What is "n-gage"

The N-Gage (a pun on engage) is a smartphone and handheld game system from Nokia, announced on 4 November 2002 and released on 7 October 2003. It runs the original Series 60 platform on Symbian OS v6.1. Its original development codename was Starship.

N-Gage attempted to lure gamers away from the Game Boy Advance by including mobile phone 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, which led to its mocking nickname "Taco phone".

Nokia introduced the N-Gage QD in 2004 as a redesign of the original "Classic" N-Gage, fixing widely criticized issues and design problems. However, the new model was unable to make an impact, and with only 2 million units sold in its two years, the N-Gage and its QD model were a commercial failure, unable to challenge their Nintendo rival. The N-Gage was discontinued in November 2005, with Nokia moving its gaming capabilities onto selected Series 60 smartphones. This was announced as the N-Gage platform or "N-Gage 2.0" in 2007, carrying on the N-Gage name.

The N-Gage service (also referred to as N-Gage 2.0) was Nokia's mobile gaming platform that is available for several Symbian S60 smartphones from Nokia. N-Gage provided numerous games with 3D graphics into an application featuring online (via N-Gage Arena) and social features, to deliver a mobile gaming experience. It ran on compatible S60 Nokia smartphones. It takes its name from the N-Gage gaming smartphone, which it succeeded.

On 30 October 2009, Nokia announced that no new N-Gage games would be produced, and the N-Gage service had ceased at the end of 2010. A total of 49 games were released for it.

The following phones are officially compatible with the N-Gage platform: Nokia N78, N79, N81, N81 8GB, N82, N85, N86, N86 8MP, N95, N95 8GB, N96, N97, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, 5630 XpressMusic, 5730 XpressMusic Nokia 6210 Navigator, 6710 Navigator, 6720 Classic, E52, E55 and E75. Due to memory issues, hinted in an interview in February 2008, support for the Nokia N73, N93 and N93i was cancelled.