N-Gage 2.0:

The new N-Gage, also referred to as N-Gage Next Gen, N-Gage 2.0 or the N-Gage platform/application, saw a change in concept as Nokia explained to the world during E3 2005 that they were planning on putting N-Gage inside several of their smartphone devices - rather than releasing a specific device (although their N81 model with its two dedicated gaming-buttons next to the screen is being marketed as a phone built for gaming). Working behind closed doors, it took a little more than a year before Nokia actually started showing off next-gen titles such as System Rush: Evolution and Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, with the fighting game ONE perhaps being the most visually impressive - even making use of motion capture.

A public beta test of the N-Gage application took place from February 4, 2008 to March 27, 2008^[1] and the client was then released on April 3 the same year for the Nokia N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95 and N95 8GB.

Compatibility

Because N-Gage is a software based solution, the first generation MMC games are not compatible with the new platform^[2], though some games are making a comeback in form of a sequel (e.g. System Rush: Evolution) or a remake/port (e.g. Mile High Pinball). Similarly, games developed for this next-gen N-Gage platform do not work on the original N-Gage nor N-Gage QD.

Devices

So far, the N-Gage website lists the following devices as compatible with the new N-Gage platform: Nokia N78, N79, N81, N81 8GB, N82-1, Nokia N85, N95-1, N95-2 8GB, N96, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, and Nokia 6210 Navigator.^[3] Future support is indicated for Nokia N73, N93, N93i^[4]^[5] and N97.^[6] Memory issues were hinted at for compatible client delays in an interview.^[7]

First access

On February 4, 2008, after several delays ever since the beginning of 2007, the new N-Gage platform was released to the public - though limited only to users of Nokia’s N81 device. This period of time was referred to as "First Access" and only a public test of the client which could be downloaded for free from the N-Gage website. While not the final version, the user had access to most of the features that the new application had to offer along with three games to try out: Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, System Rush: Evolution and Space Impact Kappa Base. Eventually, Nokia also released Tetris, Block Breaker Deluxe and World Series of Poker: Pro Challenge for the users to try out. None of the games are entirely free but all offers a limited trial for testing purposes. In order to experience the full game - it has to be either purchased or rented.

Shortly after being released to the public, the N-Gage installation file was unpacked into components, which can be then installed separately, thus removing N81-only limitation. N-Gage has since been reported working on other Nokia N-series devices , such as N73 and N95. In response, Nokia released an advisory asking users not to install this unsupported version as it could cause errors or other issues.

On March 20, the N-Gage blog reported that First Access would come to an end on March 27, though all downloaded games at that time would still be playable through the application until the updated version was released - which occurred on April 3.

Reception

There have been a lot of hands-on articles with the First Access client and they all generally reflect both the positive and negative feedback of the official First Access forum, where N81 users shared their thoughts on what was good and what could've been made better - regarding both the launcher itself and the games currently available. The biggest issues at that point was that of players not being able to "activate" a purchased game but still having only the trial version to play. A lot of players have also been reporting connection issues.

Head of New Experience, Nokia Play, Jaakko Kaidesoja had this to say to Pocket Gamer in an interview on February 21, 2008 when asked about what early feedback they had received^[8]:

Game reviews

The games themselves have received an overall good reception all over the Internet ever since the First Access beta, with Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep standing out as the most successive title.

Launch

After numerous delays and many vague release dates, the N-Gage platform was finally (and also quite suddenly) released to the public on April 3, 2008 through the N-Gage official website, though only five phone models are compatible to begin with. This probably has to do with the older models being less powerful as was pointed out in an interview earlier the same year whereas an N-Gage representative mentioned some memory issues with the N73^[7]. The launch titles also changed from six to only five: Asphalt 3: Street Rules, Brain Challenge, Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep System Rush: Evolution, and World Series of Poker: Pro Challenge. The first two weren't even on the original list but Block Breaker Deluxe and Tetris instead. The sixth game that was postponed was Space Impact Kappa Base. Some hours after the launch, Ikona (the man behind the official N-Gage blog) had this to say about the delay:

"We are currently ensuring Block Breaker Deluxe, Space Impact Kappa Base, and Tetris are running smoothly with our new application. These should be available in the showroom next week or two."

Four days later, on April 7 - Nokia posted their official press release^[9] commenting on the release of their new mobile service, and at which point FIFA 08 also became available for purchase.

With this release, the website also saw a small change in appearance with price tags added to all games available for download, an event calendar, a tab for support on both the application itself and N-Gage compatible devices and much more. Players logged onto the website could now also see their Reputation level, N-Gage level, and gathered N-Gage points.

There was also a release party held at the N-Gage chat room shortly after the release, with several members from the N-Gage team attending to answer any questions asked. A few t-shirts were randomly handed out during the three hour long event and everyone was also promised a few N-Gage points for coming to the "party".

As expected, the launch was not problem-free but numerous people reported having trouble downloading, purchasing and activating games, installing the application and logging on to the N-Gage Arena.

The N-Gage application

With a user interface that resembles Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, at the top of the N-Gage launcher there are five icons that can be navigated through by simply pressing left and right on the phone’s thumb pad. These represent your games library, profile, friends list, and the showroom - all as explained thoroughly below.

Home

The launcher welcomes the user with a Home screen where the last game played is shown along with some quick links to your friends, progress (score table), the Featured Game that Nokia wants to "highlight" for this week, and your Inbox for messaging within the launcher.

My Games

This screen shows all the games that are currently installed on the phone - be it a Trial version or the full game (purchased or rented). The ones that are trial versions have a pink stripe that says "TRIAL" to the far right of the game icon, overlapping what looks somewhat like a battery meter that, once you pay for the game, illustrates your progress with that game. At the bottom of the list of installed games is a quick link (Get More Games) that takes you to the showroom.

Games that are not paid for will show a pop-up every time you play it - asking whether you’d like to try the free trial or either purchase, enter an unlock code (purchased or given through promotions), or rent the game. More on this below.

From this screen, the user may also rate any of the games downloaded from 1 to 5 stars, as well as write a small verdict on it.

My Profile

The next tab is your profile which shows how many N-Gage points you’ve scored so far from playing, your reputation level (ranging between 1-5 stars), the number of friends you have enlisted, and your chosen avatar/picture to represent you (will display a white silhouette of a person with an orange background per default). Further down is your current status (offline, online or away - the last two can each be assigned with a personal message), N-Gage Point Level, and a list of what games you have played (Gaming History). Selecting one will not only display how many points you’ve gathered within the chosen game - but also show how well your friends are doing with the same game. From here, users are also able to look at what achievements have been unlocked - or Point Pickups as they’re called.

My Friends

This is where you go to add a friend to your friends list as well as check them all out. Once highlighted, you may choose to view recent conversations with the player, send them a message, view his or her profile, and rate the player. Messages can be sent regardless of whether the player is currently online or not and your friends list can be sorted by name, availability/status, or N-Gage points gathered.

Showroom

The Showroom displays all games that are available for download as well as Game Extras for expanding a game with extra content, such as downloading new episodes/adventures for the adventure game Dirk Dagger. Games may be browsed by genre, latest arrivals, or just in alphabetical order. Select a game and you’re able to read a small (though maybe not very informative) description of it along with details on how big it is, estimated time for downloading the game, the number of supported players, who the publisher is etc. Here you may also read what other players think of the game and view their ratings.

Payment can be made by either using a credit card or paying through the phone bill (network operator). Apart from actually purchasing a game, there’s also an option of renting one - where you only need to pay a few euro or dollars in order to get full access for a limited time of either 24 hours or a whole week. When purchased, the games are tied to the user’s account and can be re-downloaded if deleted for some reason.

Games can be downloaded directly to the phone over the air (by GPRS or WiFi), or the user may choose to download it to a computer and then install it onto the phone using a USB-cable and Nokia PC Suite.

Awards

Several of the N-Gage 2.0 games were nominated for International Mobile Gaming Awards in 2007. Two out of three N-Gage 2.0 titles received an award:^[10]

Future of N-Gage

In an interview that Pocket Gamer had with Jaakko Kaidesoja (head of New Experience, Nokia Play) on February 21, 2008, Jakko revealed that there would be "25 to 30 games released by the middle of the year" and "50 to 60 games released by the end of the year" (ideally)^[8]. Nokia is currently working with game developers such as Vivendi, EA, Capcom and Gameloft only to mention a few.

In an interview that NokNok had with head of N-Gage first party games production of North America, Will Shen talked about some of the possibilities that N-Gage games can have going forward^[12]:

Nokia held a presentation at GDC 2008^[13] where spokesman Dan Scott, Global Head of Production - Nokia Games Publishing, had this to say on multiplayer gaming:

"We're going to be exploiting the capabilities of the N-Gage arena; more multiplayer gaming. As the networks become more capable, we're going to work in more real-time multiplayer. As soon as it's ready we'll be there. We're gonna be pushing the boundaries on that, we're going to be looking at MMOs."

Updates

Nokia plans on updating the N-Gage application on a regular basis and the first update was made available on October 2, 2008. Dubbed as v1.010_131, this update included the following major changes:

Updating the application may be done through the app itself - by using the "Check for Updates" function on the device, or it can be downloaded in the "Get N-Gage" section on N-Gage.com.

As of yet, there have been no efforts to eliminate the BiNPDA SecMan exploit through a firmware update.

Technical details

N-Gage games are packaged differently than normal symbian apps and have the extension ".ngage" and can only run via the N-Gage application. The game resources are protected by DRM. They cannot use any native Symbian APIs, instead they use a proprietry API from the N-Gage SDK.

Only select companies are allowed access to the N-Gage SDK. To gain access they first must be approved by Nokia and sign a NDA.

Games library

As of December 24, 2008, there are currently 29 games in the Showroom of the N-Gage website, with many more known to be in production.

Some of these games are sequels or remakes/ports of the first generation N-Gage MMC games.

Launch titles

Six games were originally planned to be available for purchase when the service launched, with the possibility of one or two more being added, but only five made it to the launch: Asphalt 3: Street Rules, Brain Challenge, Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, System Rush: Evolution and World Series of Poker: Pro Challenge. The first two weren't even on the original list - which had Block Breaker Deluxe and Tetris on it instead. The sixth game that got postponed was Space Impact Kappa Base. Some hours after the launch, Ikona (the man behind the official N-Gage blog) had this to say about the delay: