by João Diniz Sanches

Got an Nseries Nokia? Then you've probably got N-Gage. What is it? Well, a little history first. Nokia's original N-Gage was a unique piece of pocket gaming kit, combining the features of a handheld games console with the connectivity and obvious usefulness of a phone.

As you'd hope, given its phone functionality, just about all of the N-Gage's games included multiplayer options, handled by Nokia's innovative N-Gage Arena, which enabled you to take on other players around the world, as well as download extra levels and features and post high-scores (or even videos in some cases). Most N-Gage titles also enabled you to challenge friends who were closer to hand using the console's built-in Bluetooth connection.

The first N-Gage was reasonably well-supported, with over 70 dedicated N-Gage games available on special MMC cartridges. But you could also play the majority of Java and Symbian games made for mobile phones via a straightfoward download.

Nevertheless, and for reasons we won't bore you with here, it's a format that never got anywhere and Nokia was forced to re-think its approach.

So N-Gage lives on, but since 2008 it now takes the form of a gaming platform within Nokia's Ovi initiative, and comes either pre-installed or is downloaded to a selection of Nokia smartphones. By mobile standards the games are technically impressive, and the player-focused gaming community strategy (similar to, say, Microsoft's Xbox Live) could prove the right one, but the service needs Nokia's true backing in order to become as widespread as it deserves. After a slow start, things appear to be picking up.

The 'old' N-Gage is dead, then, but make sure you get the best from your new generation N-Gage – our dedicated coverage includes news, previews and reviews of the latest titles (for those that are interested, first generation N-Gage reviews can be found here). And for the truly N-Gaged, Pocket Gamer also hosts an N-Gage discussion forum.

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