the PSP and DS
. Wifi Game Multiplayer
. Wifi Browser
. Bigger Screen
. More Comfortable Controls
. Better DPAD

And Xandu - So True!

[arcadekidflo]

"This time it's a service, not a device"
From this phrase i get that there won't be a new phone but "n-gage " will be a game download service for the N-series phones . So, no new ngage phone ?

[ish420ism]

"This time it's a service, not a device"
From this phrase i get that there won't be a new phone but "n-gage " will be a game download service for the N-series phones . So, no new ngage phone ?

I think you are correct. The Ngage will not be limited to one model of phone