LOS ANGELES-Nokia Corp. announced it will expand its gaming initiative beyond its N-Gage QD gaming device by selling a range of devices that can play N-Gage games.
Nokia said it would sell additional N-Gage-capable devices starting in the first half of next year. The company said it would offer additional details on its plans this summer. The move greatly expands the potential market for N-Gage games and could encourage game makers to design more N-Gage games.
“Over the past two years, we’ve seen the mobile gaming market grow by leaps and bounds both in terms of market interest and customer expectations,” said Gerard Wiener, director and general manager of games within Nokia. “With the N-Gage platform, we’ve been able to deliver a superior gaming experience to mobile gamers, but only on a small range of devices. Now we want to expand rich, connected mobile gaming across the Nokia smart-phone range. In 2005, we expect to sell 25 million smart phones and we see the global smart-phone market exceeding 250 million devices in 2008. We can continue with our N-Gage offering while helping to drive the adoption of mobile connected gaming at a broader level.”
Nokia’s news comes as little surprise. The company’s N-Gage gaming device has largely failed to spark user interest; Nokia has so far sold 1.3 million N-Gage devices, according to a BusinessWeek report. Further, industry watchers predicted Nokia would eventually open its games to other devices because its N-Gage device features a portrait-style screen like those on mobile phones rather than a landscape-style screen common to most portable video game devices. Thus, N-Gage games will easily transfer to mobile phone-style devices without additional modification.
Many in the industry expect Nokia to eventually scrap its N-Gage device due to its sluggish sales. However, the company offered no indication of such a move.
In other N-Gage news-announced in conjunction with the E3 video game conference-Nokia said it would distribute N-Gage games over personal computers. The company currently sells N-Gage games via MMC cards. Nokia also announced several new accessories for its N-Gage device, as well as two new N-Gage games.
“The mobile gaming experience is becoming deeper, more immersive and more exciting. For us, this means that gamers can enjoy their favorite franchise and engage in its community at any time,” said John Batter, vice president and general manager of EA Mobile. “Nokia can help us by making great devices that can unlock the potential of a great game.”
