N-Gage vs GBA: Some Thoughts

7 replies · 4,526 views · Started 12 June 2003

Ewan 12 Jun 2003, 11:54

The Register points to comments made by lkka Raiskinen (of Nokia) regarding the N-Gage. Now Nokia are acknowledging that the N-Gage is a rival to the Nintendo Gameboy Advance, and they're confident they can take the Japanese console elite on at their own game. So what do I think of this? Read on...

The N-Gage tends to polarise opinion. I've yet to meet someone who thinks it's an average machine. It's either the best thing since sliced bread, or a complete disaster and not the market to aim for.

Well the first thing is the N-Gage is aiming for a new market, the odler gamer, which the GBA has by default (as it's the only thing out there, GP32 not-withstanding). So no-one knows who's gonna buy this. Well, apart from me. I'm waiting like crazy.

The article carried something else that caught my eye. Development Costs for an N-Gage game are running at $100,000 to $500,000 per game!!!

Now I know time and effort is needed but this seems silly. So silly that I want to know where my half a million dollars went that I used to develop Vexed?

That's right game fans. Vexed runs on the N-Gage. I've held it in my head and stomped over Level 30. I've watched Directors and Managers of Symbian and Nokia unable to put the device down while they try to get past just one more level. But will Vexed ever become mainstream? Not if Nokia don;t realise what they are missing.

Nokia are leaving the "Junior Developers" behind. With the C++ peeps eager to build a broader audience, the recent updates to the Java MIDP profile, and the ever prescent OPL hovering on the edges of it's beta release, the N-Gage is going to be one of the few consoles programmable by any end user - no just hard core developers.

Ask yourself this. Someone gives you an N-Gage. What would you go for first? Yet another port of Tomb Raider? Or SFCave and Vexed?

Nokia may have 10 launch titles in October, but they aren't counting any of mine. Or anyone else's. Why not stand out from the GBA and support the Open Platform the N-Gage could be?

Come on guys, you can storm the market here. Let's use EVERY resource you can, not just Lara Croft and Rayman.

wahchild 12 Jun 2003, 13:51

Does anyone know what you get 'extra' by joining the Nokia dev program and writing specifically for the N-Gage?

As I understand it, it will run your standard Series 60 based apps and games, but there is a specific developer program for the N-Gage that Nokia are rather precious about - Is this just the standard SDK, with publishing support etc. or are Nokia providing some meaty games specific libraries?

I think the N-Gage is going to provide a fantastic platform for the smaller developer, where there will be the 'official' games selling for �40 (ish) and the smaller developer providing a budget alternative (think �2.99 - you could build your own 'Codemasters' doing that!)

Ewan 12 Jun 2003, 14:53

[quote="wahchild"]Does anyone know what you get 'extra' by joining the Nokia dev program and writing specifically for the N-Gage?
[/quote]

Being accepted for the Dev Program is the only way to get access to the "Based on MMC Card" N-Game carts, and the Nokia branding on the cards.

As I understand it, it will run your standard Series 60 based apps and games, but there is a specific developer program for the N-Gage that Nokia are rather precious about - Is this just the standard SDK, with publishing support etc. or are Nokia providing some meaty games specific libraries?

The n-Gage (I believe) will contain extra C++ API's in the ROM for activites such as background music, sound effects, accessing te 8 way pointer in software and drawing triangles (I mean a 3D Engine, sorry).

So while all standard S60 games will run on n-Gage, the n-Gage sepcific games may not run on a 3650.

Note all the above ONLY applies to C++ applications.

I think the N-Gage is going to provide a fantastic platform for the smaller developer, where there will be the 'official' games selling for �40 (ish) and the smaller developer providing a budget alternative (think �2.99 - you could build your own 'Codemasters' doing that!)

I think it's more the �10 market that'll thrive, but yes, with a stupid number of Series 60 devices, it may not take much to earn a decent living from registrations. Assuming an annual wage of �18,000 is something UK people would want to aim for: that's a monthly gross income of �1500. Add 20% for the likes of Handango, and you need to have registrations of �1800 a month. That's 75 small apps at �10 and 70 medium apps at �15.Sounds do-able to me. Get two or three friends together, and you can go for the more complex apps, or greater volume and get the company into a prominent position.

Now how many of those little Developer Houses are going to leave Nokia and Symbian OS in the next 2-3 years? Series 60 isn;t going away, so surely it makes sense to get the junior people involved and making a living from the system?

As to being the new Codemasters... How many twins do we have on the board? 😊

theloniusflash 12 Jun 2003, 15:03

I couldn't agree with Ewan more. I think Nokia are totally missing a trick with N-Gage or at least not being as bold as they should be. Its shouldn't be about yet more Tomb Raider or Sonic conversions which frankly will be no better than the GBA versions.

They should be working on developing new exciting games which make us of the N-gage's one key differentiator - its a phone! The best and biggest game will be something which uses bluetooth or GPRS to allow multiplayer interaction not another rehash of big selling Megadrive or SNES games...

IMHO 😉

Ewan 12 Jun 2003, 15:34

Rehashes of SNES and Megadrive games. Indeed Tomb Raider N-Gage is (from what I hear) just a port of the Pocket PC version, which is a port of the PC version, which is a port of the original Play Station.

Talk about death by a thousand cuts. Original, innovative gameplay is what's needed - not an identical pair of bouncing anime breasts to every other console on the planet.

Someone call Julian Gollop and get them to port multiplayer LQX (Laserquest). THAT would be worth an MMC.

Orophin Anwarunya 12 Jun 2003, 19:54

[quote="Ewan-FreEPOC"]
- not an identical pair of bouncing anime breasts to every other console on the planet.

[/quote]

huh!! where did that come from?!?! 😃 got summat against breasts!?!? 😃 😉

anyways....I blive this is a good testing groung for Nokia's phone gaming future. if it works, they will have the impotice to incorporate such technology nto future handsets. if it doesnt work out, they will improve and modify to fix.
just like the 5510 to the comming 3300 and 6800, Nokia can play around until it works

people will buy the phone, maybe not as many as Nokia would like, but it will sell to a market and they will provide Nokia with neccesary stats.

SwitchBlade 14 Jun 2003, 13:48

I think Nokia are missing the boat here, they are releasing clones of games where the redeeming features of them were not the gameplay. They should look at getting some real games for the platforms, things like people remember for their lives, Llamatron, Lemmings, Monkey Island, Magic Pockets, RAINBOW F*CKING ISLANDS/Parasol Stars, Elite/Frontier Elite 2, Arkanoid, oh the list goes on.....

Ewan 16 Jun 2003, 09:56

[quote="Orophin Anwarunya"]
huh!! where did that come from?!?! 😃 got summat against breasts!?!? 😃 😉
[/quote]

I do when they are a substitue for solid addictive gameplay. 😊