Nokia's Next Gen gaming service launching in Spring 2007, "gaming-oriented" models on way too

[slitchfield]

According to an interview on Gamasutra, Nokia is planning to launch its next generation of games across its latest S60 smartphone range in the Spring of 2007, and a number of "gaming-oriented" smartphone models will also be made available later, possibly in 2008. The gaming models would still be Symbian S60 smartphones, as the original N-Gage was, but they would have landscape screens and hardware accelerated graphics. The fate of the N-Gage name is unclear however.

Read on in the full article.

[N/A]

Isn't that Gamasutra coverage/info from the March GDC and the May E3?

Why a "copy" report like that now in the latter half of June, as if is was still news?

In general, if somebody elses report/web site is used as the source, I think it'd be polite for the article to also link directly to the original site/source.

[krisse]

The Gamasutra article claims that they had a telephone interview with Nokia's Sauter, so that can't have been just E3 coverage.

The stuff about the gaming-oriented smartphones with 3D processors and wide screens, the N-Gage name being in doubt, the possibility of retail games, they're all new things that were never mentioned at E3.

I tried to link to the original source many times, but the CMS software kept deleting it. In the end I just had to give the name of the site rather than a direct link.

[mob453]

Spoke to the Assistant Manager of my local Gamestation today, they are taking pre-orders for a N-Gage device for October 2006...

[N/A]

I doubt that they're taking preorders for "a N-Gage device". They're probably just taking preorders for an N73, N93 or some other announced, but not yet available model (they can't take preorders for non-existing devices, nor can anyone come to their store and place a preorder for a device they don't know exists, either).

You can ask the Assistant Manager to identify which model, exactly, are they taking preorders for, and then you'll know.

[Rafe]

After a bit of hunting I found the origianl article and added a link to it. I've also recategorised this as an editorial comment. Guess we need to find some fresh N-Gage news - a bit thin on the ground right now

I'm not convinced there will be entirely gaming focused models. Perhaps a multimeida model that does gaming + video + music... In other words perhaps something with gaming orientated button layout, but I suspect there'll be less of a focus on it being a gaming device. (That said I'm not really a gaming expert)...

[wshwe]

Spring 2007 will be too little too late. I think Nokia has been doing nothing for months. If Nokia was on the ball it would be ready to release new S60 games long before next Spring.

[mob453]

Originally Posted by N/A

I doubt that they're taking preorders for "a N-Gage device". They're probably just taking preorders for an N73, N93 or some other announced, but not yet available model (they can't take preorders for non-existing devices, nor can anyone come to their store and place a preorder for a device they don't know exists, either).

You can ask the Assistant Manager to identify which model, exactly, are they taking preorders for, and then you'll know.

why would a electronic games and hardware retailer ( think PSP, XBOX, PC, Nintendo, PS2, PS3) stock the n73 or n93?

[N/A]

I don't know, but if you know the Assistant Manager, ask him (or her) what they are really taking preorders for.

Or, maybe they've just looked at their papers wrong, because the original N-Gage was released in October 2003, so they may just be three years late in taking and placing the preorders for it.