Nokia N-Gage Mobile Games
January 6, 2009 | Cell Phones, Electronics, Nokia | Comments OffSix months after Nokia released its new N-Gage platform, the communications giant is gradually finding his feet in the mobile games. It was a long and bumpy road for Nokia in the gaming market. The original N-Gage device, published in 2003, was mauled by critics and consumers, and the new service (a single software interface that runs on a variety of Nokia devices) have suffered delays and teething problems .
But now, Keith Liu, head of games for Nokia Asia-Pacific, is convinced that N-Gage is about to “really take off in a big way” in Australia. There are currently nine phones that support N-Gage games, and as soon as consumers take their device out of the box they can process more than a dozen pre-installed games.
Some of the most popular N-Gage titles over 20 games released hitherto innovative adventure Dirk Dagger and the Fallen Idol, fishing simulator Creatures of the Deep, the small Reset Generation, runner Asphalt3 classic puzzle game Tetris. Mr. Liu said Nokia is pleased to start N-Gage sales and believes that now that “operator billing has been introduced for all five major operators – Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile and 3 – again more Australians begin purchasing N-Gage games.
There was great excitement surrounding the game capabilities of the Apple iPhone, but Mr. Liu said Nokia learned from the failure of the original N-Gage device that consumers want to choose from a range of different devices. “We already have the support of nine and just after six months,” he boasts. “Moving forward you will certainly see more devices online support that the N-Gage platform, offering users a wide range of device choices they can play on N-Gage games. “
Mr. Liu said that the N-Gage Arena, which allows users to play online against rivals away and win points as the realization Xbox Live, is another strength of the platform. “The dimension has been fantastic,” he said. “Online tournaments (in particular) have been very popular with members of the arena at all levels.”
Nokia is working with mobile specialist Firemint Melbourne on Mega Monsters, a simple game that allows players to create carnage in urban areas, which will be published mid-year. Nokia plans to release three or four N-Gage games every month, including the upcoming Konami Metal Gear Solid. [ via theage ]
