Nokia to scrap N-Gage platform in revamp

Dubai: The second-largest mobile phone vendor Nokia is set to end its support for the N-Gage gaming platform by 2010 in a bid to bring all the games under one umbrella — the Ovi Store.

The Finnish firm will keep the N-Gage site and the N-Gage Arena and other community features in operation until September 2010, after which the community features of purchased games will no longer function, however the company will no longer publish new games for the N-Gage platform.

"It's much more convenient to get all your mobile games under one roof, and this is what the Ovi Store provides. This means that rather than have multiple channels for purchasing games, the Ovi Store is the place to find and buy games. We want to offer one store front with an even broader portfolio of games for everyone," Tala Toukan, communications manager at Nokia Mena, said.

Community elements

She said Nokia will keep selling the existing games through September 2010. In the future, it will offer similar community elements incorporated on N-Gage platforms through its store. As mobile gaming evolves, we want to offer developers and publishers the opportunity to distribute games to the world through the Ovi Store.

Nokia introduced N-Gage in 2003 as a standalone handheld gaming device. Nokia later discontinued the device and instead came up with a plan to develop phones that would support the N-Gage platform. After a delay, it began introducing phones that could play N-Gage games in April 2008.

Purchased N-Gage games will continue to work on N-Gage compatible mobile devices.

She said Nokia hopes to add more community elements to the Ovi Store that might replace N-Gage Arena, a site where gamers could chat in a forum and post their high scores.

"We are actively working on offering more community elements through the Ovi Store."