Finland-based Nokia is an international telecommunications company operating in over 40 countries, with production operations in at least 15. The company supplies telecommunications systems and equipment for fixed and cell phone networks and is one of the leading suppliers of GSM-based digital cell networks. The Nokia N-Gage which is featured in this review is first serious attempt by a mobile phone maker to create a decent gaming platform, competing for the same market as Nintendo GBA. The Symbian - OS (with J2ME support) based wireless gaming console combines all the functionality of a mobile phone with the entertainment features of an embedded MP3 player, an FM Radio, and a much evolved game console. At the same time, it uses the GPRS service to achieve large download speeds for its Internet connectivity. Nokia's first portable gaming system is slated for release on October 7 of this year and will retail for $299. Let's start by first taking a look at what the N-Gage console is actually supposed to be:

Features (short list):

Phone: The Symbian - OS (with J2ME support), 3.4 MB internal external memory cards (32, 64 and 128 MB available separately), Multimedia messaging, Full email support (IMAP4, POP3, SMTP, MIME2), Content with XHTML browser, Tri-band EGSM 900/GSM1800/GSM 1900 phone, support for High-Speed Data: HSCSD up to 43.2 kilobits and GPRS up to 40.2 kilobits (Class B, 3 1, 2 2), Series 60 UI enabling application multitasking, MP3, AAC, MIDI, and WAV ringing tones, WAP over GPRS, Voice dialing, Built-in vibra feature (not used in games), IHF speaker for game sounds, game controls designed for two-hand use (5-way directional controller)

Display: Illuminated high-contrast, full-graphics color display (size 176 x 208 pixels), 4096 Colors (12-bit)

Special: Bluetooth wireless technology, Digital music player(MP3/AAC) and recorder (AAC), Music file download from PC via USB, Stereo FM radio

Software: Personal Information Management: Calendar, To-Do list, Contacts/Address book, Pinboard, Polyphonic Ringing Tones, Mono ringing tone composer- MP3, AAC, MIDI, and WAV ringing tones

Games: AAA-quality games $30-35 available on game cards (MMC): Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer, MLB Slam!, MotoGP,  NCAA Football 2004*, Pandemonium, Pathway to Glory*, Puyo Pop, Puzzle Bobble VS, Rayman 3, Red Faction, Sega Rally*, Sonic N, Super Monkey Ball, Taito Memories, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon*, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Virtua Tennis  // *Titles available in 2004

Standard Sales Package: Transceiver, ACP-12 Charger, HDD-2 Stereo Headset, Short DKE-2 USB Cable, ADE-2 Recording Cable, ADA-2 Adapter Cable, BL-5C Li-Ion Battery, Booklet (including User's Guide and Warranty card), CD-ROM (with Nokia Audio Manager PC Software), Games brochure

Battery Life: Stand By Time ~150-200 hours,  Talk Time ~3-6 hours, Gaming Time ~3-6hours

Phone or gaming console?

The N-Gage is a compact device, noticeably smaller/lighter than the original GBA. N-Gage weighs 137 g / 4.83 ounces (with standard battery), with dimensions: 133,7 x 69.7 x 20,2 mm / 5.26 x 2.74 x .80 inches. Apart from its gaming features, the N-Gage is also a cell phone. It features a wide colour display (176x208 pixels) with the ability to display up to 4096 colors.  It supports all three current GSM networks (EGSM 900/GSM1800/GSM 1900), full SMS/MMS and email support, PIM applications and an integrated XHTML browser for wireless internet viewing as well as J2ME support. Unfortunately, N-Gage isn't much comfortable as cell-phone. To make phonecall, you must talk into the side of the phone that involves holding the top end of the device to your ear (the microphone and speaker are located where the "End the call button" is) so the flat side of the unit faces outward, which makes you look stupid, plus you won't feel much good, even comfortable. I think designers should more think next time. Well, Nokia is positioning the N-Gage as a gaming device, not like a cell phone capable of gaming. But maybe you should to know that the N-Gage won't work at all without a SIM card inserted, so you have to put some SIM card into the device.

Games and Gaming

N-Gage games come on interchangeable MMCs (tiny memory cards, around the size of a postage stamp), cost a hefty $30 to $40. There are currently available over 20 N-Gage games including MotoGP, Pandemonium, Rayman 3, Red Faction, Tomb Raider, THPS and Splinter Cell. To change games, you must power down the device, take the back cover off, remove the battery pack, slide out the existing game, put the new one in, put the battery back in, replace the back cover, and turn the system back on. This is an absolutely unforgivable design flaw. Can you imagine to swap cartridges in a bus or subway? Drop one on the floor, and you're probably going to spend your trip on your knees looking for it. The front of N-Gage is covered in all the navigation buttons a mobile phone needs. There's a navigation pad on the left (5-way directional controller) of the display and buttons on the right. Most of the buttons on the device can be configured to work in games as well. A lot of games do actually offer key configuration options, which is a nice touch on a system with this many buttons available to you. The extra buttons control the cellphone functions, Radio and the MP3 player. I must admit, that after playing with it for 30 minutes, I found the gaming buttons rather simple and intuitive. The action buttons (5 and 7 keys) on the number pad are colored red, and also pushed up more than others buttons so you can feel it with your fingers. I'd say that the controls are not problem, though if you press a wrong button while playing the game, you can simply jump out to the music player or FM radio with no quick way to get back to the game.

Tomb Raider	Splinter Cell	Red Faction	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

As I mentioned in N-Gage features, the device features Illuminated high-contrast, full-graphics color display with resolution 176 x 208 pixels and 4096 Colors. The display is clear, the backlighting is nice and bright, but the vertical screen is smaller than I would have liked. There seems to be a problem for most types of games. In addition, N-Gage does only 4,096 colors compared with many other phones which do 65,536 colors, even old good GBA supports 32768 colors. The display is a definite point where the N-Gage could loose out to competition.

The best feature of the N-Gage is probably the Bluetooth wireless mutiplayer gaming.Players must be less than 30 feet or so away from each other for the Bluetooth connection to work, but they can use this technology to experience lag-free multiplayer gaming without any wires attached. Imagine to play MotoGP multiplayer with your friends, yeah it's possible with N-Gage. Nokia also plans to launch a multiplayer gaming service called N-Gage Arena, which will allow users to access cheats and strategy guides for their games, compete for international high scores, and more.

MotoGP	Rayman 3	Super Monkey Ball	Virtua Tennis

The last my complaint about the N-Gage is its short battery life*. For gaming, the battery will last just three to six hours (rather only three) before it needs recharging. So, if you plan on doing a lot of traveling gaming, don't forget to buy another battery.For your information, for talking by phone, the battery will last four hours, for listening radio stations 20 hours, and for listening MP3s about 8 hours. Fortunately, a battery and A/C adapter come standard with the N-Gage.

*GBA = Battery Life 10 hours with backlight, 15-18 hours w/o backlight

MP3 player / FM Radio / PC Link

As I mentioned above, the N-Gage features shortcut buttons to the music player, FM Radio. I'd say that  both features worked fine. In order to use MP3 playback, you need a blank MMC card, in order to use FM Radio, you must plug-in supplied stereo headset into device. Of course, the MP3 player and FM radio sound much better through normal stereo headphones than with the supplied stereo headset. From the manual I've noticed that the most music management is meant to be done through Nokia's PC link software. Songs can be transferred from the PC to the N-Gage using a USB connection or the phone's integrated Bluetooth link. You can also share information between a compatible PC and the phone, install software on the phone, configure phone settings, make backups of phone files, synchronize calendar, contacts, and To-Do list. With Modem Setup installed on your compatible PC, you can use your Nokia N-Gage game deck as a modem for PC access to the Internet. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get that working due some USB problems, but Nokia's guy told me it's already fixed in the final version of the device.

Pros

• MP3 player/recorder, FM radio
• Built-in Bluetooth enables head-to-head lag-free multiplayer action
• Symbian 60 operating system -  runs J2ME and of course, native symbian games
• USB interface Nokia's PC Link Software
• some nice games (MotoGP, Pandemonium, Red Faction, Super Monkey Ball, Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider)

Cons

• Bad design
• Only 4096 colors (it can be problem in some games like Tetris)
• Battery Life - only 3-6 hours for gaming
• High price - $299.99
• Requires SIM card for running
• In order to use MP3 playback, you need a blank MMC card
• Expensive games on MMC ~ $30-$35
• Long loading times
• Too short USB cabel (0.75m)

Overall, there's one problem: price  - $299.99. If you want gaming console with more than 700 games available, you can buy a GBA SP for $100. Honestly, for me is N-Gage too expensive/useless toy. I already own some shitty cell phone and for games I'd rather buy GBA SP, Zodiac, or wait for Sony PSP. But if you look at it as a hybrid device with gaming console, cell phone and MP3 player then it looks very cool, especially for those who love gadgets. I bet many teenagers will buy it anyway, especially if it stops them from getting bored when sat in a packed bus on the way to school.

I'd like to thank Tiscali Games for the review sample.