Nokia N-Gage (Next Generation / 2.0) FAQ
Published by Tzer2 at 23:26 BST, August 27th 2007
The new generation N-Gage has arrived. But what exactly is it? These and more questions are answered in the AAN N-Gage FAQ.
Everything you ever wanted to know about the new N-Gage platform (but were afraid to ask)
The Official N-Gage Launch Trailer
- What IS the new N-Gage? Is it a new games console?
No, it's not a console, it's not even a single device. The next generation of N-Gage is a software platform which runs on a range of Nokia smartphones. Some of the smartphones are already on sale, most of them will be launched in the future.
As newer, better phones appear on the platform it will evolve gradually just like PCs do, with the latest games taking advantage of the latest technology.
- What is the Next Gen N-Gage? What is N-Gage 2.0?
They're the same thing as the new N-Gage platform.
- When is the new N-Gage platform launching?
It's already launched! The new N-Gage platform went live on Friday the 4th of April 2008, with an official announcement on Monday the 7th of April 2008.
- Which phones are compatible with the new N-Gage platform?
The official list currently includes the Nokia N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95 and N95 8GB.
The 5320 XpressMusic, N73, N78, N93, N93i and N96 are expected to be added to the list soon, and more models will be added as they are released.
As you can see from the list above, N-Gage is not restricted to Nseries models.
- N-Gage has already launched? How do I get it on my phone?
In the future compatible phones will all come with the N-Gage application built-in. There will be an N-Gage icon on their menu screen which you click to enter the service.
If you already have a compatible phone without the app built-in, then you'll have to install the N-Gage application manually. After it's been installed, you can use it to download N-Gage games straight onto your phone, keep track of your gaming collection, chat with other N-Gage users and play multiplayer games online.
You can click here to see the official N-Gage site's guide to installing N-Gage, but we think their PC-based method is a bit complicated. Instead, we recommend that you use the mobile method, which doesn't require a PC: simply open your phone's web browser, go to this address http://n-gage.mobi/d and follow the instructions.
- What about "Discover N-Gage" and "N-Gage First Access"? Are they the same things as the N-Gage application?
No.
Discover N-Gage was a collection of N-Gage demos released at the end of 2007, while First Access was a public beta version of the N-Gage application. The First Access beta test ended at the end of March 2008 (if you bought games on First Access, you can re-download them onto the release version of N-Gage for free, but you must install the release version first).
If you have either Discover N-Gage or First Access on your phone, you should install the new N-Gage app to take their place.
- Which games are available on the N-Gage platform?
See our games database for a complete list of all new N-Gage games announced or released so far.
- Where do I buy new N-Gage games?
New N-Gage games are sold entirely as downloads. People who own an N-Gage-compatible phone can buy and download games straight onto the phone through the phone network or wi-fi, which is useful if you're on the move. If you're at home, you can also download games onto a PC and transfer them to the phone via USB cable or Bluetooth.
Games can be stored on a PC or phone, or on a flash memory card. If you accidentally delete a game you've bought, you can download it again for free.
- How much do the games cost? How do I pay for them?
The games cost between 6 and 10 euros each (plus any local taxes) to buy, or you can rent them for a day or a week at a lower cost. You can also try the games for free by downloading a demo.
To find out what this is in your own currency, head on over to the Universal Currency Converter site.
You can pay for the games either by credit card or by charging it to your phone bill.
- What if I change phones? What if my phone is destroyed or lost? Can I still keep my next gen N-Gage games?
Yes, you can keep your games if you replace your phone for any reason. The method for keeping them will use the activation codes that are sent to your e-mail address when you buy N-Gage games. If you've bought N-Gage games, keep these codes safe because they allow you to reinstall games on your current phone, and they will also allow you to install your games on future phones too.
Nokia has stated they will allow people to transfer games from one phone to another at some point in the near future, at first by contacting customer service and later by using some kind of "long term solution" which we think may be a piece of software.
If you've been following the N-Gage news recently, you may have seen All About N-Gage making headlines round the world by saying that Nokia didn't allow transfers from phone to phone. That was Nokia's position until recently, but they've now changed their minds and say they WILL allow transfers once they've got the transfer system up and running. It's not started yet, but we'll let you know the minute it does.
- What is N-Gage Arena?
The Arena is N-Gage's online multiplayer gaming service and community. It's like the mobile phone equivalent of Xbox Live, and has been going since the launch of the original N-Gage in 2003.
The Arena uses a gaming network originally developed by Sega, which was bought by Nokia after Sega ceased to manufacture hardware. Many N-Gage Arena staff are former Sega employees, and you may see them on the Arena forums on the official N-Gage site.
The new N-Gage games use an upgraded form of Arena, with an interface that looks very different and contains far more features for interacting with other members through the phone itself. The new Arena should also theoretically let people play multiplayer games in real time, thanks to the latest N-Gage phones being compatible with 3G, 3.5G and Wi-Fi connections.
- How powerful is the new N-Gage hardware? Does it use 3D accelerator chips?
N-Gage compatible phones currently have central processors running at about 330 to 369 mhz, and some of them also include 3D graphics acceleration chips. Some versions of games will use 3D hardware, but there will be versions for phones without 3D hardware too.
It's worth emphasising that 3D games do not require 3D hardware, the processors in N-Gage-compatible phones are all fast enough to do 3D graphics entirely through software rendering. 3D hardware just makes 3D graphics look nicer.
As time goes by, even newer more powerful Nokia smartphones will be added to the platform, and the power of the average N-Gage-compatible device will go up. The new N-Gage platform will probably follow the PC gaming model rather than the console gaming model, with gradual and constant increases in hardware power rather than distinct generations.
- Which N-Gage-compatible phones have 3D graphics chips?
So far the Nokia N82, N93, N93i, N95 and N95 8GB. More 3D hardware phones should appear in the future, and one day it will probably be a standard feature of N-Gage phones.
The Nokia E90 also has a 3D graphics chip, but Nokia has not said it will be N-Gage compatible.
As stated above, 3D graphics chips are NOT required to create 3D graphics. The role of 3D graphics chips is to enhance 3D graphics, to allow them to be smoother and more detailed.
- What screen resolution is Next Gen N-Gage? Is it a vertical or horizontal screen?
At the moment the standard resolution on N-Gage-compatible phones is QVGA, which is 320x240 pixels in horizontal mode and 240x320 in vertical mode. That may increase in the future as newer higher-res models appear on the market.
Most new N-Gage games let you switch between horizontal and vertical modes, and also let you flip the picture if you prefer having the controls the other way round (which many left-handed people do, for example).
Here's the N81 8GB being used in both horizontal and vertical modes:
- Which companies are publishing games on the platform?
So far the following publishers have confirmed they'll release games for Next Gen N-Gage: Capcom, EA, Gameloft, Konami, Digital Chocolate, I-Play, Indiagames, THQ, Vivendi and of course Nokia themselves.
More publishers are strongly rumoured to be interested in the platform including Sony, Square Enix, Activision and Disney.
- We are a mobile games publisher/developer, how do we publish games on N-Gage?
You can apply to publish games on N-Gage by clicking on "Join" on the official N-Gage developer site.
- We're a small mobile development company, will Nokia take us seriously?
Maybe!
Nokia's currently holding a contest called the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge to encourage developers to come up with new ideas for mobile gaming, and the winning game will be published on whichever platform it's aimed at. The winner will get a game development budget of 40,000 euros, with a second prize of 20,000 euros and a third prize of 10,000 euros.
The competition is now open, and the closing date for entries is the 20th of August 2008.
The games can be written for either S60/N-Gage or for Java.
You have to be a professional development company to take part, individual amateurs can't enter.
- What happened to the original generation (classic) N-Gage?
The original generation of N-Gage (including the N-Gage and N-Gage QD) was discontinued in 2006, and the last game released for the original generation N-Gage was Payload. Nokia discontinued the original generation due to less-than-expected sales: they hoped to sell six million N-Gages in the first two years but only managed two million.
- Will my old N-Gage game cards work on the next gen N-Gage compatible phones?
No. The new phones use a different kind of memory card slot, and have an incompatible operating system.
- As well as the new N-Gage games, can I install other games and applications on an N-Gage-compatible phone?
Yes, lots.
All the new N-Gage-compatible phones can also run unofficial N-Gage games which are known as "Symbian S60 3rd Edition" or "S60v3" games.
Because N-Gage games are technically just Nokia-branded S60v3 games, other S60v3 games can be regarded as unofficial N-Gage games. S60v3 software can access the phone's hardware in exactly the same direct way as N-Gage games, so their graphics can be just as good. Click here to find out more about unofficial N-Gage games in our special feature.
As well as N-Gage and S60v3, the phones can also run J2ME Java games, Flash Lite games, and emulated games from classic consoles and computers (see the question below for more details on emulation).
- Are there any retro emulators available for Next Gen N-Gage phones?
Yes. You can use any emulator that runs on Symbian S60 3rd Edition devices. So far there are emulators for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MSX, NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Sega Master System, Game Gear, ColecoVision and MAME.
You can find out more about emulators for N-Gage-compatible phones in our S60v3 Emulation article.
- Can I play N-Gage games through my television?
Yes, if you have an N82, N93, N93i, N95, N95 8GB or N96. You can play N-Gage games on your TV through those phones as they have a TV Out feature. You can also connect a wireless Bluetooth keyboard (as seen in the picture below) which can be used to control the phone up to 10 metres away.
You can also use TV Out for other games too, including S60, Java and emulated titles, or for any other phone function.
- What is S60? What is Symbian?
S60 is a software platform based on the Symbian operating system. Symbian is the best-selling smartphone OS in the world, running on a majority of the world's smartphones. You probably don't know the Symbian name because it's not a consumer brand, but if you use a smartphone the odds are that it runs Symbian.
Symbian S60 is what all of Nokia's smartphones run on, including the original N-Gage and N-Gage QD, as well as the new next gen N-Gage compatible models.
However, the original N-Gage used S60 1st Edition, whereas the Next Gen N-Gage phones use the much newer S60 3rd Edition. 3rd Edition isn't backwards compatible with 1st Edition, so you cannot run original generation games on next generation phones.
Symbian S60 is also used on some non-Nokia smartphones, but Nokia has said the Next Gen N-Gage platform will only be available on Nokia S60 models for the moment.
There's another type of Symbian smartphone platform called Symbian UIQ. This is mainly used in Sony Ericsson and Motorola smartphones. It's completely incompatible with Symbian S60.
Symbian was founded and is jointly owned by most of the world's major phone and phone network manufacturers including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Siemens, Ericsson and Panasonic. Motorola was also one of the founders of Symbian, but later sold its shares. However, it still owns a licence to make Symbian UIQ phones and regularly releases new Symbian models.
Snakes running on an N95 connected to a TV set
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Categories: Software, Hardware
Platforms: N-Gage