OXFORD, United Kingdom-The new Nokia N-Gage gaming terminal, launched in a blaze of hype and game developer partnerships, has been poorly received by analysts. The device has been labeled an expensive attempt to beat Nintendo at its own game, while avoiding the untapped market of casual gamers.
One recognized industry observer, Dario Betti at U.K.-based Ovum, said that while the N-Gage provides a much improved mobile gaming experience that all handset manufacturers and service providers should learn from, it tries too hard to convince dedicated gamers to dump their Game Boy devices and turn instead to Nokia. “Casual gamers are not serious enough about gaming to buy Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance. They are looking for a phone first, then for the possibility of playing games, while waiting for a bus, for example. This market is where Nokia and other mobile-phone manufacturers have the advantage,” said Betti.
While operators, such as T-Mobile, have already agreed to co-develop global services for the Nokia device, users should be aware that playing games on an N-Gage will severely degrade the overall battery performance. Specifications released by Nokia indicate that some games could drain the battery after a few hours of use, while overall talk time is stated as between only two to four hours. Users will also have to tolerate the stares of the public when they hold the game boy-like device to their ears to make calls.
