Sorry Sidetalkers, N-Gage ist Kaput

[modeps]

http://evavhost.com/i/news/sidetalkin.jpg

Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25884) has word that cell phone maker, Nokia, will be discontinuing their incredible mobile platform, the N-Gage, in 2010.

With Nokia putting more focus on its iPhone App Store competitor, the Ovi Store, the mobile phone giant has confirmed it is phasing out its beleaguered N-Gage gaming platform in 2010.

The news came by way of a question-and-answer post on the official N-Gage weblog, in which a company spokesperson said Nokia will cease N-Gage software publishing.

The company will maintain community features for games through 2010, and will keep the N-Gage store open through September, after which the existing set of N-Gage games will no longer be available to buy.

[blackzc]

Legend fail!!

[Emabulator]

And all this time I thought it was DOA. ;)

[automaton]

This has to go down in electronics history as one of the greatest epic fails ever. Not quite "New Coke" fail but definitely the next level down on the scale. My favorite feature (not that I owned one) was having to remove the battery to change cartridges. WHAT WHAT?

[Rommel]

Why now? Why not years ago? ...Wait, I thought it was years ago.

[RMan]

Not quite "New Coke" fail but definitely the next level down on the scale.
Well, arguably New Coke wasn't a failure, but I'm guessing Nokia doesn't have a Gage Classic or something that will now sell like crazy :).

[Johan]

They were THIS/-------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------/CLOSE to success, too!

[Samstag]

Ist kaput. Es is spanish.

[Jotoco]

I didn't even realize they still produce N-gage stuff.

Even OVI is DOA, because it's a shameful copy of Applestore, and even then it is MUCH MUCH worse.

I own a nokia Cell (e71) owned 5 nokia already, being 3 smartphones, and still I KNOW I will end up going apple for the apple store, not the phone per se. Nokia just sucks as a software company. Hardware wise I think they are unbeatable

[Anenome]

Wtf, there were people still using NGage?!?!?! Why??? And they felt they had to issue a press release to the three people left who stubbornly refusing to acknowledge reality and who get a sick thrill out of being laughed at in public???

[Sensei-X]

http://evavhost.com/i/news/sidetalkin.jpg
incredible mobile platform

Incredible mobile platform? Incredible? LOL!! For a second I almost believed you were being serious, good one. :D

[Sarconix]

I am a caretaker of several guinea pigs, so this particular photo of N-Gage mockery amuses me.

[see colon]

Where have you guys been? Nokia stopped producing N-Gage hardware years ago, and had been using the name to advertise the gaming ability of certain phones. It was pretty much just an app store (every game had a demo, too) and some XBL-like features for matchmaking, leader boards and whatnot. This announcement is just Nokia finally getting smart and dropping the name(obviously tainted, see: this thread), and moving all of the games to Ovi.

@Jotoco, I agree 100% about Nokia being heads in hardware, tails in software. They are my favorite cell phone manufacturer because they make powerful, durable devices. It just sucks that they've fallen so far behind the software curve. Also, as I'm stuck on Sprint (old plan + employee error + discounts = awesome), Nokia's are no longer available to me anyway.

[RMan]

@Jotoco, I agree 100% about Nokia being heads in hardware, tails in software. They are my favorite cell phone manufacturer because they make powerful, durable devices. It just sucks that they've fallen so far behind the software curve. Also, as I'm stuck on Sprint (old plan + employee error + discounts = awesome), Nokia's are no longer available to me anyway.
Well, they did buy Qt/trolltech last year, so at least they seem to know where to spend money on software, let's see if something good comes from it (the Qt devs know their software).

[FreezaSama]

Wow. I wasn't even aware this thing was still around. I haven't seen one in years.

[rubbishfoo]

And all this time I thought it was DOA. ;)

I always assumed this too...

Oh well - here's to hoping someone else can give Nintendo a run for their market.

[Valkyrist]

NOOOOOOOOOoooooo don't take my Taco Phone away!!!!

Christ I can't believe it took them this long to call it quits. I was sitting there thinking to myself, "WTF, I actually remember still working at Gamestop when that first came out. And I don't think I sold a single one." And that was allllllll the way back in 2003!

[LilAbner]

I don't think it was just the phone itself...that died a while ago. It's the whole software platform: http://www.n-gage.com/ngi/ngage/web/us/en/home.html