N-gage online network.

[Romier S]

N-gage arena announced. Sounds interesting.

 

http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6073692.html

 

Nokia plans to launch the service as a home for N-Gage gamers around the world.

 

Nokia has announced that it will launch an online gaming service, N-Gage Arena, on October 7, when the N-Gage is scheduled to become available. In addition to the handheld's Bluetooth local wireless support, N-Gage Arena means players will be able to play, share, and compete with a global network of users. The services will include cheats, strategy guides, walk-throughs, and high-score rankings, plus two-player live gaming, the ability to record a game movie to share with other users, and a "shadow" feature that lets players post a character that other players can challenge.

 

"Mobile online elements form a key strategy in the Nokia N-Gage total games experience," said Ilkka Raiskinen, senior vice president and the chief N-Gager at Nokia Mobile Phones. "The N-Gage Arena will be the place where gamers meet and create virtual communities, share their experiences, find new challenges, and make friends with players all over the world. For the first time, a gamer sitting in a park in London can find another player and shadow race against a player in Los Angeles or even Singapore, who has posted a shadow image of his game character in the N-Gage Arena. The London gamer can in turn post a clip of the game on the site, showing his victory and simultaneously challenge the rest of the game community."

 

N-Gage Arena will be hosted by Nokia and made available through cellular providers. The content services will be offered free of charge during a trial period, but the service will still count toward users' data traffic, which can mean data fees depending on the cell provider.

 

On that note:

 

http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6073652.html

 

The mobile phone giant picks up Sega's SNAP middleware for online gaming and will use it in N-Gage games.

 

Nokia has announced a deal to acquire the Sega Network Application Package, or SNAP, to enhance online and multiplayer games for the N-Gage, which is scheduled to launch on October 7. Developed as an outgrowth of Sega's online efforts for the Dreamcast and games such as NFL 2K3 and Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, SNAP includes middleware to quickly develop online games as well as services such as server hosting and billing.

 

The acquisition is a key part of Nokia's strategy for delivering online games on the N-Gage, which has wireless support for local multiplayer games via Bluetooth plus the ability to connect to the Web by cellular service. According to Reuters, Nokia will use SNAP in its first multiplayer N-Gage game Pathway to Glory, which has previously been described as a WWII-themed game with support for more than 50 players in a single game area.

 

"After this agreement closes, Nokia will leverage the SNAP technology to strengthen online gaming titles for Nokia N-Gage," said Hisao Oguchi, representative director and president of Sega Corporation. "Sega will continue to enhance its gaming software business as a content publisher and pursue various avenues in the online entertainment industry including providing content for Nokia N-Gage."

 

Sega.com announced last year that it was licensing SNAP to other companies for use in PlayStation 2 and GameCube games, and Nokia plans to continue licensing SNAP.

 

Its seemingly destined to fail but Nokia is giving it a good go at least .

[iainl]

Only a cruel person point out anything ominous in them buying the infrastructure that took the Dreamcast online...