N-Gage, also referred to as N-Gage 2.0, was a mobile gamingdigital 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.
Development
Nokia's N-Gage gaming smartphone from 2003 did not perform as well as expected, and its upgraded QD version did not make any significant impact on the N-Gage's reputation. Instead of developing a new gaming device, there was a change in concept as Nokia explained to the world during E3 2005 that they were planning to put a N-Gage platform on several smartphone devices, rather than releasing a specific device[10] It was often nicknamed as N-Gage Next Generation by the public.[11]
Working behind closed doors, it took a little more than a year before, at E3 2006, finally announcing the N-Gage mobile gaming service, set for a 2007 release.[12][13] They also started showing off next-gen titles such as System Rush: Evolution and Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, with the fighting game ONE perhaps being the most visually impressive—even making use of motion capture. Also shown was Pocket Aces, Space Impact, and Pro Series Golf.[14]
N-Gage was unveiled behind closed doors in January 2007 at a conference where reportedly developers and publishers such as EA Mobile, Capcom and Glu Mobile were present.[15] In February 2007, Nokia announced a pilot service in Finland to promote the upcoming service.[16] Nokia showed off previews of the service at the 2007 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California. On 27 August 2007, Nokia confirmed a previously leaked N-Gage logo is the official logo for the upcoming service.[17]
Launch
An official promotional image during the 29 August 2007 announcement: The N-Gage application home screen (right) and a game being played (left) on a Nokia N81.
The N-Gage gaming service in its final form was finally announced by Nokia on 29 August 2007. Nokia used the tagline Get out and play to promote the platform.[18] It was supposed to be released in December 2007, but it was delayed as Nokia's team were making sure the service ran 'smoothly'.[19] By this time, Nokia had attracted a healthy number of third-party publishers, including Electronic Arts, THQ, Gameloft and Capcom.[20]
First Access
A public beta test of the N-Gage application took place from 4 February 2008 to 27 March 2008,[21] though limited only for the N81.[22] This period of time was referred to as "First Access" and was only a public test of the client which could be downloaded for free from the N-Gage website. While not the final version, the user had access to most of the features that the new application had to offer along with three games to try out: Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, System Rush: Evolution and Space Impact: Kappa Base.[23] None of the games are entirely free, but all offer a limited trial for testing purposes.
Just one day after the start of the First Access, hackers had already manage to unpack the N-Gage installation file into components, which can then be installed separately, thus removing the N81-only limitation. N-Gage was subsequently reported working on other Nokia Nseries devices, such as N73 and N95.[24]
Head of New Experience, Nokia Play, Jaakko Kaidesoja had this to say to Pocket Gamer in an interview on 21 February 2008 when asked about what early feedback they had received:[25]
"The feedback has been positive and well received within the company and some critical comments were well received as well. We know it's not perfect yet and there are some features people want more of. Those are the things we want to check and get on the roadmap."
Some hours after the launch, the man behind the official N-Gage Blog,[21] Ikona, said about the delay: "We are currently ensuring Block Breaker Deluxe, Space Impact: Kappa Base, and Tetris are running smoothly with our new application. These should be available in the showroom next week or two." Four days later, on April 7 - Nokia posted their official press release[29] commenting on the release of their new mobile service, and at which point FIFA 08 also became available for purchase. There were reports in May 2008 that some gamers were "angry" about N-Gage's digital rights management (DRM) protection in that every game purchased would be not locked to the user's account but to the handset, meaning they have to buy the game again if they change handsets.[30][31]
Because N-Gage is a software based solution, the first generation MMC games are not compatible with the new platform,[44] though some games made a comeback in the form of a sequel (e.g. System Rush: Evolution) or a remake/port (e.g. Mile High Pinball). Similarly, games developed for this next-gen N-Gage platform do not work on the original N-Gage nor N-Gage QD, adding to the fact that newer S60 software, including the N-Gage client and games, aren't binary-compatible with older S60 devices and vice versa.[citation needed]
Interface and social features
The N-Gage client app functioned as an app store, software updater, instant messaging client, and personal achievement record.[45] Nokia was inspired by Microsoft’s Xbox Live service in creating the user interface[46] of the app. At the top of the N-Gage launcher are five tabs for each function. The My Games screen shows all the games that are currently installed on the phone. The Profile tab displays the user's profile, showing how many N-Gage points the user scored scored, their reputation level (ranging between 1-5 stars), the number of friends they have, and their avatar/picture. Users could also track progress through trophies/achievements.[46]
The Showroom displayed all games that were available for download as well as Game Extras for expanding a game with extra content. Games could be downloaded directly to the phone over the air (by GPRS, 3G or WiFi), or the user may choose to download it to a computer and then install it on to the phone using a USB-cable and Nokia PC Suite.[47]
N-Gage Arena was the online service for the N-Gage community and included message boards, live chats, share user created content, tournament activities, and instant messaging. Users could also invite friends to play a game.[48]
Closure and legacy
On 30 October 2009, Nokia announced that no new N-Gage games would be produced, effectively shutting down the N-Gage platform. All N-Gage services, which includes purchasing of games and various online features, had reportedly ceased operation by the end of 2010.[49] Later on 31 March 2011 Nokia closed their DRM activation service, leaving customers unable to reactivate their purchases in the case of a device format or software update.[50] No transition of their purchases was made to the Ovi Store, and no compensation was given because, according to support staff, software purchases are only supported for one year.
Some gaming websites e.g. Pocket Gamer[51][9] link N-Gage's failure to the overwhelming competition it faces from Apple's App Store,[52] while Ovi Gaming[53] cited poor implementation and support from their parent company, Nokia. A bad development model[54] and marketing have also been cited.[55] Ewan Spence of All About Symbian wrote that keeping the "N-Gage" name, despite the failure of its predecessor, was a mistake. He also noted that N-Gage titles simply didn't sell well enough compared to their Java and iPhone OS counterparts.[45]
Awards
Several of the N-Gage 2.0 games were nominated for International Mobile Gaming Awards in 2007.
Two out of three N-Gage 2.0 titles received an award:[56]
On 8 May 2008, Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep[57] won a Games Award during the 2008 Meffy Awards in Cannes.[58]
Technical details
Specifications
In order for the N-Gage platform and games to run smoothly, all N-Gage compatible mobile devices share a common set of specifications:
Screen: landscape or portrait 320 x 240 pixels (except N97, with a 640 x 360 pixels screen, graphics are stretched and displayed in a letterbox format to keep aspect ratio)
OS: Symbian S60 3rd edition (S60 5th edition on N97)
Interface: 5 way (up, down, left, right, center) directional pad, Dedicated action buttons Circle and Square (Mapped onto keypad '5' and '0' in portrait mode) and 2 contextual buttons. Touch screen interactions were not supported (N97 emulated the actions buttons into the on-screen buttons)
Connectivity: 3G or Wifi (Required for the connecting to the N-Gage platform for downloading games, online functions such as rankings and multiplayer)
CPU: ARM11 with speed ranges from 369 MHz (N81) to 600 MHz (E52)
GPU: 3D Graphics Hardware Accelerator supported (games running on devices such as the HW-Accelerated N95 have enhanced performance)
Audio: Stereo channel
Software development
N-Gage games are packaged differently than normal Symbian applications and have the extension ".n-gage" and can only run via the N-Gage application. The game resources are protected by DRM.
They cannot use any native Symbian APIs, instead they use a proprietary API from the N-Gage SDK. N-Gage was also designed to make it easier for developers to port games to the platform: the SDK abstracts Symbian OS and provides a POSIX compliant, standard C/C++ layer over Symbian OS. This meant that developers no longer have to learn Symbian OS C++ idioms, like active objects and descriptors, before they can port their code. Hence it speeded up the process of porting to N-Gage as opposed to the original N-Gage hardware device.[4]
The N-Gage API is in fact an extension of the RGA API available in the Open C++ plug-in.[59] Only select companies were allowed access to the N-Gage SDK. To gain access they first must have been approved by Nokia and sign a NDA.
Games library
As of 23 October 2009, there were 49 games released officially on N-Gage. Many other games were cancelled with the shutting down of N-Gage.[49] Some of these games are sequels, remakes or ports of the first generation N-Gage MMC games.
^Editor, Robert Purchese Associate (30 January 2007). "Next-gen N-Gage unveiled". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 11 September 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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