N-Gage (service)

N-Gage
Home screen of N-Gage
DeveloperNokia
Launch date4 February 2008 (pre-release)
3 April 2008 (full release)
Platform(s)Symbian - S60
StatusDiscontinued
Websitewww.n-gage.com (archived)

N-Gage, also referred to as N-Gage 2.0, was a mobile gaming digital distribution platform from Nokia that was available for several Nokia smartphones running on S60 (Symbian). The successor to the original N-Gage gaming device and launched as part of their Ovi initiative[1] in 2007, it aimed to offer AAA games for trial and purchase into a single application[2] with full compatibility to all devices, along with online multiplayer and social features using N-Gage Arena via in-house servers. Games on the platform were natively coded or ported using C++[3] although N-Gage used APIs from its own SDK separate from Symbian's.[4][5] Testing began in Finland in February 2007,[6][7] but the service faced numerous delays before the service finally rolled out on April 3, 2008 with five launch titles, initially for Nokia N81, N82 and N95 owners.[8]

Less than two years after its full launch, on October 30, 2009, Nokia announced that no new N-Gage games would be produced. A total of 49 games were released for it. Nokia moved its games onto their Ovi Store thereafter. N-Gage games can still be played on compatible devices, but support for the online features ceased in September 2010.[9] There have been various opinions on why N-Gage 2.0 failed.

  1. ^ "Ovi - doorway to the future?". All About Symbian. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  2. ^ "N-Gage platform launched: All your phones are belong to us". CNET. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  3. ^ "The Return Of The N-Gage: Nokia's Gregg Sauter". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  4. ^ Stitchbury, Jo (2008). Games on Symbian OS: A Handbook for Mobile Development. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0470998045.
  5. ^ "GDC China: Developing For The N-Gage And 3D Graphics In A 3G World". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  6. ^ Ramirez, Louis (27 February 2007). "Nokia Begins Testing its New N-Gage Experience". Gizmodo. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  7. ^ Irwin, Mary Jane. "The Return of Side Talking". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Nokia Launches New Game Service". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Pocketgamer | News » N-gage dies again". Pocketgamer. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2012.