Nokia prepares renewed gaming onslaught

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is taking on Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) in many of its key markets, and apparently is also adopting the Redmond beast’s mantra of “If at first your product doesn’t succeed, then try and try again: it will eventually”. Under the auspices of the Finnish giant’s increasingly successful multimedia devices unit (making ‘multimedia computers’, not ‘cellphones’) the unlamented N-Gage mobile gaming brand is set for another reincarnation. However, on this occasion it will be part of a broad strategy called ‘Next Generation Gaming’, a platform slotted for release early next year, which will run across various Nokia devices and could conceivably be licensed to third parties as part of the company’s increasing focus on influencing the handset industry through de facto software standards. Perhaps the main reason to take Next Gen seriously is that it seems that Sony will publish games on it, despite having competing portable gaming and entertainment devices.

Source: Arc Chart

I have zero confidence in this product. Nokia needs to stay out of the gaming arena. N-Gage was horrible, I hope the person who thought it out actually got fired. Did Nokia hand pick the testing group? N-Gage was laughed off as one of the biggest gaming mistakes … ever. I admire persistence, but if you fail again you just need to stop! Why don’t you call Nintendo or something and ask them to make a Nokia based DS? Same thing I said earlier about cameras, why don’t you guys call Canon? Why is there this huge ego within the company that everything should be reinvented? When instead you should be looking at partnerships.