N-Gage? He's not talking about that paper weight, is he?  As some of us may remember the N-Gage was Nokia's first attempt to turn a cellphone into a gaming device.  And if you remember, it failed miserably.  For a handheld gaming device the N-Gage was considered expensive and bulky compared to the Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP at the time. (not even mentioning the small library of games available)  The N-Gage as a cellphone was horrible.  Not only was that thing too big for pockets, but you had to answer the phone holding the device sideways.  Sad to say Nokia made the device a total failure.

Well the reason I brought this topic up is because Nokia has recently brought back N-Gage.  This time around the N-Gage isn't a device, but rather an application that runs on a few of their cellphones.  When I updated the firmware on my Nokia N95 a few months back I noticed a new application called N-Gage under one of those files, so naturally I opened the program.  To my surprise it was a trial of FIFA 2007 and Asphalt (not sure which version since it didn't really interest me at the time).  I played FIFA 2007 for awhile and was semi-impressed.  I basically just shrugged it off until I heard that the full version of the N-Gage Next Gen was officially out.

I saw great potential.  The concept reminded me of the XBox 360, but a handheld mobile version of course.  Having a player name was like having an Xbox Live account.  I'd gain N-Gage Points from the games I played, I could get rep from fellow players I played with, and of course I could add friends.  N-Gage Arena is what I would call a miniature Xbox Live.   Of course the most noticable game available is Tetris.  Unfortunately the game doesn't have the functionalities to play against another player like the Nintendo DS does.  It does however let you put your score online and see how your rank among other players.  I haven't played around with alot of the other games yet since it does cost about $14 to actually buy a game.  You can try all the games out before you actually buy them, though.

I think if Nokia could get enough great games out there, this time around, N-Gage might not flop.  

Here are a few screenshots taken from my N95.

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written by gameh0lic , June 24, 2008

Ah yes the original NGage, aka the infamous taco-phone

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written by Will , June 24, 2008

So will we be debating N-Gage vs the iPhone one day when it comes to mobile gaming?

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written by subtly vain , June 25, 2008

I hope we get to have a debate about it. That would mean I'd get some fun mobile games.

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written by Will , June 26, 2008

BTW, welcome to s0rethumbs.com!

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written by Trick , June 26, 2008

Gosh, I remember when there were actually quite a wealth of N-Gage titles. If my memory serves me correctly, at the time, there was so much hype behind the N-Gage. It was actually sort of successful outside the United States, in European markets.

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written by Retr0gamer , June 27, 2008

when I used to work at Gamestop we called it the n-GAG

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written by AvJohn , June 27, 2008

Anyone who thinks the N-Gage was actually a good idea needs to be shot. seriously, you look like an idiot when using it as a phone, plus the screen is vertical which makes no sense for gaming unless youre playing ikaruga. plus the tacophone just plain looks bad, they should have made it folding like the DS

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