Nokia resurrects N-Gage as software platform

Finnish vendor Nokia revealed more of its plans to reincarnate the N-Gage mobile gaming platform on Monday.

After doing away with the doomed hardware-based N-Gage handsets, the company has turned the gaming technology into a software platform for “tens of millions” of S60 devices.

On Monday, Nokia launched its next generation software development kit (SDK 1.0) for the new N-Gage platform and a new testing program from SNAP Mobile – Nokia’s Java-based gaming solution.

“We are reinforcing our commitment to this industry with two significant initiatives that will help the mobile games industry evolve. Our N-Gage platform will deliver a global games platform that leverages the performance of the tens of millions of S60 converged devices that we are shipping each year,” said Gregg Sauter, director of games publishing at Nokia. “Likewise, our support for Java development continues to evolve with more tools for developers supporting SNAP Mobile.”

Mobile games publishers Glu Mobile, Indiagames and THQ Wireless have signed up to deliver content for the initiative, with a raft of titles including World Series of Poker Texas Hold’em, Asphalt 3, Street Rules, Brothers In Arms, Hell’s Highway, Brain Challenge, Midnight Pool and EA Mobile’s FIFA 2008 scheduled for launch this year.

At the end of last month, Finnish mobileco Elisa said it will combine its existing mobile gaming platform with the N-Gage gaming platform and will carry out intensive testing and evaluation in a live network environment.