Green Card
Member
How much do these go for now? I would love to get one.
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You bought an N-Gage, didn't you?
- Thread starter Krejlooc
- Start date
soxinthebox
Member
I can see some QD models for $55 AUD on eBay currently.
BodiesWithoutOrgans
Member
Sonic Advance was ported to it. I remember my cousin had it
Malitik Sabu
Banned
Did i really just see the words to young to remember for a system that came out in 2003?
Anyway the N-gage, was a pretty huge phone at the time spec wise. It had the power, the features, the web browsing, the emulation, the music (in proprietary format).
But of course, compared to the evolving phones coming out it's only real advantage was games, and it's design as a phone was flawed. Add in the fact that Nokia cut some stringe with carriers to get the N-gages out they basically weren't really making much money and the N-gage itself wasn't bringing it in. Add bad reception, there you go.
Add a vertical screen (why??) and that just messed things up more. Then the Windows phones and the newer Black berry's buried it along with Nokia re-pushing their other phone line-ups.
Anyway the N-gage, was a pretty huge phone at the time spec wise. It had the power, the features, the web browsing, the emulation, the music (in proprietary format).
But of course, compared to the evolving phones coming out it's only real advantage was games, and it's design as a phone was flawed. Add in the fact that Nokia cut some stringe with carriers to get the N-gages out they basically weren't really making much money and the N-gage itself wasn't bringing it in. Add bad reception, there you go.
Add a vertical screen (why??) and that just messed things up more. Then the Windows phones and the newer Black berry's buried it along with Nokia re-pushing their other phone line-ups.
You have to be 13 to register as a member on this site. Those people would have been 1 year old when the ngage launched.
Systemwarrior
Member
I used to download N-Nage games to my Nokia 6600.
MattyH
Member
I used to download N-Nage games to my Nokia 6600.
yeah i used my 6600 for ngage games
.
The QD
SirNinja
Member
I saw maybe one or two of the original N-Gages in stock at a local Gamestop. Never saw the QD anywhere.
Oh god, I actually remember that ad. That and the one advertising the N-Gage Tomb Raider port, saying "This is where I got further with Lara than anyone else" over a picture of an empty bus stop. Ugh.
After they abandoned that "you could be this cool" ad campaign, they went with this one which was ten times worse:
Absolutely embarassing.
Oh god, I actually remember that ad. That and the one advertising the N-Gage Tomb Raider port, saying "This is where I got further with Lara than anyone else" over a picture of an empty bus stop. Ugh.
Wasnt that uncomfortable?
Ally of Justice
Member
At the time, I really wanted one. I had always wanted a portable and a phone, so this was perfect. But it was really, really, REALLY expensive around here.
I could have bought a PS2 AND a XBOX for the price of it.
Of course I didn't have it. And I'm sure I would have regretted it.
I could have bought a PS2 AND a XBOX for the price of it.
Of course I didn't have it. And I'm sure I would have regretted it.
NoblesseOblige
Banned
I spent about two minutes with an N-gage at a Funcoland before deeming it a piece of garbage.
IceDoesntHelp
Banned
I almost did.
So funny thing about the N-Gage, it didn't have a development practice guide set by Nokia. Most probably don't realize this, but notice how most games have buttons that do very similar things? Like how, in the japan, X is usually cancel in games, and O is usually accept? This isn't by accident, this stuff is typically set by the platform holders:
Examples from the Sega Saturn practice guides manual. The N-Gage didn't have this, and as such, all buttons on the phone were fair game, save for those reserved for system functions. Some games would have radically different control schemes, but over time, a few practices emerged:
These two buttons tended to be the equivalent of start and select on a gameboy. They mapped to the function buttons on a symbian phone.
These are the primary two buttons on the gamepad. They are actually bubble shaped, where all the others are flat. They are colored differently, too. In the QD model, the numbers on all the other buttons glow, but these two buttons glow entirely - 5 being translucent white, and 7 being translucent orange. They typically mapped to A and B on a GBA.
similarly, the cardinal directions formed a cross on the n-gage pad that worked like a second stick on a modern game controller for FPS and TPS games. This made these types of games much easier to control.
These tended to be secondary action buttons, around the two main action buttons. Their closest analogs would be X and Y on the Gamecube controller.
These were jack-of-all-trade buttons. They'd do things from setting options, to some games using them as dedicated volume buttons, and anything in between. Usually mapped to system functions, like enabling subtitles in rifts.
This is the most special button on the system, it is the equivalent of the home button on a modern gamepad. pressing this paused your current game and dumped you to the operating system menu, or, if you were on the OS to begin with, took you back to the game. It was instant task switching, very handy.
Examples from the Sega Saturn practice guides manual. The N-Gage didn't have this, and as such, all buttons on the phone were fair game, save for those reserved for system functions. Some games would have radically different control schemes, but over time, a few practices emerged:
These two buttons tended to be the equivalent of start and select on a gameboy. They mapped to the function buttons on a symbian phone.
These are the primary two buttons on the gamepad. They are actually bubble shaped, where all the others are flat. They are colored differently, too. In the QD model, the numbers on all the other buttons glow, but these two buttons glow entirely - 5 being translucent white, and 7 being translucent orange. They typically mapped to A and B on a GBA.
similarly, the cardinal directions formed a cross on the n-gage pad that worked like a second stick on a modern game controller for FPS and TPS games. This made these types of games much easier to control.
These tended to be secondary action buttons, around the two main action buttons. Their closest analogs would be X and Y on the Gamecube controller.
These were jack-of-all-trade buttons. They'd do things from setting options, to some games using them as dedicated volume buttons, and anything in between. Usually mapped to system functions, like enabling subtitles in rifts.
This is the most special button on the system, it is the equivalent of the home button on a modern gamepad. pressing this paused your current game and dumped you to the operating system menu, or, if you were on the OS to begin with, took you back to the game. It was instant task switching, very handy.
Loved my N-Gage (still have it). Got unfairly hated on in my opinion. Long before smart phones it was a great gaming phone, you could watch movies on it (used to watch Three Amigos and South Park at work with mine). Stream internet radio!
And despite it being the main point of attack, you DID NOT have to hold it like a taco against your head to use it as a phone! No idea why people were so convinced of this! The speaker was on the side yes, but you held the phone flat to your head with the speaker pointing into your ear! Not like in the photo in the first post!
Some great games too -
Pocket Kingdom - Fantastic, I still cannot believe Sega have not ported it to current phones!
Ashen - Doom/Quake clone. Ton of fun in multiplayer too, got a lot of fun out of this at lunch time at work with a friend who also got a N-Gage.
Pathway to Glory - Rock solid game.
Worms - Best portable port by a long shot at the time.
Tony Hawks - Great version of the PSX game.
Tomb Raider - Another excellent PSX port.
And it was also great for emulators! SNES, Genesis and Gameboy!
Also got the QD, but I hated it. D-pad was horrible, buttons felt uncomfortable and the screen was inferior. Original was MUCH better!
And despite it being the main point of attack, you DID NOT have to hold it like a taco against your head to use it as a phone! No idea why people were so convinced of this! The speaker was on the side yes, but you held the phone flat to your head with the speaker pointing into your ear! Not like in the photo in the first post!
Some great games too -
Pocket Kingdom - Fantastic, I still cannot believe Sega have not ported it to current phones!
Ashen - Doom/Quake clone. Ton of fun in multiplayer too, got a lot of fun out of this at lunch time at work with a friend who also got a N-Gage.
Pathway to Glory - Rock solid game.
Worms - Best portable port by a long shot at the time.
Tony Hawks - Great version of the PSX game.
Tomb Raider - Another excellent PSX port.
And it was also great for emulators! SNES, Genesis and Gameboy!
Also got the QD, but I hated it. D-pad was horrible, buttons felt uncomfortable and the screen was inferior. Original was MUCH better!
pete_clarf
Member
I worked at Gamestop during the N-Gage's life. I got the display unit when they finally gave up on it. I think I might still have it around somewhere along with Bomberman and Pandemonium.
Man, totally forgot about this system... no interest in it whatsoever aside from seeing that a Xanadu game came to the platform. Wonder if that was any good? Even the die-hard Falcom fans I know never mention it whatsoever.
That whole post-GBA/pre-DS period in handheld gaming was pretty interesting - lots of stuff came out (Gizmondo, N-Gage, Tapwave Zodiac, GP32, Wonderswan Color), but none of it stuck nor does anyone really talk much about it. I'm wondering if there are some hidden classes strewn about. There was a period in time I was really itching to get a GP32 to play stuff like Astonisha Story R (which later came to PSP and was apparently garbage). And now I kinda want a Wonderswan.
For failed platforms I am quite fond of the Game Gear. Some decent games for that thing. I've been slowly amassing a cib collection for it.
That whole post-GBA/pre-DS period in handheld gaming was pretty interesting - lots of stuff came out (Gizmondo, N-Gage, Tapwave Zodiac, GP32, Wonderswan Color), but none of it stuck nor does anyone really talk much about it. I'm wondering if there are some hidden classes strewn about. There was a period in time I was really itching to get a GP32 to play stuff like Astonisha Story R (which later came to PSP and was apparently garbage). And now I kinda want a Wonderswan.
For failed platforms I am quite fond of the Game Gear. Some decent games for that thing. I've been slowly amassing a cib collection for it.
MattyH
Member
was playable but after a while it got painful it was more of a look what i could do thing when i was at college
Sectorseven
Member
Why does it have a vertically oriented display yet most of the games seem to scroll horizontally?
Nope
Because symbian requires a vertically oriented screen. It's not just a screen in vertical orientation, it is an actual vertical screen. It refreshes top to bottom in that orientation.
it feels weird to think of a time before mp3s were ubiquitous. I remember going through new portable CD players like every 6 months. My GP32 was actually my MP3 player in college.
goldenpp72
Member
Are there any good resources for the entire library of this system?
The N-Gage rocked, I loved mine. It was a hell of a lot better gaming device than my current phone (HTC One M8)-- the N-Gage had physical buttons (what a novel idea), and the games weren't shitty freemium garbage.
All the N-Gage was, was a Series 60 Symbian phone that supported the running of retail software off of SD cards. I don't get why it received the hate that it did-- it was and is a really cool idea.
Some of the games were really good too. Shadowkey was an amazing riff on Morrowind; Colin McRae Rally had an awesome engine and great graphics; Pathway to Glory is the best turn-based strategy game I've ever played on a mobile device; I must have played through the Ghost Recon title three dozen times; and so on.
All the N-Gage was, was a Series 60 Symbian phone that supported the running of retail software off of SD cards. I don't get why it received the hate that it did-- it was and is a really cool idea.
Some of the games were really good too. Shadowkey was an amazing riff on Morrowind; Colin McRae Rally had an awesome engine and great graphics; Pathway to Glory is the best turn-based strategy game I've ever played on a mobile device; I must have played through the Ghost Recon title three dozen times; and so on.
joeygreco1985
Member
The n-gage was the whipping boy of gamefaqs at the time, that's for sure. Never did see one in person, but I did see the games in a bargain bin at Eb Games for 99 cents each years back.
It's pretty amazing what the ngage could actually do.
I worked at EB Games when the N-Gage came out.
Leading up to its launch there was a HUGE push to get as many pre-orders as possible. They had all kinds of trade in deals. My store was a bit nefarious, they would just add pre-orders for people that didn't even want the thing, they just did it to get them the extra trade credit. My store ended up having one of the highest number of pre-orders in the country. My manager got kudos from corporate for it.
I absolutely HATED pushing these things on people. I knew they were going to be a pile of trash that nobody wants, but I had to be a good little retail puppet and tell everyone how amazing it was going to be, my manager kept touting it as "A NINTENDO 64 IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND!!!".
When the thing finally launched I think we sold units in the single digits. The rest sat there and were eventually redistributed. What a disaster that was.
Leading up to its launch there was a HUGE push to get as many pre-orders as possible. They had all kinds of trade in deals. My store was a bit nefarious, they would just add pre-orders for people that didn't even want the thing, they just did it to get them the extra trade credit. My store ended up having one of the highest number of pre-orders in the country. My manager got kudos from corporate for it.
I absolutely HATED pushing these things on people. I knew they were going to be a pile of trash that nobody wants, but I had to be a good little retail puppet and tell everyone how amazing it was going to be, my manager kept touting it as "A NINTENDO 64 IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND!!!".
When the thing finally launched I think we sold units in the single digits. The rest sat there and were eventually redistributed. What a disaster that was.
The thing about the ngage is is represented the early era of a very rapidly advancing sector of technology. Psc graphics in a cell phone was technically amazing, but not so much in practically. People had already become used to things like the n64, the dreamcast, the ps2, the xbox, the gamecube. It just didnt cut it, and people knew where graphics could go very shortly. And, case in point, the psp was shown off before the ngage even launched.
Too soon is how I would describe the ngage
ClutchAnderson
Member
I did....and I was the coolest kid in middle school because of it.
LOLJK
LOLJK
It really is. This was an age before metal gear on the psp. The game played so well on such a ting handheld.
Like I alluded in my post, the ngage version actually got me to buy the xbox version.
Haha I immediately thought of the ngage game.
I did actually just buy one, and I'm glad I found this relatively recent thread. There's a not-so-surprising lack of info on the internet about the N-Gage these days so having resources like this is great. A tip for anyone wanting to get one, Nokia apparently continued pushing these things in Chinese and SEA markets for years after they died off in western markets, so look towards Eastern online stores to get a cheaper one. My main question is, is Red Faction and Ashen worth buying? And is the N-Gage suited to run older Java phone games (like Doom RPG)?
soxinthebox
Member
Depends how cheap they are. Neither are anything special but it's not as if the library is massive. I'd probably get some of the other games before hunting those two down.
Simon Belmont
Banned
High Seize is exactly the sort of name I would give a game in Game Dev Tycoon