Nokia officially launched its “N-Gage” game deck + mobile phone combo device, which features online 3D multiplayer games over Bluetooth and GPRS, a digital music player (MP3/AAC), stereo FM radio, as well as a tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 mobile phone. The Nokia N-Gage platform will provide online games of its own as well as a growing list of games from major game publishers, such as Electronic Arts. Sales of the Nokia N-Gage game deck will start across several continents in over 60 countries. In the U.S. market, the device has a retail price of $299, including a charger, rechargeable battery, stereo headset, USB cable and a SIM card with a pre-selected telephone number and $50 worth of T-Mobile service.
http://www.nokia.com
http://www.n-gage.com
- In August, Nokia announced an agreement with Electronic Arts (EA), the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company, to deliver select EA titles for the Nokia N-Gage platform.
In August 2003, Nokia agreed to acquire assets of Sega.com Inc., a subsidiary of SEGA, to enhance the online games and service offerings for the Nokia N-Gage game deck. The SEGA Network Application Package (SNAP), which enables high-performance networked multi-player games, will form the core part of Nokia Mobile Phones’ Entertainment and Media Business Unit’s online games activity.
