The N-Gage is a mobile device that combines the features of a cellular phone and a handheld game system. It was created by Nokia and released on October 7, 2003. Officially called the "game deck," the N-Gage uses the GSM cellular network for phone calls and runs on the Series 60 platform, which is part of the Symbian OS version 6.1.
The N-Gage aimed to attract gamers by offering an "all-in-one" device that included phone features, such as SMS texting. Game software was stored on a MultiMediaCard, which users inserted into the N-Gage. Nokia also launched an online service called N-Gage Arena, which allowed some games to support multiplayer play through the phone's GPRS data connection. Over 50 games, including titles from major third-party publishers, were released for the system over three years.
The N-Gage was not successful. Its buttons were not well-suited for gaming, and its shape was compared to a taco, leading to the nickname "taco phone." A redesigned version, the QD model, was introduced less than a year later to address complaints about the original design. However, the QD model also did not make a significant impact. With fewer than 2 million units sold over two years, the N-Gage was discontinued in February 2006. Nokia later moved its gaming features to certain Series 60 smartphones, which were announced as the N-Gage platform or "N-Gage 2.0" in 2007, continuing the use of the N-Gage name.
History
Nokia officially announced the N-Gage at the Mobile Internet Conference in Munich on November 4, 2002. This device combined the features of mobile phones and handheld game consoles, which many people were beginning to carry separately. The N-Gage was originally called Starship during its development.
The N-Gage required more than $100 million to create. Developing games for the N-Gage cost between $600,000 and $1.5 million each. Nokia worked with several large game companies to create titles for the N-Gage, including Eidos Interactive, Electronic Arts, Sega, Gameloft, Activision, and Taito.
Many of the preloaded ringtones and sounds were created by Markus Castrén, a former demoscene musician who worked at Nokia in mid-2002. He composed ringtones for both the N-Gage and the Nokia 7600 in popular dance styles. He also made a few sounds inspired by 1980s arcade games, using a chiptune style because game music at the time did not clearly sound like it came from video games.
Nokia tested the N-Gage with people in Europe from August 2003 until its release as part of the N-Gage Tour. The N-Gage had a starting price of $299 (equivalent to $523 in 2025) but did not sell well. In the United States, it was sold less than the Game Boy Advance by a large margin. Within 17 days of its release, stores like GameStop and Electronics Boutique offered $100 rebates on the device.
In February 2004, four months after its launch, Nokia’s CEO, Jorma Ollila, said the N-Gage would be judged until 2005 to determine if it was a success or failure. In 2004, a revised version called the N-Gage QD was released at a lower price. This version was often sold with service contracts and discounts.
In January 2005, a UK sales-tracking company named ChartTrack removed the N-Gage from its regular sales chart, stating that the N-Gage had little impact on the market. Although this information only reflected the UK, some saw it as a major setback for the N-Gage as a gaming platform. Despite this, Nokia continued to support the N-Gage, with rumors of a new version after the GDC 2005 event.
In November 2005, Nokia admitted the N-Gage had failed, selling only one-third of what the company expected. The device was removed from Western markets in February 2006 but continued to be sold in India and parts of Asia. The last game released in the United States was Civilization in March 2006, and Payload, a combat racing game, was released in other regions later that year. At E3 2006, Nokia promoted its next version of the N-Gage, which became the N-Gage service. In 2023, the Finnish Museum of Games opened an exhibition titled "A Fantastic Failure" about the N-Gage.
Hardware
The N-Gage has a physical design with a 2.1-inch TFT display in the center. A D-pad is on the left side, and numerical keys are on the right, along with other buttons. This design was similar to the Nokia 5510 mobile phone.
For multiplayer gaming, the N-Gage used Bluetooth or the Internet through the N-Gage Arena service instead of cables. Its main processor was an ARM4T chip, running at 104 MHz, the same as the Nokia 7650 and 3650 phones.
The original N-Gage had a design that some found difficult to use. To insert a game, users had to remove the phone’s plastic cover and battery, as the game slot was near the battery. The speaker and microphone were on the side of the phone, leading some to call it a "taco phone" or "Sidetalking" because users held the edge of the phone against their cheek while talking. The screen was taller than it was wide, with a size of 2.1 inches and a resolution of 176 x 208 pixels, giving it an aspect ratio of 11:13. At the time, most televisions had a 4:3 ratio.
Accessories for the N-Gage included extra batteries, car chargers, wireless Bluetooth headsets, and travel cases.
After receiving criticism for its design, Nokia improved the N-Gage as the N-Gage QD, released on May 26, 2004. The QD model was smaller and rounder, with a more convenient game slot on the bottom of the device instead of behind the battery. It also moved the earpiece to the front of the phone.
Although the QD used the same Symbian S60 software, some features from the original, such as MP3 playback, FM radio, and USB connectivity, were removed. In August 2005, Nokia released the Silver Edition of the N-Gage QD with minor cosmetic changes and replaced the two gaming buttons (5 and 7) with standard keys.
In October 2021, photos and details about a prototype called the "N-Gage IC" were shared on AtariAge and ObscureGamers forums by collectors Timo Weirich (Germany) and Leo Ashomko (Russia). The prototype looked similar to the N-Gage QD but included an integrated camera, a 123 MHz processor, Symbian OS 7.0 with Series 60 2nd Edition, USB mass storage, and hardware MP3 decoding.
Software and features
The N-Gage is a 2.5G GPRS data supporting Series 60 smartphone that runs Symbian OS 6.1. It has features similar to the Nokia 3650, but it does not include an integrated camera. The device can run all Series 60 software, except those that require a camera. It includes standard features such as an email client, WAP, and XHTML browser, and supports Java MIDP (J2ME) applications. The N-Gage Classic uses tri-band GSM on frequencies 900, 1800, and 1900. The N-Gage QD version was released in two dual-band models for the American market and one dual-band model for Eurasian markets. Despite the release of Series 60 2nd Edition, the QD version runs the same software as earlier versions. The original N-Gage includes MP3 and RealAudio/RealVideo playback, an FM radio tuner, and supports MMS picture messaging. The QD version does not include MP3 or FM support. N-Gage Arena was an online service created by Nokia specifically for the device. It allowed users to play games against each other online, chat, post messages on boards, view and upload high scores on a global leaderboard, and receive game tips and news.
Game library
Before Nokia released its first N-Gage game, Pathway to Glory, a simple version of the game was shared with reporters to let them try it and learn about its turn-based strategy gameplay. This demo was later made available for free on the N-Gage.com website. Fans were not discouraged by the 16 MB download size and quickly downloaded the Pathway to Glory demo. The popularity of this demo helped make it possible for more games to be released. On June 6, 2006, Nokia announced that people could also buy games digitally.
There are 58 full games available for the N-Gage. Two games were not sold in North America: Flo-Boarding (only in Germany and the UK) and Sega Rally (only in Australia and Brazil). All but three games (Payload, Snakes, and Virtua Cop) were sold in stores. Payload could only be bought through the digital N-Gage store, Snakes was given away for free, and Virtua Cop was canceled. One additional game, an exclusive version of Space Impact Evolution X, was included on the N-Gage's Support CD and later became available for Symbian S60v2 phones. In addition to N-Gage games, the device supports games designed for Series 60 and Java ME applets made for Series 60.
Reception and legacy
The game Pocket Kingdom: Own the World received some very positive reviews when it was first released. Pathway to Glory was Nokia’s first successful game that the company published on its own. These games were released too late to significantly improve how people, including consumers and the press, viewed the N-Gage hardware. Nokia had predicted that at least 6 million N-Gage devices would be sold within three years, but only 3 million were sold.
It was noted that even though Nokia promoted the N-Gage as a handheld game console, it was actually a standard Nokia Symbian Series 60 1st Edition smartphone with a different design and no special hardware for gaming. Pirated games on the N-Gage could be played on other devices of the time, such as the Nokia 3650.
Apple had the Newton. Sony failed with the Betamax. IBM made mistakes with the PCjr. Many technology companies have had one or two products that did not succeed. However, Nokia, the world’s largest cellphone maker, wanted people to remember its most famous failure: the 2003 N-Gage, a video game-cellphone hybrid shaped like a taco.
The N-Gage brand name had a poor reputation in gaming media and among consumers who knew about it. This was due to weak early games and the original device’s limitations. Despite this, Nokia tried again with a new version of the N-Gage in 2007, but this version only lasted two years.
In 2004, Nokia announced in a press release that it had shipped its one-millionth N-Gage device, calling it a company milestone. However, this number was lower than Nokia’s original prediction of 6 million devices by the end of 2004. The number of devices shipped does not always reflect actual sales. By 2007, Nokia had shipped over 2 million N-Gage devices.
There is disagreement about how many N-Gage devices were actually sold. Nokia claimed 400,000 units were sold in the first two weeks of release. However, independent research companies Chart-Track and Arcadia Research reported only 5,000 units sold in the United States and 800 in the UK during that time. A German magazine, GamePro, estimated 15,000 units sold in Germany by mid-2004. Critics suggested Nokia was counting the number of devices sent to retailers, not the number actually bought by customers. Nokia later confirmed this was true.
The new N-Gage, also called N-Gage Next Gen or N-Gage 2.0, changed its approach. At E3 2005, Nokia announced it would include N-Gage features in several of its smartphones instead of releasing a specific device. In August 2007, the new N-Gage platform was finalized and released in April 2008. It worked on many Symbian S60 smartphones with hardware that improved gaming performance. The service ended in October 2009.