Official Nokia N-Gage Thread

[sleeve]

I don't know why everybody's so down on the N-Gage. I think the problem is that you all are thinking of it as in direct competition with the GBA etc., when in fact it's actually part of a broader strategy.

Sure it's got a lot of flaws, and the E3 presentation was embarrassing, but this thing has some potential. I'd love to play Puzzle Bobble and similar games against other people, wherever I go. And it looks like the thing has a ton of useful features given its cost.

I just might pick it up in October. My N-Gage shoulder bag even has a specially designed pocket for it.

[sggg]

I am not down on it. I just lost interest in buying one because of the price tag, especially since I have no need for a phone and it would be a console only for me.

I actually hope it succeeds and does well though. Any competition in the handheld market is a good thing in my book.

I also do not understand why so many people want to see it do poorly. I don't know why anyone would be upset about them selling this at a videogame store. If you don't have interest in the system, then don't browse that section.

[Shin Johnpv]

I don't know why anyone would be upset about them selling this at a videogame store. If you don't have interest in the system, then don't browse that section.

well coming from some one who works in a videogame store with allready overcrowded shelfs realize that the support of the Ngage means getting ride of something else like Genesis, Dreamcast (the top 2 options for them dropping right now, least in our store), SNES, NES etc etc

store spacing is limited and personally id rather we keep carrying Genesis games than get ride of them to make room for a half assed console/cell phone with a tiny screen, a pain in the ass way of changing games, and a large price tag


People complain about Gamestop not carrying Saturn, Master System, Game Gear, NGPC, and Turbografix stuff bringing this in just means the dropping of something else and i can tell you Genesis and Dreamcast are damn close to be dropped next

whats next are we gonna start offering phone plans too? lets get ride of another section to add phone plans from sprint and AT&T

[bahn]

Relax dude, breathe.

see, what your store needs to do is get rid of all that excess junk.

in other news, WE don't carry all of that with exception to DreamCast and N64. Time to consolidate methinks.

May wanna check your emails, because GS is not offering phone plans, a pre-valued service will be available with the N-Gage. Should the customer want to continue to use the N-Gage for cellular service, they'll have to contact a provider.

btw, there's no e in rid.

[Agent X]

I am not down on it. I just lost interest in buying one because of the price tag, especially since I have no need for a phone and it would be a console only for me.

I actually hope it succeeds and does well though. Any competition in the handheld market is a good thing in my book.

That's pretty much how I feel. If the N-Gage were under $200 (preferably under $150), then I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about it. A penny shy of $300 is a lot of money for something that I'd be using almost exclusively for gaming, since I already have a cell phone, and have no intention of switching my service from Sprint to whatever it is that N-Gage is using (I only know it's not Sprint).

If Nokia offered a "phoneless" version of the N-Gage for $150-$200 that removed the phone, but kept the gaming, MP3, and Bluetooth capabilities intact, then that would have been sweet. Bluetooth would still enable you to connect wirelessly to a friend's N-Gage for head-to-head games, and possibly also to the Internet through another (Bluetooth-enabled) cell phone that you're carrying.

Nokia also needs to alter that incredibly clumsy way of changing game cards, if they want to be taken seriously as a portable video game system. My friend tried the N-Gage at E3, and was really shocked that Nokia hadn't even thought about improving that, even though journalists criticized that very same issue at the N-Gage unveiling a few months earlier. The unveiling should have been used as a golden opportunity for Nokia to collect feedback to improve the product, rather than say "here's the final product" and have its design rigidly set in stone 8 months before its release. That's another really big turn-off--both the clumsiness of design, and the fact that Nokia turns a deaf ear to the many complaints about it.

[sleeve]

All I know is, the Game Boy has been plagued with every fault you can name since it came out in 1989 (including shitty games -- compared to the Fatboy's initial lineup the N-Gage's October launch will be SNES '91 all over again), and yet it's still here today.

Nokia is a good company with a lot of money, and I'm confident they'll do what it takes to make this thing a success in some form.

[bahn]

I think Sleeveboy secretly works for Nokia

...or maybe it's me?!?!

[Shin Johnpv]

Relax dude, breathe.

see, what your store needs to do is get rid of all that excess junk.

in other news, WE don't carry all of that with exception to DreamCast and N64. Time to consolidate methinks.

except all that still sells for us

every other sale is either a Genesis, NES or SNES game

this N-gage wont sell for us

and comparing its line up to the SNES'

my god thats smoking crack at its best sorry Sleeve but it is



people bitch about paying 179.99 for a CONSOLE if you think enough people are going to spend 299.99 on this waste to make it a viable product to waste shelf space on in a store i have a bridge to sell you

May wanna check your emails, because GS is not offering phone plans, a pre-valued service will be available with the N-Gage. Should the customer want to continue to use the N-Gage for cellular service, they'll have to contact a provider.

the greater point of the post and that comment went flying right over your head

[bahn]

I was being sarcastic man. jeez - lighten up will ya

you still spelled rid wrong ;p

[DArque Bishop]

That's pretty much how I feel. If the N-Gage were under $200 (preferably under $150), then I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about it. A penny shy of $300 is a lot of money for something that I'd be using almost exclusively for gaming, since I already have a cell phone, and have no intention of switching my service from Sprint to whatever it is that N-Gage is using (I only know it's not Sprint).

If it's using T-Mobile, then the N-Gage will work with pretty much any cellular provider that uses SIM cards. You really don't even need to buy a plan; just pop a pre-activated SIM card in and you're set to go. (That's what I did when I switched from my Nokia 3390 to a Handspring VisorPhone.)

If Nokia offered a "phoneless" version of the N-Gage for $150-$200 that removed the phone, but kept the gaming, MP3, and Bluetooth capabilities intact, then that would have been sweet. Bluetooth would still enable you to connect wirelessly to a friend's N-Gage for head-to-head games, and possibly also to the Internet through another (Bluetooth-enabled) cell phone that you're carrying.

Nokia also needs to alter that incredibly clumsy way of changing game cards, if they want to be taken seriously as a portable video game system. My friend tried the N-Gage at E3, and was really shocked that Nokia hadn't even thought about improving that, even though journalists criticized that very same issue at the N-Gage unveiling a few months earlier. The unveiling should have been used as a golden opportunity for Nokia to collect feedback to improve the product, rather than say "here's the final product" and have its design rigidly set in stone 8 months before its release. That's another really big turn-off--both the clumsiness of design, and the fact that Nokia turns a deaf ear to the many complaints about it.

Just because of the game switching problem, I would consider the gaming capability the least of my reasons to buy one. However, its cell phone capability, plus address book, MP3 player, etc etc would be a good incentive for me. My Handspring Visor Pro plus VisorPhone is very handy, but goddamn that thing's a fucking brick. It would be nice to have something a bit handy that could play MP3's, store my addresses... oh and could play games too.

I just wish that Nokia's marketing people weren't such idiots. The "GBA is for children" comments and the spamming of TNL does not leave me with a good feeling. (Though, granted, that company may not have been working with Nokia's approval.)

Just my $.02...