Nokia Cuts N-Gage Game Estimate!

According to Reuters, Nokia recently cut back the target number of N-Gage games launching for the year. Originally set at 100 new games, that number has now been scaled back to 40. Nokia originally planned last December to expand their range of titles from 50 to a 100 by the end of 2004, something that they will apparently fall short of.[br][br]"For the Christmas market, there will be (altogether) 40 games available," Nokia's Chief Strategy Officer Matti Alahuhta said in a presentation at the Nokia Connection 2004 event in Helsinki. There are some 20 titles available now, he said. [br][br]The N-Gage has been as troubled as a game system can be since the release of the system late last year. Everything from the design (side-talking), to the price ($299 at the start), to the game library has suffered a severe amount of derision from the gaming community. Recently, Nokia has seen fit to try and correct some of the complaints, with the newer, cheaper, sleeker N-Gage QD. While N-Gage QD released a couple weeks ago in Europe, it's US release was recently delayed more than a month, pushed back from the original date of June 24th to July 27th. With the Nintendo DS coming this winter and Sony's PSP due early 2005, now is a critical time for N-Gage to acquire market share before powerful competitors come knocking.