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It’s time to N-Gage. Gaming on mobile phones has moved way beyond Snake. Even though fairly sophisticated games are commonplace on many phones, Nokia’s N-Gage retains a unique position in that it's the only gadget specifically designed as both a phone and game console. After the mixed reception of the original N-Gage – where you had to remove the battery to change the game, something of a benchmark in design folly – the machine was revamped earlier this year and released as the N-Gage QD. It was an improvement and consolidated the N-Gage's position, with Nokia passing the million units sales point earlier this year. The main drawback of the machine is the configuration and size of some of the buttons, which might be mildly problematic for anyone who doesn’t have fingertips that taper to a point. Of the new generation of handheld consoles, some do have Bluetooth, SMS and GPRS functionality, but the N-Gage is ahead of the game in terms of networked handheld gaming. Its Bluetooth and web-based N-Gage Arena has a network approximately comparable to Xbox Live. It's the area which is resulting in an innovative area of gaming – massively multiplayer online mobile gaming. Yes folks, a culture already crammed with acronyms is acquiring even more.  Pocket Kingdom Own The World, Spider-Man 2 and Elders' Scrolls In terms of sheer diversity the N-Gage hosts, among others, a decent version of Spider-Man 2, as well as first-person shooters like the atmospheric Ashen (hobbled slightly by the poor control schemes, which make strafing awkward) and the excellent Ghost Recon Jungle Storm. Along with a Sims title, a miniature Colin McRae Rally 2005 and a playable wee hack-and-slash RPG called Requiem Of Hell. This last can be played two-player with Bluetooth while Ghost Recon can be played with up to eight. But titles like WWII strategy game Pathway To Glory, and the RPG Pocket Kingdom Own The World, offer even more than this. Both these titles take advantage of the N-Gage Arena for massive multiplayer action: Pocket Kingdom seems to have the potential to be a miniature equivalent of something like EverQuest, with a strategy twist (you develop armies). It involves a persistent fantasy world, upgrades, item trading and a community of thousands across the globe - if all goes according to plan. It's a pretty dynamic new area of mobile play. Now, if only some of those QD buttons weren't such a squash…
Daniel Etherington
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