N-Gage News Bulletin

Thenotsowyzewun

I don't think I've ever seen anything mentioned on this forum about the N-Gage, probably because there hasn't been much to say for quite awhile! Anyway, as the proud owner of a N-Gage Original complete with piles of excellent games (Tomb Raider, Spiderman, PtG (Pathway to Glory for the uninitiated!), Asphalt, WWP (Worms World Party), the list goes on, I think I should tell everyone whats going on with N-Gage.

E3 was about a month ago now and Nokia made loads of cool announcements about N-Gage - alot of the smartphones from Nokia in 2006 will play Next-Gen N-Gage games (on par with PSP in terms of graphics, according to Nokia and this authentic demo video).
Whilst there's no news as to what the storage media will be (SecureDigital/MMC Flash memory I reckon), they have announced there'll be no more card swapping, as games will be distributed in the same way as Java games - via your phones network. You'll also be able to download games via the Internet. For a little more info see this video.
So thats about it for next-gen news (at the moment) and it doesn't seem there's a plan for a dedicated games phone like the N-Gage or N-Gage QD, but maybe they're just not saying much, after all the barebones phone in this video looks about the same size and shape as the PSP.

As for the current N-Gage's, if you like games, think the DS is too childish and/or don't want to carry around yet another device, I think the current N-Gage is brilliant too (not so keen on the QD though (due to its lack of mp3 decoder and stereo sound).
There's new accessories coming out for the QD though, including a dual-ear wireless headset and MMC expander (see link).

There's loads of new games coming out for the current console too, like (cut and paste from a shop... ):

* ONE, high-quality, 3-D fighting game set in real, underground urban environments.
* Civilization, Sid Meier's highly acclaimed strategy-simulation masterpiece.
* Pathway to Glory Ikusa Islands, follow-up to the critically acclaimed Pathway to Glory.
* Atari Masterpieces Volume 1, eight Atari arcade games to the N-Gage platform
* Rifts Promise of Power, The highly acclaimed RPG from Kevin Siembieda.
* Spirits, new collectible on-line MMOG, players hunting and collecting spirits.
* X-Men Legends 2: Dawn of Apocalypse , sequel to the applauded 3D action-RPG based on the popular Marvel characters.
* Mile High Pinball , classic pinball genre to new levels.
* High Seize, Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel 'Treasure Island.
* Catan, gamers occupy new lands and develop them into communities .
* System Rush, fast paced, futuristic, stunt racing game that takes gamers into the dangerous and hostile world of GlobeNet
* Payload , futuristic action game that blends white-knuckle racing with a heavy dose of hard-hitting destruction.
* Glimmerati, the ultimate glam driving experience from Nokia.

No links sorry, just google any of them and you'll find tons more info.

Lastly, its about time they dropped the prices of alot of the games and the best place to get them seems to be http://ngage.allack.co.uk, not that I've ever bought anything from them (so I won't endorse them).
eBay is extremely cheap for N-Gage games too (aswell as consoles!).

Well thats about it for now, btw any other N-Gage owners here want some hints n' tips about anything feel free to PM me, and anyone looking to buy an N-Gage I can tell you what to look out for and how to get one for much less than its worth on eBay (basic premise, buy a broken one and fix it, PM for details).