In 2005, Nokia announced that it would move its N-Gage games capabilities onto a series of smartphones. These devices have been available since early 2007, and a pre-release version of the N-Gage application allowing users to purchase and download games was made available for download from the official N-Gage website on February 4, 2008.[3][4] The full version of the N-Gage service was released to the public on April 3, 2008.[5] On October 30, 2009, Nokia pronounced the end of the N-Gage service at the end of 2010.[10]
With a launch price of US $299,[6] the N-Gage was not as commercially popular as Nokia estimated. In its first weeks of availability in the United States, it was outsold by the Game Boy Advance 100 to 1.[11][12] Within 17 days of the deck's release, popular retailers GameStop and Electronics Boutique began offering $100 rebates on the deck's price.[13]
As of August 2007, it was estimated that Nokia had shipped more than two million N-Gage game decks.[14] The N-Gage brand name still had a poor reputation within the gaming media and the few consumers who recognized the N-Gage brand, due to the weakness of the system's first games and the original model's limitations[citation needed]. Many gamers were unaware of the later QD redesign. The situation had not improved either with the arrival of the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS handhelds. As of September 2005, Nokia had more than 50 games available for the system.
While the N-Gage didn't have any significant financial successes, it did have a handful of critical successes. Pocket Kingdom: Own the World received a handful of glowing reviews when it was released, and Pathway to Glory was Nokia's first self-published success. These games came perhaps too late to have much effect in improving the perception of the N-Gage hardware itself in the eyes of consumers or press.
