18th May 2005 - Nokia today unveiled its plans for
its evolution of connected mobile gaming, which will make
it easy to search for, purchase and play high-quality
mobile games using a range of Nokia smartphones. The aim
of this next generation of mobile gaming is to expand
the N-Gage platform's rich connected multiplayer experience
across a wide range of Nokia's multimedia devices.
Based on the impressive processing power available in
today's smartphones, Nokia's next generation mobile gaming
solution includes enhanced 3D game graphics capability
and offers user-friendly search, purchase and installation
of high-quality rich games as well as connected gaming
with instant access to a global mobile gaming community.
Best of all, the solution works with a number of different
Nokia smartphones, thus giving consumers the freedom to
choose a multimedia device that best suits their individual
needs.
"Over the past two years, we've seen the mobile gaming
market grow by leaps and bounds both in terms of market
interest and customer expectations," said Gerard
Wiener, Director and General Manager, Games, Nokia. "With
the N-Gage platform, we've been able to deliver a superior
gaming experience to mobile gamers, but only on a small
range of devices. Now we want to expand rich, connected
mobile gaming across the Nokia smartphone range. In 2005,
we expect to sell 25 million smartphones and we see the
global smartphone market exceeding 250 million devices
in 2008. We can continue with our N-Gage offering while
helping to drive the adoption of mobile connected gaming
at a broader level."
The first Nokia smartphones to support the new Nokia mobile
gaming solution are expected to be in the market during
the first half of 2006. Additional information on the
title launch portfolio is expected to be available in
September 2005. The goal is to have a broad spectrum of
games to suit all tastes - from casual 'quick fix' gaming
to more in-depth multi-user games.
Currently, consumers are often faced with a less than
optimal mobile gaming experience, due in part to a lack
of consistency. It can be hard to find and install games,
game play is frequently disappointing and, therefore,
consumer expectations are often not met. Through the expansion
of its mobile gaming program, Nokia is providing a complete
end-to-end solution, making it easy to find and purchase
fully certified games that are built for a broad portfolio
of smartphones and deliver on the promise of next generation,
3D connected mobile games.
"Due in part to the advent of the smartphone and
the rapid development of other enabling technologies,
the industry is now at a turning point where mobile game
quality will increase exponentially, providing incredible
experiences for consumers and tremendous opportunities
for operators, publishers and developers," continues
Wiener. "The N-Gage has led this movement to rich
mobile games and the next logical step is for us to provide
a simple solution based on the N-Gage experience that
will deliver a rich, consistent, mobile games offering
to millions of smartphones."
"The mobile gaming experience is becoming deeper,
more immersive and more exciting. For us, this means that
gamers can enjoy their favorite franchise and engage in
its community at any time," said John Batter, VP
and General Manager of EA Mobile. "Nokia can help
us by making great devices that can unlock the potential
of a great game."
When consumers buy a Nokia smartphone that supports the
new Nokia mobile gaming solution, they gain access to
their favorite games through their smartphone or their
personal computer. Games have been certified to provide
a consistent experience, ensuring a quality rich entertainment
experience that consumers can count upon. Consumers can
manage their mobile game collection via their PC, with
an individual locker of purchased games to make it easy
and reliable to track purchases or reinstall deleted games.
For developers, this means less effort spent creating
dozens of versions of the same game. We will provide a
robust development environment with the first set of tools
expected to be available in Q4 2005 and a range of APIs
native to the smartphone.
In addition, all mobile games available through this next
generation Nokia solution will have advanced connectivity
features, making connected mobile gaming easy over mobile
networks via the N-Gage Arena, Nokia's global mobile gaming
community.
For operators, this solution provides the opportunity
to expand their current mobile gaming offering. Nokia
is able to offer operators with a modular turnkey solution,
including scalable investment options and community management
that will assist in driving subscriber revenues.
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