Bobby White
December 21, 2003
Dec. 21--No one is boasting about how well Nokia's N-Gage is doing in stores.
The lack of swagger is telling.
The Finnish cellphone company's entrance into the lucrative but volatile gaming industry could plant a black eye on an otherwise unblemished record.
The N-Gage is a convergence device. It is a phone, an FM radio and a digital music player that offers text messaging and Internet access.
On top of all that, it is a high-end portable game console.
There's nothing on the market like it. Similar devices are slated to hit the field. Sony is working on a handheld, as is California-based Tapwave.
Nokia won't release N-Gage sales figures except to say that 400,000 were shipped worldwide to retail outlets in October.
Retailers are being vague. A representative of AT&T Wireless said they're satisfied with sales but declined to be specific.
GameStop President Dan DeMatteo said N-gage sales have been OK, "but it's not been a blowout."
"I think they're probably somewhat satisfied, but not totally," he said of Nokia.
Nokia officials say the device, which combines a multitude of communication needs, must be seen as more than just a game console.
Built into a phone, it's aimed at adults who want to play games. The company is aware that it faces a steep learning curve in the video-game market but is committed to flourish.
"We are in a whole new category. There is no real competition," said Christopher Folmar, product launch and marketing manager for N-Gage.
Critics in the video-gaming world have been heavy handed in their views.
"It's a really cool FM radio," said Ryan Mac Donald, executive producer of GameSpot.com.
Mac Donald said a few of the devices were distributed among the GameSpot staff for a trial period. When the group convened to discuss it, he noticed that no one had used all of the features. And nearly all agreed that the N-Gage's gaming experience did not trump the industry old guy, Nintendo's Game Boy.
"It just doesn't deliver with a better quality. Someone will do it.
The only thing they really deserve credit on is putting together an all-in-one product," he said.
Although Nokia is the juggernaut of handsets, critics believe that the company are underestimating how tough it will be to crack into the mobile-gaming industry.
N-Gage is up against the rhinoceros of the portable gaming industry -- the Game Boy. For more than a decade, Game Boy has prevailed as the road trip gaming console of choice. Since 1989, there have been about 150 million sold worldwide. In its latest form -- the Game Boy Advance -- critics believe that it can stave off advances with its modest price -- $99. The N-Gage retails for $299; a mail-in rebate can lower the price to $199, not unreasonable for a cellphone purchase.
There is a growing list of unsuccessful attempts at seducing the video game consumer, from the short-lived Atari Linx to the Sega Game Gear and the Bandai-backed Wonderswan (and those were just handheld consoles). Insiders and analysts are skeptical whether this totally new portable console can capture such a finnicky group.
The complaints are plentiful, but the most prominent is the console's awkward ergonomics. To switch out a game, the user has to remove the back panel and take out the battery before replacing the cartridge. Too much to do for a twenty-something with some downtime riding the subway to work.
"If it's still around after 5 years, I would be surprised," said Billy Pidgeon, a senior analyst with San Francisco-based Zelos Group. "If I were them, I would cut my losses and pull out now."
The N-Gage has a few qualities that could surprise critics. Top-tier game developers have signed on to create strong titles. Electronic Arts, Activision, Eidos and Sega have all reached an agreement to publish games. In addition, before Microsoft's Xbox, there was Sony's PlayStation and before Sony's console dominance there was Nintendo -- meaning that a new player in the game can run the show.
Nokia plans to court 20- to 30-year-olds, a market that traditionally has not received much play from the portable gaming industry.
"I'm flattered that [the N-Gage] is the topic of conversation," Folmar said. "I've seen a lot of misinformation out there. Out of everything that has been said, I haven't seen anyone knock the actual game play."
Folmar said Nokia is trying to develop new areas of gaming, such as wireless mobile game play, in which users can interact with each other, and the overall evolution of mobile games in general.
"Mobile gaming needs to be built from the ground up," Folmar said.
"It will not be overnight. It's a lot like farming. You've got to sow the seeds and water the fields, and eventually it will be time for harvest."
Staff Writer Heather Landy contributed to this report.
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