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Communications Entertainment Games

New N-Gage Confirmed for this Fall 71

Posted by Zonk from the cheering-in-the-streets dept.
njkid1 passed on a link to GameDaily's coverage of the new, confirmed, N-Gage. Nokia's ill-fated device is returning, and this time they're already touting some big names attached to the project. EA Mobile and Gameloft, along with other (unnamed) studios are slated to bring new games to the beleaguered handheld gaming appliance. What do you think about this? Will a new N-Gage be able to pull you away from your DS?
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New N-Gage Confirmed for this Fall More

New N-Gage Confirmed for this Fall

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  • I'm so excited! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Hoplite3 ( 671379 ) on Monday February 05, 2007 @06:42PM (#17896734)
    I'm pre-not-ordering so I can not-buy it first!

    I'm surprised they'd keep throwing money at that disaster.
    • Great, another taco phone. Had a friend who had one of the originals, laughed every time he took a call because it looked like he was talking to a taco.

    • Re:I'm so excited! (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Tainek ( 912325 ) on Monday February 05, 2007 @06:55PM (#17896970)
      If people gave up the first time somthing didnt work, nobody would be having sex....

      i applaud nokia for trying again, nokia always seems to be leading in pushing the mobile market further

      If they learn, they might make somthing worth having..

      • If people gave up the first time somthing didnt work, nobody would be having sex....

        At least sex can be fun...

      • If people gave up the first time somthing didnt work, nobody would be having sex....
        You mean I was supposed to try AGAIN?!

        Oh, well. I read /. It's not like it would have come up again anyway...

      • If they learned from their first two mistakes, they might make somthing worth having..
        Just had to clear up the syntax. I was cringing while thinking, "We're going to sit idly and let them make a 3rd mistake, just so they can learn from it?"

        The N-Gage, then the N-Gage QC were both relatively big mistakes for a company the size of Nokia.

    • I'm surprised they'd keep throwing money at that disaster.
      What do you mean? Throwing more money at something always eradicates its deficiencies. I mean, just look at Daikatana... oh wait...
    • FATHER:
      Listen, lad. I built this kingdom up from nothing. When I started here, all there was was swamp. Other kings said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em. It sank into the swamp. So, I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So, I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp, but the fourth one... stayed up! And that's what you're gonna get, lad: the strongest castle in these islands.

  • all the good games (Score:5, Funny)

    by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Monday February 05, 2007 @06:48PM (#17896842) Homepage
    this time they're already touting some big names attached to the project. EA Mobile and Gameloft, along with other (unnamed) studios are slated to bring new games to the beleaguered handheld gaming appliance.

    Yeah, I heard they're going to have some smash hits, like Duke Nukem Forever.
    • No, no, no...

      That was the killer game on the Tapwave Zodiac.

      N-Gage actually has some halfway decent games. Pathway to Glory and Rifts: Promise of Power are good little games.

      It was the console itself that sucked ass.

      Unlike the Zodiac, which was a kick-ass console, with crappy games.
  • ... have a DS, and the damn thing still won't pull me away from it.

  • Another N-Gage huh? (Score:3, Funny)

    by AbsoluteXyro ( 1048620 ) on Monday February 05, 2007 @06:51PM (#17896908)
    Well, you know what they say. Loss is the new profit! Nokia to buy Nintendo in 5 years, paid for in bizarro dollars.
  • This smacks of someone holding onto this thing as their baby and not letting it die the death it not only deserves, but needs. The N-Gage has been plagued by numerous hardware problems (you have to take the battery out to change the game cartridge -- seriously WTF, mate?), not to mention a lack of, well, anything even with big names attached (Hell, it had a Tomb Raider game, and it still couldn't push units). My impression of the unit, however, is that it suffers from one major fault: teenage consumerism.

    A
    • "N-Gage has been plagued by numerous hardware problems (you have to take the battery out to change the game cartridge -- seriously WTF, mate?), "

      I can't speak for the original phone, but the NGage-QD (the newest one) used games cards that slide in the side. It isn't under the battery at all. I bought it because it was a cheap bluetooth phone at the time. It's great for games, but horrible as a phone. It is unconfortable against the ear and the earpiece sound isn't nearly loud enough.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by LKM ( 227954 )
        It's great for games - compared to other cell phones. Compared to a real portable console, it sucks. And yes, I own a QD, too.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Hadlock ( 143607 )
      I agree with most of what you said, but you need to understand that teenagers/tweens have 100% disposable income. They represent some billions of dollars of frivolous spending. I forget the exact figure, but 100 billion dollars doesn't sound particularly high for that figure. In fact teens/tweens are the most highly sought after retail market due to this fact. A $300 phone isn't out of the question, particularly in urban areas or affluent ones.

  • Will a new N-Gage be able to pull you away from your DS?

    HahaHAHaHaHA.

    In order to do that, the new N-Gage would have to have two screens and touch sensitivity, and WiFi. But the next generation is supposed to simply be licensing/implementation of N-Gage into several phones, not a single model. I just don't see this happening, period. In fact I don't even see the WiFi thing happening, let alone the rest of it.

    It would also have to be a worthy gaming platform in a technical sense, and I didn't get the idea

    • I mean these days you can run a pretty badass java midlet on your phone, if you have a fast enough phone anyway.

      You can't "run a pretty badass java midlet" if your mobile phone network operator doesn't allow the use of code not signed by the network operator. (Such restrictions are more common in North America than in Europe.) Good-bye shareware. Good-bye hobby development.

      • You can't "run a pretty badass java midlet" if your mobile phone network operator doesn't allow the use of code not signed by the network operator.

        You can if you've got tools to tweak certificate settings on your phone, like I do for all Motorola GSM phones :) (Except maybe the Linux ones...)

        But seriously, who is that actually a problem for? I know it's not an issue on T-Mobile or Edge Wireless.

        • You can if you've got tools to tweak certificate settings on your phone, like I do for all Motorola GSM phones :)

          Do the tools work on IS-95/IS-2000 (aka "CDMA") phones as well? And do they work on phones sold with a prepaid plan, or do I need to agree to pay $720 over 24 monthly installments? And how much does the cable used with the tools cost?

          But seriously, who is that actually a problem for? I know it's not an issue on T-Mobile or Edge Wireless.

          It's a problem for people who are on the "CDMA" network of Sprint or Verizon because they get unreliable coverage from the GSM network of Cin^H^H^H AT&T or T-Mobile in the locations where they use the phone.

          • It's a problem for people who are on the "CDMA" network of Sprint or Verizon because they get unreliable coverage from the GSM network of Cin^H^H^H AT&T or T-Mobile in the locations where they use the phone.

            Well, Verizon is known to be evil. I should have said up front that I would assume that they do that.

            You're right, in a few places there is better CDMA coverage than GSM. I'm sorry. Personally I bought an external antenna for my RAZR so I could still use it at home. Actually I get great signal wit

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cgenman ( 325138 )
      What if that's what it is? What if this time it's just a badass phone? Most carriers have games these days, and the per MB cost of network transmission has plummetted. What if your next phone might have an n-gage compiant chipset and control stick built in, and that let you download more moderately developed n-gage games from your network provider?

      The phone gaming industry is pretty profitable right now for bright companies (and primarily the network operators). What if n-gage was just an extension of t
    • Some of the new "N-Gage" games are already out there, and playing quite nicely.

      I'm running the new Tomb Raider release on my N73, and it looks and plays as well as the Nintendo DS version. Asphalt2 looks and plays absolutely fantastic. Brothers in Arms 3D is a fantastic WW2 game. Massive Snowboarding works incredibly well. KRally looks and plays just as well as the DS version.

      The only problem with a "new N-Gage" is that Nokia seem to be incapable of marketing/pricing it properly.

      The current range of S60

      • The only problem with a "new N-Gage" is that Nokia seem to be incapable of marketing/pricing it properly.

        How do the input devices compare with the DS or PSP?

        The current range of S60 phones are generally running 200+mHz processors, and the top end are 300+mHz, with some graphics accelerator as well.

        Didn't we just cover why Symbian is poop in a recent discussion here on slashdolt? Anyway practically every Motorola phone today (Triplets and their descendants, RAZR, KRZR, ROKR, etc) is using a 200MHz+ proc

  • No way! Never! It isn't possible! (probably cause I don't have a DS!)
  • Am I the only one who sees "N-Gage" and thinks "N Gauge" as in model railroading?

  • Hopeless. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MaWeiTao ( 908546 ) on Monday February 05, 2007 @07:32PM (#17897514)
    It's not that someone couldn't develop a portable console that could compete with the Nintendo DS. It's that nobody seems to have the sense to do it right. Nokia doesn't have a history in game development, which is a huge deficiency if they intend on entering the console market. If they could establish a tight-knit relationship with some developer that may help, but that's very unlikely.

    The fact that Nokia has mentioned they're looking to EA Mobile and Gameloft to develop games indicates that the N-Gage is already doomed. Let's ignore for a minute the fact that EA generally develops crap. Gameloft makes some good-looking games, but they don't always play well and too much of their line-up consists of licenses. The biggest issue here is that these companies both have experience with mobile phone game development. I doubt they have the skill set necessary to develop games on the level of what's seen for the DS or PSP. No one is likely to see the N-Gage as anything other than an overgrown mobile phone.

    So Nokia will likely cram the N-Gage full of features. They'll give it the usual overdone Nokia design treatment that looks outdated within a weak. It won't appeal to their target and will likely confuse everyone else.

    The problem ultimately is that the N-Gage is driven by a desire to cash in on what looks like a burgeoning market. It's driven by money. If their motivation was to do something that was truly compelling, if they had a goal of outdoing the competition I'd say they might have a chance. But instead, they're just doing what anyone else might have done, offering nothing new, and hoping buy on to this thing.
    • Indeed, Gameloft did some of the nicer looking games for the N-Gage. Not so much the most entertaining. Yes, I'll admit it, not only do I own one, but I've actually enjoyed the damn thing. (It's a lot easier to sneak into work than a DS, that's for sure!) Of course, that doesn't make it any less doomed. But it'll have to do for me until OSS phones get down to the cheap side...
    • It's not that someone couldn't develop a portable console that could compete with the Nintendo DS. It's that nobody seems to have the sense to do it right. Nokia doesn't have a history in game development, which is a huge deficiency if they intend on entering the console market. If they could establish a tight-knit relationship with some developer that may help, but that's very unlikely.

      Everyone seems to miss a very obvious point... The N-Gage is not competing with the DS. It's a phone that plays games, n

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by xwizbt ( 513040 )
      Ah, if only Apple could get off their asses and leave this damn fool 'phone' idea alone and focus on a good games machine with a 'phone' bit attached. Imagine... the market for people who carry a phone around *and* a games machine must be massive. Right?
    • It's not that someone couldn't develop a portable console that could compete with the Nintendo DS. It's that nobody seems to have the sense to do it right.

      Hey. The PSP may not be crushing Nintendo in the handheld market, and likely never will, but it IS at least competitive. Sony got it at least partially right there.

      The biggest issue here is that [EA Mobile and Gameloft] both have experience with mobile phone game development. I doubt they have the skill set necessary to develop games on the level of wha

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by LKM ( 227954 )

      The fact that Nokia has mentioned they're looking to EA Mobile and Gameloft to develop games indicates that the N-Gage is already doomed.

      Correct. Nobody buys a console for Gameloft's games. The fact that they even had to mention them shows that they don't have any high-profile developers on the system, apart from EA. EA, by the way, already supported the original N-Gage (as did Gameloft), and it didn't help - maybe because their games were crap.

      So basically, what Nokia is saying is, "We're trying the s

  • "Will a new N-Gage be able to pull you away from your DS?"

    No, but what I'm wondering is if it can surpass the PSP. Who's the biggest loser?
  • Nokia is a very profitable cell phone company. They can afford to take several cracks at this to get it right. Hopefully they will learn from their mistakes and bring something new to the market. They do make pretty good phones.
  • i have no idea why this is being reported now. i've seen the new n-gage already, in fact, i saw it well over 6 months ago at e3 when they first unveiled it. Nokia had a large lounge where you could sit and play the new n-gage(s) (and the old one, ha), although i rarely ever saw anyone actually PLAYING the damn thing. contrary to popular belief, the new n-gage actually looks quite cool. they are a number of different models, but they actually look like cell phones this time around and have graphics that are
  • But does it feature sidetalkin [sidetalkin.com]

  • Why doesnt someone license the GBA (Score:3, Interesting)

    by grapeape ( 137008 ) <mpope7 AT kc DOT rr DOT com> on Monday February 05, 2007 @10:50PM (#17899592) Homepage
    Nintendo has in the past licensing their technology to 3rd parties like the Twin Famicom (made by sharp) the iQue or more recently the Panasonic Q. Why doesnt some smart phone manufacturer license the tech from the GBA and put that on a phone. I have to admit if I was looking for a phone with gaming capability I would surely take one with literally thousands of games in its library over one that has a chance of support for maybe a dozen games.
  • Whoa! I don't know about the DS, but this might be even cooler than the Gizmondo!

  • There will be no new N-Gage (Score:4, Informative)

    by Enfors ( 519147 ) <christer@enfors.gmail@com> on Tuesday February 06, 2007 @02:57AM (#17901154)
    There will be no new N-Gage phone. All future Nokia smartphones will however be compatible with the future N-Gage platform (it may not even end up being called N-Gage).

    So, you won't have to own a special N-Gage phone. Any Nokia smartphone will be able to play these games. Bear in mind that Nokia sold 9 million (if memory serves) smartphones is 2005 alone. And some of the phones that are already being sold (such as the Nokia N93) will be able to play these games.

    MP3-player sales are dropping, because everybody already has a cell phone that can play MP3s. Will the same happen to the PSP and Nintendo DS? Unlikely, but it's an interesting thought.

    For more information: http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/4685_N-Ga ge_Future_Watch_site_launc.php [allaboutsymbian.com].
  • One of the issues I think NGage had was that it had a cell phone screen on a gaming device. Portrait is great for information displays but not so great for gaming. My brother had one and I couldn't stand playing most of the games because it was too hard to see anything.

    I remember thinking, "Oh, cool, Tomb Raider." Except it was a pain to play since I couldn't get a good look at my surroundings without facing the direction. He also had a Sonic game. You could either have bars on the top and bottom (like a le

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