The Inquirer recently reported that Nokia is plotting "end the N-Gage as we know it." This has created a cloud of rumour; most commonly citing the PSP and Nintendo DS as thorns in Nokia's side, and suggesting that it's not such a big deal, especially since ChartTrack (which tracks game sales information) recently said: "The N-Gage chart, though still produced, is of little interest to anyone. Sales of the machine and its software have failed to make any impact on the market at all. We still keep sales charted and are available on monthly, quarterly and annual reports, though we have dropped the platform from the ELSPA chart following a lack of interest."
Nokia apparently hasn't responded to requests for comment, although an update on GamesRadar noted that they had been contacted by a Nokia representative who said: "As far as we're concerned, there are no plans for that [N-Gage production to cease] to happen at all. It's completely unfounded." [snipped.]
Nokia is indeed unlikely to drop the platform. Here's why, and what we think the future holds. Some points are speculative.
The Inquirer recently reported that Nokia is plotting "end the N-Gage as we know it." This has created a cloud of rumour; most commonly citing the PSP and Nintendo DS as thorns in Nokia's side, and suggesting that it's not such a big deal, especially since ChartTrack (which tracks game sales information) recently said: "The N-Gage chart, though still produced, is of little interest to anyone. Sales of the machine and its software have failed to make any impact on the market at all. We still keep sales charted and are available on monthly, quarterly and annual reports, though we have dropped the platform from the ELSPA chart following a lack of interest."
Nokia apparently hasn't responded to requests for comment, although an update on GamesRadar noted that they had been contacted by a Nokia representative who said: "As far as we're concerned, there are no plans for that [N-Gage production to cease] to happen at all. It's completely unfounded." [snipped.]
Nokia is indeed unlikely to drop the platform. Here's why, and what we think the future holds. Some points are speculative.
On Jan 14th, Nokia announced that it was going to sponsor two gamers from Major League Gaming. This is the first time a mobile phone manufacturer has done this, and would border on the moronic if they had indeed decided to can the n-gage.
Games are reasonably popular; All about n-gage recently said that the main thing the N-gage is known for is that: "Every game is available online for you to download and play. For free." While this doesn't help the platform per se; the fact that they are available means that there is at least *some* demand. This in in spite of the fact that the first games were all pretty dismal. Game quality has been improving as developers come to grasp with the platform: a quick check on gamespot.com shows that it is only the very recent games which have managed decent scores. (Or: Pick your own gaming site.) Also, being available for free has done wonders for certain software companies.
Just these two reasons alone are good enough to keep the n-gage around; the research and marketing dollars have already been spent. Especially when the following fact is taken into account.
The N-gage is a Symbian Series 60 phone; like the Nokia 7610, 6620, 6630. In fact, in many cases those phones can play n-gage games without modification.
We know that Nokia will most certaintly not be dropping Series 60; particularly because they have recently decided to fold series 90 into series 60: This was the focus of their recent R&D staff and budget cuts. The Series 60 platform also already has a known future; the newest phones have a 200+ Mhz processor, and the next mini-improvement due is a scalable UI. So, all Nokia really needs to do to keep the n-gage platform alive is to continue working on the Series 60 platform (which it has to do), and work on handset designs which allow all the existing keys to remain. (and they're releasing 40 phones this year. hmm.)
