Mobile-phone giant Nokia announces the first major revamp of its N-Gage game player, addressing many of the design and business issues that have limited sales of the current version.The N-Gage QD is set to go on sale in Europe, Africa and Asia in May and in Australia and the US in late June. Exact local pricing information was not available at the time of going to press. The new version is about 20 percent smaller than the original and has been redesigned for more comfortable use as a mobile phone. The N-Gage QD will be available in two GSM variants, with the GSM 900/1800 variant servicing Europe, Asia and Asia Pacific regions, while a GSM 850/1900 variant services the Americas.
Nokia introduced the N-Gage last year as a high-end multifunction device with basic mobile phone functions, advanced graphics for games and a built-in MP3 player.
The device met with wide-ranging criticism and consumer apathy, however, and Nokia executives have acknowledged that sales have been at the low end of expectations.
Criticisms have focused on the device's physical design, which forces users to hold the N-Gage on edge to use it as a mobile phone and to remove the battery to swap out game cartridges. The new QD has its speaker and microphone mounted on the front, so it's held flat when used as a mobile phone. It also has an easy-to-reach multimedia card slot for game cartridges.
"We've gotten a lot of learning with the N-Gage over the last few months," said Nada Vsina, general manager of entertainment media for Nokia's American division. "We took that feedback from consumers and really worked to address those concerns."
The current N-Gage also has been rapped for offering few games that exploit the device's connectivity options--only three games currently offer multiplayer connections via GSM phone connection. Vsina said Nokia expects to have 50 new N-Gage titles on the market by the end of this year, 75 percent of which will offer multiplayer sessions via the N-Gage Arena service.
Nokia will also beef up its retail presence with the N-Gage QD, for the first time offering the device in the US through mobile phone carriers. Current US distribution focuses on specialty video game retailers and big-box electronics outlets.
Vsina said it has been difficult to find the right combination of retail exposure to ensure steady sales of handsets, service plans and game software. "All the dynamics of the mobile phone space and the game space come into play," she said.
The June launch gives Nokia several months to boost consumer interest in the N-Gage before Sony attempts to grab a chunk of the handheld game market with its heavily anticipated PlayStation Portable device.
Errr - I work at a retail mobile phone store, and we've been selling the NGage for months...
What's this crap about not selling at phone stores?