Have phone, will play

Nokia has given its N-Gage brand a new lease on life by turning it into a mobile gaming service that is a major part of Ovi, the company’s recently announced Internet platform where consumers can get digital content of various kinds.

Once it becomes available in November, the N-Gage service will allow people to purchase popular game titles for their Nokia devices, but not after they have tried the games first to see if they like them.

Nokia executives are confident the try-and-buy system is a major value proposition unique to N-Gage that will make more consumers to spend for mobile games. 

“N-Gage used to be just a device, now it is a service being made available to other devices. N-Gage is now a platform to make game development easy and to make sales and marketing of games also easy using the try-and-buy system,” said Ilkka Raiskinen, senior vice president for multimedia experiences of Nokia Multimedia, during the recent Nokia Go Play event in Singapore.

The free N-Gage application can be downloaded from http://www.n-gage.com (PC or mobile) and installed in compatible devices such as the Nokia N73, N81, N81 8GB, N93, N93i, N95 and N95 8GB models.

Later, the N-Gage application will be embedded in a wide range of Nokia devices, too, so consumers can play straight out of the box.  Purchased games can be downloaded on a mobile device or PC. Once connected to the N-Gage service, consumers can play solitarily or connect and play with others in the online N-Gage Arena, access their gaming statistics like game profile and achievements, and track other gamers using their mobile phone or PC client.

“As we expand our focus from a dedicated game phone to a gaming service, we are making how to get and play games even easier,” said Raiskinen. “The N-Gage service, combined with powerful devices, world-class titles and brands, and interactive social networking features, takes the mobile gaming experience beyond traditional boundaries.” 

Games sold through Nokia channels will cost from six to 10 euros (excluding taxes) and can be paid for with a credit card or charged to a mobile phone bill where available. Operator billing is supported in over 20 countries. Daily and weekly game licenses are also available at lower prices and all games are free to try before purchase.

Content

Nokia is famous for publishing the first-ever mobile game, Snake, and will continue to publish its own games for N-Gage. It is also teaming up with leading game publishers to offer the best selection of games possible for the N-Gage platform.

Strategic collaborations have already been announced with Capcom, Digital Chocolate, EA, Gameloft, Glu Mobile, Indiagames, I-play, THQ Wireless, and Vivendi Games Mobile. 

“With the new N-Gage experience, fans of some of our most popular games like FIFA or The Sims can play and stay connected with other fans. With millions of Nokia devices already in the marketplace, we’re very excited to help bring quality mobile gaming experiences to the fingertips of a global audience,” said Barry Cottle, senior vice president and general manager of EA Mobile, speaking at a separate Nokia Go Play event in London.

Expect the N-Gage service to be big on local content, which is seen to become a major factor in mobile gaming success. 

“We eat our own dog food. Nokia took all its experiences and pains to understand the (gaming) market better. We see the key importance of local content and we believe mobile is the platform to deliver it. For example, we could introduce Cricket mobile games in India where the game is very popular just like the game Deal or No Deal is huge in the UK,” said Ilkka.

Aside from local content, Nokia is also keen on delivering more modern and innovative games that mix with other technologies or games that make real-world scenarios a part of the game. Raiskinen noted that just recently the game Scavenger Hunt has had a version that makes use of GPS (global positioning system). 

“We want to understand our customers and make games not because we think they are fun. It must be fun for them. Let’s hear what the customers have to say while at the same time we expose them to new technologies that we know will be future-proof,” he said.

Because the cost of developing games on mobile is expected to be less than for other gaming platforms, Ilkka said Nokia will have more resources for research and innovations focused on making games more fun and simple.

Unlike PC games that are susceptible to system crashes and game consoles that are expensive, mobile games will bring simpler but fun game experience at a more affordable price, said Ilkka. 

Fun and simple games will hopefully give birth to more mobile gamers. It is estimated that over 50 million people are playing on their mobile phones but not many spend for games.

Nokia’s own study found that majority of Nokia S60 device owners use their mobile phones to play games half the time (54 percent) compared to using them for other functions such as camera or music.

“Mobile games can be a killer application if we address all the barriers. We plan to target all segments from casual to advanced gamers. In terms of hardware, there is a lot of room for innovations. The (Nintendo) DS is a very popular game platform but there is no reason why it won’t be true for Nokia (devices),” said Ilkka. 

Nokia is also determined to make gaming a social theme, seeing how it will become a major business driver, especially in Asian markets that have seen many firsts in mobile technology. The company expects to generate its biggest mobile gaming business from this region, which accounts for about 38 percent of the world’s total.