The Launch and Decline of the N-Gage

In the late 1990s Nokia spotted an opportunity to combine the mobile phones and handheld game systems that people were increasingly beginning to carry around, into a single unit that integrated the two devices. This new device was called the N-Gage, which could engage in multiplayer gaming with Bluetooth or the Internet, carry out MP3 and Real Audio/Video playback and offer PDA-like features.

In addition to its gaming and multimedia capabilities, the N-Gage was a Series 60 smartphone, running Symbian OS 6.1, with features similar to those of the Nokia 3650, although without an integrated camera. As such, the device was able to run all Series 60 software, along with Java MIDP applications. Like Nokia 7650 and 3650 phones, the N-Gage used an ARM Integrated (ARMI) compatible chip (ARM4T architecture) running at 104 MHz for its main CPU.

However, the launch of the N-Gage in October 2003 did not go particularly well; the device had a poor selection of games compared to its competitors, and cost almost twice as much as the popular Game Boy Advance SP. Despite the launch of an updated model, the N-Gage QD in 2004, by September 2005 Nokia had shipped just over two and a half million N-Gage game decks - less than half of the minimum six million units that had been their target for the end of 2004. The arrival of the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS handhelds at the end of 2004 did not help the N-Gage's situation.

In January 2005, the N-Gage was dropped from the UK sales-tracking firm ChartTrack, with the firm stating that the N-Gage was of little interest to anyone, and that the machine and its software had failed to make any impact on the market at all. Despite this serious blow, Nokia reaffirmed their commitment to the N-Gage as a platform, with a new version of the hardware rumoured to be released after GDC (Game Developers Conference) 2005.

Nokia appointed Gerard Wiener, formerly of Sega Europe, to the post of Director and General Manager for Games in February 2005. Wiener went on to steer the N-Gage away from being seen primarily as a games console to a mobile phone that was also good for playing games. In addition, he targeted niche franchises such as the Rifts RPG series, the table-top Warhammer 40,000 series and the Settlers of Catan board game, which kept sales of the N-Gage healthy and gave the platform a degree of respect from the media.

Although the N-Gage gained a poor reputation within the gaming media due to the weakness of the system's first games, it did enjoy a handful of critical successes. The games The Roots: Gates of Chaos (2005) and Snakes (2005) received excellent reviews when they were released, and Pathway to Glory (2004) gave Nokia's its first self-published success. However, these games came perhaps too late to have much effect in improving the perception of the N-Gage hardware itself in the eyes of the gaming press or consumers.

It was later announced in 2005, that Nokia would move its N-Gage games capabilities onto a series of smartphones, which will become available in 2007.