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Home » Overview of N-Gage » History of N-Gage

History of N-Gage
The history of N-Gage has seen many ups and downs, with the low times being rather turbulent at times. But what bought on the N-Gage series can be traced back to much beyond 2003, when the phone was first launched. Nokia during the mid 1990s felt that more and more people were looking for gaming systems which were known for their mobility. This was based on the demand of the gaming community to continue to play and stay connected, even while they were on the move. Thus, there was a need of a system, where they could still be in touch with their friends in the gaming community in and through the internet.

The N-Gage was developed by Nokia as an answer to this need of the market and the consumers. The N-Gage series was launched on October 7, 2003, when it was sold for the first time in US. Since then, the history of N-Gage has been rather stormy, with the series having been evolved phenomenally over the years. While it was one of the major steps towards bringing the functionalities of the phone and a gaming system together, there were many pitfalls in the process.

After its launch, the N-Gage series did not do so well, where the market was concerned. There have been many differences in official statements, were the success of the product is concerned. But what the history of N-Gage has marked especially is the lack of a successful marketing strategy and branding of the product. One of the greatest mistakes in the process was that it was launched as a gaming system and as a serious competitor to the Game Boy Advance, a gaming console developed by Nintendo. But what they did not fathom is that the medium of gaming was inherently different. The buttons and the screen play of the N-Gage series was not as comfortable as other gaming consoles, especially when the user was on the move. It were the defects in the designing of the phone that left its mark on the poor sales of N-Gage. It was clearly outsmarted by the Game Boy Advance. Moreover, this was substantiated with other defects such as a poor memory card, a bad selection of games in the series, the high cost (double than that of Game Boy Advance). This was rated very poorly by the gaming community and the sales were no where near the expectations of Nokia.

However, the situation was salvaged with the redesigning of the model, in the form of N-Gage QD, the latter being more sleek, smaller and much more convenient. Now, Gerard Weiner became the Director and General Manager of Games in 2005. The branding of the N-Gage series was now modified. The phone series were now marketed with a focus on its phone facilities and features, which was accompanied by a fully developed gaming system. While there have been some controversies in the history of N-Gage, with respect to the sales figures, there have been some successes as well. These include the popularity of two games in the gaming community, namely, “Pocket Kingdom: Owning the World” and “Pathway to Glory”. Today, the models are still popular in India and China.

To get more details on the N-Gage Series, go back to Overview of N-Gage.