Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5845 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nokia
• Model: N-GAGE
• Released on: 2003-10-07
• Platforms: N-Gage, Electronic Game

Manufacturer's Description
The Nokia N-Gage mobile game deck was made for gamers. This lightweight, handheld machine pumps out 3D graphics that do your favourite games the justice they deserve. Whether you prefer to play solo or engage in multiplayer action over Bluetooth wireless technology or GPRS, the Nokia N-Gage game deck is ready and waiting.

And yes, the game pauses automatically when the phone rings.

The Nokia N-Gage game deck's claim to fame is mobile multiplayer gaming with no cables or wires. Most of the games available for the game deck include multiplayer options for 2 and/or up to 4 players, either via Bluetooth wireless technology within distances of 10 meters or less or over GPRS, which offers the possibility for gaming over a wide-area network.

The high-resolution color screen boasts amazing 3D graphics that do your favorite games the justice they deserve. Watch Lara Croft and Tony Hawk fly off the screen in 4096 colors and - count them - 36608 pixels in the illuminated high-contrast, full-graphics color display. Playing during the night? Don't worry, there is a backlight.

Intense 3D games like Tomb Raider and Tony Hawk are too large to be downloaded Over-the-air directly to your game deck. Game cards allow for richer graphics and enhanced sounds, which means better gameplay. And the cards are so tiny, you can carry up to 20 with you at the same time.

The Nokia N-Gage game deck is good for more than just gaming; it's packed to the max with fancy features like an MP3 player and a mobile Web browser. What's more, it's also a tri-band phone with support for email and multimedia messaging - that's a text message with an image and sound. And there are more extras than you can count, including polyphonic ringing tones, handsfree functionality, RealOne Player, and more.

Surf the mobile Web with the XHTML browser built in to the game deck (XHTML over GSM data, HSCSD, and GPRS). Make N-Gage.com your first stop so you can get all the latest news on games, plus screenshots, tips, tricks, and more when you're on the move.

Forget payphones. The game deck is also a tri-band mobile phone, which means it's wired for EGSM 900/GSM 1800/1900 networks, so you can make calls and check email from five continents.

Finished all the games already? Download Java-based games and new game levels, as well as other applications like calendars, planners, travel guides, and more, straight to your game deck. It's all done Over-the-air, so you don't even have to get up.

The game deck has battery power to play MP3s for up to 8 hours, 20 hours of radio, and from 3 to 6 hours of games.

The game deck also has 3.4 MB of internal shared memory for images, contact data, calendar, messages, and add-on applications. For MP3 storage, 32, 64, and 128 MB external memory cards are available separately.

Box Contains

• Nokia N-GAGE
• ACP-12 charger
• HDD-2 stereo headset
• DKE-2 USB cable
• ADE-2 recording cable
• ADA-2 adapter cable
• BL-5C Li-Ion battery
• Booklet (including User's Guide and warranty card)
• CD-ROM
• Games brochure

Customer Reviews

GBA Watch Out
Ok, I admit it I fell for Nokias advertsing and bought this as the Ultimate Gamers phone (being an Ultimate Gamer and all). The phone basically has the same graphical capacity as the original PS or the Sega Saturn, something the Gameboy Advance promised but has yet to deliver (compare Tony Hawks on the N-Gage to the GBA version - Ngage wins hands down).

The phone also includes a built in FM radio, MP3 player (a seperate memory card is needed to hold the tunes, it slots inside the phone near the battery), built in bluetooth (to connect to some devices wirelessly), XHTML (for web surfing) compatability and all the other phone stuff you get with a fun.

The downsides, you look weird and can barley hear people when using it as a phone (although via the included hands free kit it works a dream).

Size wise its smaller than the original GBA but bigger than the GBA SP, IMO its lighter than both Gameboys. Although it has a couple of kinks in its launch line up games these will proberly be dealt with with the next wave of games.

The phone also doubles as an organiser. So if you're looking to pickup a phone, MP3 player, GBA SP and an electronic oraniser the N-gage makes a great all rounder.

Battery life is also pretty good. 150hrs on standby, 8hrs if the radio, MP3 player or games are player.

If you're looking just for a phone, dont buy. If you're looking for a new gaming platform, pick it up - you might just be surprised.

Best value phone on the market, good console/MP3 player too
This must be the best kept secret in the history of mobile phones, every time I use it I find more features I didn't know about! And it's ludicrously cheap too... quite apart from the games, try and find another phone that plays MP3 or has full email support for even near this price.

Well, the big selling points are the Games, the Stereo Radio, the Stereo MP3 player, the Web Browser, the Email, the Video Player (which can handle full length films, although watching Gladiator on a 2 inch screen isn't that impressive), Bluetooth, the Image Viewer, Digital Ringtones (you can use an MP3 file or even record your own), the audio recorder, and about a million other things like Speakerphone, lots and lots of Symbian programs (calendar, address book, to do list, etc and you can download your own like an Instant Messenger type thing which is way way cheaper than text messages). If you download an emulator you can even run games from old machines like the Sinclair Spectrum. I actually bought this for the MP3 alone (it was the cheapest MP3 phone in the shop), and was very very very pleased to find all this other stuff. The MP3 was pleasantly surprising too, as larger and larger MMC memory cards have started appearing including a 1 gigabyte card which can handle hundreds of tracks (although that's ridiculously expensive right now cos it's just been released). You can also use your own headphones, or use the ones included which have a microphone to let you talk handsfree.

I also use my ngage as a camera phone, sort of. I have a digital camera which uses MMC cards, so I can take the memory card out of my camera, put it straight into the ngage and send photos as MMS or attached to emails.

The games were a bit uninspired last year but Tomb Raider was lovely (and I hadn't played it first time round) and there's lots of good stuff just appearing in the shops like Ashen and Tiger Woods (which is the first game to feature proper real time online play against other Ngage owners). The best one by far though has just recently been released, and it's called The Sims: Bustin Out. I just can't put it down, and I know how over the top that sounds but it's true, it suits the portable format really well. The online stuff works quite well too, shadow racing sounds dull but it isn't once you try it, but there's more in now appearing like real time multiplayer. The screen was a bit of a weird shape at the start but once you start playing the games you don't notice it at all. (It also works surprisingly well when you're writing text messages, the text is easy to read and doesn't look crowded at all.) The next game I'm most looking forward to massively multiplayer fantasy rpg strategy thing from Sega called Pocket Kingdom.

A downside on the games is the way you change from one to another. You have to switch the ngage off, take the battery out, remove the card, put in the new card, put back the battery, replace the cover, switch on. The cover IS very very easy to take off and on and you become very quick changing games, but this was a ludicrous design to use. Still, if you're playing The Sims you won't want to change games very often ;-)

Probably the biggest downside is the way you talk into it though. Yes, it's true, you have to hold it up to your head sideways with the spine against your ear, and you do feel self-conscious about it at the start. BUT... like all the other stuff you do get used to it, honestly, and if you're at home you can just switch it to the excellent speakerphone mode where you can pop it on a desk and chat to it like the person was in the room with you. Plus if you DO have to use it sideways, the hundreds you save compared to other Symbian phones will buy you some nice clothes to compensate for any loss of dignity ;-)

So, if you can try this out somehow, do it, because you might well be amazed. The email for example saves you loads in text message costs, the mp3 means you've always got a walkman with you, the web browser lets you surf the internet (or at least the XHTML bits), and the Sims is scarily addictive. I have never had a boring train journey since I got my ngage, it fills up time wonderfully.

BRILLIANT! Best thing I've bought in years!
This phone has it all, built-in radio, mp3 player, e-mail, mobile phone, movie player and most of all games console.It's so easy to connect to your pc aswell, just connect your n-gage using the supplied USB cable and drag anything from pictures to mp3's and even full length movies into the n-gage drive, provided that you have an mmc card which is worth the extra cash. The games are great too,I got Tony Hawks pro skater with mine and was blown away with the playstation one style graphics, they beat any other hand held console by a long shot! I've read a few people complaining about how you have to take off the back cover and remove the battery in order to change a game. I personnaly didn't find this much of a problem as I don't need to keep switching games every 5 minutes! You can also play one of your mates across the room via bluetooth or even across the world via GPRS which is pretty impressive!The screen's big enough too, not too big and not too small and the keys are quite chunky for ease of use during gameplay. The only remotely negative thing I can say about the N-gage is the fairly short battery life and the way you have to speak into the phone as if you have a frisby sticking out of your head, but don't let that stop you from buying one of these babies because they come with a set of ear phones with a little mike that you can talk into which looks pretty cool. I would definately recommend getting an n-gage because they're well worth buying and are a great way to impress the mates!