Kill the N-Gage (sort of)
Once again, russell beattie gets it: he proposes that nokia should dump their flawed n-gage device and start marketing the associated brand as a platform. Numerous reports show that the n-gage isn’t exactly flying off the shelves and the n-gage brand is slowly turning into a joke among the media. They should try to limit the damage by turning the n-gage brand into a platform supported by numerous other devices, possibly even by various manufacturers.
Technically it looks like both the n3650 and n6600 could be expanded to support the platform, at least through a firmware upgrade. They sport a similar screen, mmc slot, operating system and wireless connectivity as the n-gage, and most likely, many future series60 devices will do the same. Extending the range of compatible devices could also spur the number of games sold and therefore help nokia to get more game developers to leap to their platform. Another advantage would be that they could continue to play the upgrade game more easily by stretching n-gage support over a whole line of models. Phones typically have a far shorter lifecycle than portable gaming devices.
The n-gage (as a device, not a platform) would still fit in the plan - perhaps even better than it does right now. Want a great, attractive phone with a wide array of high-quality games available? Get an n-gage-compatible phone. Want the ultimate gaming device which also features rich multimedia and phone capabilities? Get the n-gage portable gaming device. By focusing on making profit by means of licensing deals with both game developers and device manufacturers they could quite possibly create a successful platform which not even sony could render obsolete. With their current strategy, that won’t happen for sure.