Gerard Wiener, the boss of Nokia's Games division and effectively the head of N-Gage, spoke for over an hour in the chatroom on N-Gage.com today. As you'd expect, there were record numbers of N-Gagers present and he was asked a lot of questions on a very wide range of topics, from N-Gage 2 to an expanded Arena online service, from tour buses in Northern Ireland to customer service in Pakistan. Read on to find out more...

Where to begin?

In general Wiener sounded upbeat and full of enthusiasm for gaming. He said he made sure Nokia were behind the N-Gage before accepting the job, and once he was assured he went for it, eager to be boss of an entire games system. The strategy as far as the hardware side sounded as though they're giving full support to the current generation of hardware and lowering the prices so that as many people as possible get hold of a current generation N-Gage. At the same time they seem to be working on improved current and next generation hardware, games development and greatly extending the online Arena service.

N-Gage 2 is now confirmed from the highest level as being in development with several prototypes made, but they're still considering a wide range of options for what the final production hardware will be. It's impossible to deduce a timescale from Wiener's answers, but without prompting he mentioned 2007 as a date when significant numbers of Nokia devices would be more powerful than the PSP. Is this a hint...?

The sheer volume of questions and answers prohibits simply listing the entire chat log here (you can find a copy of it on N-gage.com), but the following points are perhaps the most significant, loosely grouped into four categories.


AAN questions:

• In response to a question from All About N-Gage about repositioning the N-Gage as a game-oriented phone rather than a phone-oriented console, Wiener replied: "You are hitting the nail on the head... that is what we aim to be - the best mobile developer out there with the Arena as the foundation/platform for an integrated mobile games community"
• In response to a question from All About N-Gage concerning possible N-Gage game distribution over channels other than retail, such as the internet or through download booths, Wiener replied rather indirectly yet at the same time very directly: "Great question... One of the things we need to focus on is ease of use for consumers - and that is one of my top priorities for 2005... which means that we need to focus on the very issues that you are raising - I would suggest you keep a look out for our E3 press announcements... You might find some answers to your questions that I currently am not at liberty to discuss ;-)"

Hardware:

• The current N-Gage generation will "absolutely" be supported through 2005 (and probably 2006 too, judging from his 2007 date on the N-Gage 2 answer) both in terms of games and Arena online features
• A redesigned N-Gage QD with an improved range of colours is now being discussed "with the factory guys this week", purple and pink colours are "on the table"
• The $99 QD is making Nokia struggle to keep up with demand, and Wiener said his aim currently was "to get as many devices into people's hot little hands as possible - therefore I want to keep the price as low as possible"
• There are several N-Gage 2 prototypes currently in development (the first time we've heard this confirmed by a senior Nokia executive), and although he gave no direct timescale, Wiener noted (possibly as some kind of sideways hint) that a larger-than-expected number of Nokia devices would be more powerful than the PSP by 2007
• Several N-Gage 2 prototypes feature cameras, and although Wiener is not convinced of their value on a gaming phone he added that the price of cameras is getting so low now that they might include one anyway
• Stereo sound, radio and USB will return in future N-Gage models, indeed Wiener himself mentioned that he uses the original N-Gage (which has all these features) as his personal phone... also being a tri-band world phone it means he can use it at whichever branch of Nokia he's visiting worldwide

Games:

• Pathway To Glory 2 is already in development
• Nokia is in negotiations with Sega to make Pocket Kingdom 2
• Some kind of sports management game (possibly online) is in development
• A non-Tiger Woods golf game is in development
• There is at least one unannounced First Person Shooter game in development
• Wiener's favourite non-N-Gage game at the moment is Asheron's Call, his favourite N-Gage games are Pocket Kingdom and Pathway To Glory
• Wiener mentioned that Resident Evil Online on the PlayStation 2 runs on Nokia's SNAP network which also powers the N-Gage Arena

The N-Gage Arena:

• Wiener repeatedly mentioned that as a priority he wanted to see improvements to the N-Gage's online service, talking of a "robustified Arena" several times
• Voice chat on Arena is in development (and actually is already in operation if you own a copy of Pathway To Glory)
• The N-Gage has proven unexpectedly popular in the Java game market, Nokia are looking into making it easier to publish Java games on N-Gage (and it wasn't mentioned, but N-Gage already has a Java publishing system in Asia which allows N-Gage owners to buy Java games through a special front end)