N-Gage delayed . again: Nokia expects gaming platform to launch in early 2008

NOKIA CORP.’S DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER EFFORT suffered yet another growing pain as the company again pushed back the launch of its mobile gaming service.
The world’s No. 1 handset maker postponed the release of the highly touted N-Gage platform until early 2008. The delay marks the second setback for N-Gage, which was initially slated for worldwide release in November.
“The main reason is that as we’re doing our internal testing, everything is working fine,” Nokia spokesman Keith Nowak said, “but there are some things we wanted to tweak just to make sure the consumer experience is as good as possible.” An internal trial with more than 1,000 testers around the world uncovered the glitch, according to a post on the N-Gage Web site.
N-Gage is expected to be a linchpin of Ovi, a direct-to-consumer play that will comprise gaming, music, social networking and navigation applications. Nokia has secured several impressive carrier deals for the offering-including Vodafone Group plc – but has also stumbled out of the gate: In addition to the NGage false starts, Warner Music Group withheld its content from Ovi’s music service over file-sharing concerns.
“It’s a tough decision to make,” Nowak said of the latest postponement. “Do you (launch) early or do you do it when the experience is going to be top-notch? We thought waiting a little bit to get everything in order, to get everything done perfectly, was the best route to take.”