Nokia N-Gage
Manufacturer Nokia
Type Handheld game console (1st gen N-Gage), mobile gaming service (2nd gen N-Gage)
Generation sixth generation era (1st gen N-Gage),
seventh generation era (2nd gen N-Gage)
Retail availability October 7, 2003[2] (1st gen N-Gage),
February 4, 2008[3][4] (2nd gen N-Gage pre-release)
April 3, 2008[5] (2nd gen N-Gage full release)
Units sold 3 million (as of July 30, 2007; 1st gen N-Gage)
Media MMC (1st gen N-Gage),Download (2nd gen N-Gage)
CPU ARM9E
Storage capacity MMC, 3.4 MB internal memory (1st gen N-Gage)[7][8]
Connectivity HSCSD, GPRS, Bluetooth (1st gen N-Gage)[7][8]
Online services N-Gage Arena
The N-Gage is a mobile telephone and handheld game system based on the Nokia Series 60 platform. It started selling on October 7, 2003. It attempted to lure gamers away from the Game Boy Advance by including cellphone functionality. This was unsuccessful, partly because the buttons, designed for a phone, were not well-suited for gaming and when used as a phone the original N-Gage was described as resembling a "taco".
In 2005, Nokia announced that it would move its N-Gage games capabilities onto a series of smartphones. These devices have been available since early 2007, and a pre-release version of the N-Gage application allowing users to purchase and download games was made available for download from the official N-Gage website on February 4, 2008. The full version of the N-Gage service was released to the public on April 3, 2008.