first, lemme say that i think the n-gage is getting a bad rap. most of the people picking on it out there haven't even tried it. if they've tried it, they tried it once and put it down. Noah Shachtman in the Chicago Tribune compared the n-gage to the apple newton, but there's a big difference here: apple at the time they released the newton had no clear strategy and was taking the shotgun approach the market - with focus a 3rd or 4th generation newton could have blown away the palm before it ever got started. nokia is in a different postion. they are the worldwide leader in phone sales in fierce competition with sony-ericsson, and the n-gage is just the first iteration of of a new category of device that will find a market. they can afford to send out some test flares (note intentional avoidance of overused term "trial balloon") to figure out what sticks and what doesn't, learning and innovating in the process.
announcements like this as well as EA Sports developing for the n-gage make me excited for a new category of mobile game that's better than most of the mediocre games operators are offering today.
prediction 1: many reviewers that panned the n-gage will be eating their words in 18 months
prediction 2: the sony playstation portable (PSP) becomes the sony ericsson PSP before it is released
Posted by Steve at November 16, 2003 09:28 PM | TrackBack
aha! a bet! ok, i see your prediction number 1, and i raise you sushi at the restaurant of your choice. let's see, the current version of the n-gage in 18 months has to be....what, one of nokia's top 3 devices for some target demographic or something? pick a yardstick. i say games on fones - good, fones on gameboys - bad. the n-gage to me is a phone on a gameboy. we shall see. you can once again take comfort in my 1998 "ebay will be out of business in 6 months" prediction.
Posted by: dick at November 17, 2003 10:40 PM
recent visit to a local chicago game stop store, looking at the ngage display.
"those are cool," i say. "we can't give 'em away," says the shop owner. "they shipped us 24 and we've sold two."
uh oh.
Posted by: Scott Hess at November 18, 2003 11:15 AM
you'll owe me sushi when your son (note i didn't say daughter since we all know girls don't like video games) comes home from school and says, "daddy, i want the [ N-Gage 2| Sony Ericsson PSP | Nintendo GameBoy W]" and you have no choice but to go out and buy one to free yourself from the incessant whining that would occur otherwise.
here's where you are mis-guided: "fones on gameboys". the fact you can place a call on this thing is tangential. the fact that it has WAN and PAN capabilities is huge. all the new blackberrys ship with a phone, no one uses it - but everyone uses the data channel and it's a killer app for GPRS.
it's only going to take one killer app in mobile WAN gaming to cause a run on these things. did you play any multiplayer PC games before quake? the n-gage has the potential for a huge network effect.
i think n-gage arena (online play via GPRS) is viable, and with people like john romero looking at the server side of this, you don't think he's going to figure out how to create a great multiplayer game over GPRS/EDGE?
everyone agrees the current marketing of the n-gage is currently a flop, and personally i think sony will end up winning this game because of their brand in gaming - but i still think there will be an n-gage2, and some of your kids will own one.
Posted by: steve at November 18, 2003 01:31 PM
Here where I live the game stores haven't been able to keep N-Gage's in stock. They sell out as soon as a shipment comes in. I finally managed to get one and I love it for all of its features. Gaming, MP3's, radio, internet, I even use it as my primary cell phone, the fact that i talk into it sideways makes no difference to me. I love it and have recommended it to everyone.
Posted by: YellowSpyder at December 13, 2003 11:42 PM
NO N-GAGE IS CRAP! BATTERY LIFE IS S**T, I'VE ONLY HAD IT FOR 3 MONTHS, AND THE HEADSET HAS TO BE REPLACED, AND MY BLUETOOTH HEADSET IS NOT COMPATIBLE TO PLAY ITS MP3 PLAYER, AND NOW I'M STUCK WITH THIS PIECE OF S**T PHONE FOR THE NEXT TEN MONTHS. AND THE WAY YOU HOLD TO PHONE TO ANSWER IS AN EYE SORE, YOU LOOK LIKE AN ABSOLUTE TIT, IT'S LIKE YOU HAVE AN EXTRA BIG EAR. THE GAMES AREN'T SO BAD, BUT THE PRICES ARE TOO HIGH.
Posted by: Darkfox at March 23, 2004 07:20 AM
yea the n-gage does have a crappy battery life but its long enuf to get u thru the day so u can charge it agen.
if u hold it up to ur ear ur gonna look like a tit thats why there is a loudspeaker for u so u dont actually have to talk into it.
also the n-gage alone is not worth the price i agree and alot more shold be bundled in the package, but u can easily download any apps or games form kazaa or limewire or sumthin.
so overall the n-gage is definately worth buying unless u want a camera fone, in any case my mate has a camera fone so he takes pics and sends them to me via bluetooth, which is another asset of the n-gage
Posted by: alex at April 22, 2004 03:08 PM
N-Gage is no londer a shit,you must be outta your
mind guyzz!!
Posted by: TheBigMysterious at May 18, 2004 08:58 AM
wot the hell r u talkin about the ngage is gr8!!!
the battery life lasts me 5 days without charging its gaming capabilities and its mp3 i love every last bit of it!!!!!!!!!!!
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