Sidetalking with the N-Gage.

[Tupin]

Ah, the N-Gage. With Nokia's foray into the world of gaming ending this year, I figure it would be good to go over the handheld/phone that started it all, the N-Gage. Released in 2003 to mediocre reviews, it stumbled through three years of pretty decent games, with the last year having online-only releases. It did however, have a very vast online play option that was pretty unique for a handheld from 2003. However, what trumps all of this is the original N-Gage's crowning feature: sidetalking.



You had to hold the phone like that when making a phone call, a very odd design choice that made it very weird, but not impossible, to use. I've heard that you get used to it, but that didn't stop people from noticing that it looked like a taco glued to your head.

Several more design flaws existed on the N-Gage. One is that, of course, its odd shape, which I personally think looks cool, and isn't a bad design for a game system, but for a phone, it's just barely the right shape to work. Another is the fact that one must take out the battery to change games, a design flaw that I have no idea got out of the prototype stage. Lastly, you need a SIM card for the N-Gage to function. It will not boot up unless it has something in the SIM card slot. Luckily, you can put in a dummy SIM card without having to sign up for service, so it's not very bad, just inconvenient. Finally, the screen was mounted vertically, which required developers to think different when it came to games for the device.

All these caused Nokia to release the N-Gage QD later, which corrected most problems such as sidetalking, game card removal, and made it a better shape. Consumer confidence in the N-Gage, however, could not be fixed, and it became a victim of the DS and PSP arriving on the scene. N-Gage 2.0 launched on Nokia phones, providing much of the same games, but proved to be a victim of the N-Gage name, as it is ending this year.

As I'm sure you have assumed by now, I just won an original N-Gage off of eBay. It is a sidetalking model, and it comes with Sonic N, the N-Gage port of Sonic Advance. Most of the games have worked their way onto the Internet, but it uses the MMC format, not SD.

So weird, I'm finding all of these rare handhelds within weeks of each other. I must be lucky.  :)

[Tupin]

Thanks to the USPS, I got it today. Sadly, unlike the Zodiac, it does not use SD cards, rather the more uncommon MMC card. They are supposed to be compatible, but Nokia decided to be jerks about it. Once I get it, I will be able to enjoy games written for the Symbian OS.

I would use this as my main phone, as you do have to sidetalk, but I don't think Verizon's CDMA network is compatible with this phone, even if it can be unlocked.

[Tupin]

I'll upload some videos in a couple of days maybe one comparing Sonic Advance to Sonic N, and if I figure it out, other games.

[Tupin]

As promised, here is that video:

[Tupin]

Found this video on the disassembly procedure and decided to archive it.