NBrid

The Nokia N-Gage

Today Nokia officially unveiled their competition for the handheld monopoly known as Game Boy: the Nokia N-Gage. Does it really stand a chance? Check out what Nokia has done and see for yourself in our complete coverage.

There have been many pretenders over the years that tried to take down the mighty Game Boy. Atari's Lynx, Sega's Game Gear, the NeoGeo Pocket Color, and even the Wonderswan. Although these systems were usually vastly supirior hardware, they failed miserably to catch on. The reason: games. It is said often, but the games a system has available to play is the key factor in a system's success. Other factors do have an impact, but not like the games. These are systems made to play games afterall.

So can Nokia Corp., the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, really challenge the Game Boy?

At first glance the biggest surprise is that the "Nokia N-Gage game deck" looks a lot like a GBA. It's odd since as Nokia changes to this design, Nintendo is moving away from it to the GBA SP (which looks more like a flip-down cell phone). On the plus side, the N-Gage is fully backlit (where as the GBA SP will be front-lit) and doesn't look like a "kid's toy". There are also two key elements that could help Nokia succeed where all others have failed.

First, it's almost like a set-top box in your hands, meaning it has many functions in one small container. It of course plays games, but it is also a mobile phone. There is a camera for still images or short videos. Oh yeah, it has a FM radio. And as a surprise, it even acts as a MP3 player. So on the same system you could be playing Sonic, you can surf the web and download a MP3 to listen to and then send a text message to a friend to tell them how tight the beat is. This is key because consumers do like it when devices they buy can perform many functions. Don't think for a second that the DVD player in the PS2 hasn't helped it sell a few more systems.

The other very big element of the N-Gage is wireless multiplayer gaming. Not only can you play other gamers via the mobile phone online, but it has Bluetooth technology built-in. This basically means you can play other gamers in your area without the need of dialing-up the internet or some bulky cord that makes them stand next to you in order to play. This ability to play online could really help give N-Gage the push it needs to compete with the offline GBA. They also said they could provide downloadable content (for example, a new level to a game). The success of Xbox Live shows gamers really do want to play online.

All that said, it still will come down to games. Can N-Gage get the games it needs to really compete? That is hard to say. Already Nokia has well known publishers like Activision, Eidos, Sega, Capcom, Taito, and THQ on-board. Sega has said one of the games they will develop for N-Gage will be their popular Sonic franchise. However, this is still a far cry from the publishers the GBA has developing for it. People not only expected the N-Gage to hit the market sooner then announced today, but with more games then Nokia revealed. Actually, Nokia didn't show off any actual games today, and right now these publishers have only signed on for 10 games. Compare that to the 300 that will be on GBA by years end. And like I already said, it all comes down to the games.

Nokia stated that it will ship the N-Gage in the 4th quarter of this year across 5 continents (including North America) in plenty of time for the holidays. It will be available at nearly all major retail stores that sell these types of devices, including both mobile phone outlets and videogame stores. Games will come on tiny, thin cards like those used in PDAs and digital cameras (MultiMediaCards). No price was given (don't expect it to come cheap either), and Nokia has said it will depend on whether or not game publishers and phone service providers are willing to subsidize the N-Gage. (Similar to paying a licensing fee, or along the lines, "Sign-up for a year of T-mobile and get the N-Gage for $99," for example.)

The fact it has so many uses and more importantly offers online gaming is a huge plus for the N-Gage, but many still think it has too big of an uphill climb to overcome the well established Game Boy. We shall see. I for one am intrigued, if only a little. I'm not a big Game Boy'er, but the idea of mobile online gaming is hard to resist. That is as long as it doesn't cost an arm and a leg and another arm, and it does get the games it needs. In short, I'm still skeptical it has a chance. Plus with Nintendo just today increasing their sales expectations of the GBA (20 million sales this coming year up from 15), it doesn't look too good for the N-Gage already. At the very least it will give the GBA some competition. And any competition at this point would be good for everyone who enjoys mobile gaming.

In the end, Nokia still has to convince potential buyers that this isn't just some fancy cell phone.

Features:
- Large color screen with backlight, 176x208 pixels with up to 4096 colours
- Series 60 platform and Symbian Operating System (OS)
- Bluetooth wireless technology for gaming
- An eight-way directional controller "Rocker" for game play
- Multimedia messaging (MMS)
- Triple band GSM (900/1800/1900), GPRS mobile phone
- Digital Music player (AAC/MP3) & Stereo FM radio
- Camera for video and still images
- Nokia Audio Manager PC SW for managing own music files
- Comprehensive range of applications; e-mail and personal information management
- XHTML web browsing
- Java application support
- Connectivity: calendar synchronization with PC, USB for music file and application download

Usage times:
- Games up to 3 - 6 h (depending on game type)
- Talk up to 2 - 4 h
- Standby up to 150 - 200 h
- Music up to 8 h
- Radio up to 20 h

Size:
- Volume 139cc
- Dimensions (L x W x D) 133,7 x 69,7 x 20,2 mm
- Weight 137g

(source: ap wire, gamerfeed, n-gage.com)