GDC 2008: Nokia sheds light on upcoming N-Gage service

Nokia’s new N-Gage service has been marred by several delays and, in December 2007, the company formally pushed the launch of the service to the first half of 2008. Now with a pre-launch version, N-Gage First Access, being made available to N81 users through the official N-Gage website, the full version can’t be far off. And just before the launch of the service, the ongoing Game Developers Conference proved to be a great platform for the cellphone maker to shed more light on N-Gage’s new avatar as a standard gaming service for Nokia cellphone which will allow users to download and play quality games on their cellphones.

Nokia’s EVP for marketing Anssi Vanjoki gave a keynote address titled “Play With Anybody Everywhere” at GDC on Tuesday (February 19, 2008). He shared Nokia’s vision of mobile gaming with a gathering of several hundred game developers. Vanjoki quickly pointed out that around 1 billion people around the world own Nokia handsets, and said that 200 million out of them are “technology leaders” – a clear reference to high-end cellphone owners – who want more than just the ability to make phone calls. He added that Nokia is working hard to appease them with newer innovations.

He hinted that the N-Gage platform might use GPS, TV out and camera phone capabilities besides other technologies to enhance the gaming experience. Vanjoki was also exultant over the feedback N-Gage First Access has received.

Read [N-Gage Blog]