N-Gage's Own Point Pickups
As most of our readers will know, the new generation of N-Gage games have an Xbox-style achievements system called N-Gage Points, with particular in-game tasks known as Point Pickups. There's a maximum of 1000 points per game.
What if we applied this system to N-Gage itself? What if the achievements of the platform received points up to a maximum of 1000? Well, here's what it might look like...
A still from the official N-Gage launch video
Pickups For Launching the N-Gage platform
By far the most important thing Nokia can do for the N-Gage platform is put it on as many handsets as possible. It doesn't matter how good the games are if people can't play them on their phone.
50 - N-Gage As A Downloadable File: Make the N-Gage platform available as a downloadable application that users can install themselves. (DONE: File made available on in April 2008.)
100 - N-Gage Embedded In Firmware: Include the N-Gage application in a phone's standard firmware. (DONE: N-Gage embedded in N95 and N95 8GB firmware in September 2008.)
150 - N-Gage Embedded In Firmware From Day One: Include the N-Gage application in a phone's firmware at its launch. (DONE: N-Gage embedded in N96 at launch in September 2008.)
300 - N-Gage On All Current S60 Phones: Include the N-Gage app in all S60 phones that are currently on sale.
Pickups For Multiplayer Features
Multiplayer games are popular because they can give a game a much longer shelf life, though most people still don't play online on any gaming platform.
20 - Arena Online Rankings: Let people compare their high scores online through the N-Gage Arena. (DONE: All next gen N-Gage games since launch in April 2008 include online rankings.)
20 - Bluetooth Multiplayer: Let people play multiplayer with nearby N-Gage phones through Bluetooth.
20 - Arena Shadow Racing: Let people race against online recordings of each other through the N-Gage Arena.
20 - Arena Online Multiplayer (Turn-Based): Let people play online in turn-based games. (DONE: Pro Series Golf released in July 2008 featured online multiplayer turn-based gameplay.)
20 - Arena Online Multiplayer (Real Time): Let people play online in real time games.
20 - Arena Online Multiplayer (Massive): Let thousands of people play online simultaneously in the same game world.
Pickups For Platform Growth
It's the size of the userbase which determines the success of a gaming platform: the more people use a platform, the more games get released for it, which in turn attracts even more people to use the platform.
25 - Release More Than 56 Games: The original gen N-Gage had 56 titles, it would be nice to see the next gen exceed that.
30 - Release A Showcase Free Game: The original gen N-Gage had Snakes, the next gen platform ought to also have a free game that shows off what the platform can do. By letting new users see the platform at its best, it would make them want to buy more N-Gage games.
50 - Userbase Exceeds 2 Million: The original gen N-Gage had a userbase of 2 million, the next gen platform ought to exceed this.
100 - Userbase Exceeds 6 million: Nokia said they thought a userbase of 6 million would have been enough to allow the original gen N-Gage to have a healthy game development ecosystem. The next gen platform ought to exceed this number.
Pickups For Hardware Use
N-Gage-compatible phones aren't consoles, but many have hardware features which could be used to enhance games.
25 - Release A Game Which Uses The Camera: All next gen N-Gage phones have a built-in camera, the games ought to use it. (DONE: Dirk Dagger released in August 2008 lets the player scroll the screen using the camera.)
25 - Release A Game Which Uses The Accelerometer: Many next gen N-Gage phones have a built-in accelerometer (motion and tilt sensor), the games ought to use it.
25 - Release A Game Which Uses The Graphics Hardware: Many next gen N-Gage phones have dedicated graphics hardware, the games ought to use it.
Points Earned So Far: 365/1000
The release of the first phone with N-Gage on board from day one (the N96) has boosted Nokia's points considerably, but there's a very long way to go yet.
The N-Gage application installed on a compatible phone