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In saddening news today, Nokia has officially announced over on the N-Gage Blog, that they plan to shut down the N-Gage gaming service.
Nokia says that they will ‘no longer publish new games for the N-Gage platform‘ but instead games will be provided through the Ovi Store.
“N-Gage games can be purchased until the end of September 2010. While the N-Gage.com site together with the N-Gage Arena and other community features will remain in operation throughout 2010, the Ovi Store will be the new central place for all the mobile games that Nokia and other publishers offer from this point forward.”
They also go on to say :
“Your games are safe – all your purchased N-Gage games will continue to work on your N-Gage compatible mobile device and they’re yours to keep. However, community features of the games will not be functional after 2010….We will no longer publish new games for the N-Gage platform.”
You can still purchase the current lot of N-Gage games until September 2010. After that it’s pretty much Dunzo. The N-Gage website and the N-Gage Arena service though, will be available throughout 2010.
I’ve been a huge supporter of N-Gage since its launch with the Original N-Gage back in 2003. I still maintain that the Original (aka ‘Classic’) N-Gage was a device ahead of its time, as silly as “Sidetalking” might have been. I even sprung for one on launch day. Stereo sound, a mini-usb port, FM Radio, MMC support upto 1gig, games, mp3 player and a color screen. All that in one device in 2003, was too tempting for me to resist.
Its deeply saddening to me to see N-Gage Shut down but its something that we all, on the N-Gage Arena, knew was coming. Especially after seeing Nokia run N-Gage into the ground, twice. Making the same mistakes with the new Generation, as they did with the Original Generation N-Gage. The gaming device and service, both had great potential but were badly managed.
It was good while it lasted though. The N-Gage Arena was a great source of fun for me, at a time when online multiplayer on Gaming devices were only a dream. I’ve made some great friends there (Heck I even met Darla thanks to the N-Gage Arena), and I’ll no doubt be sad to see it go.
Goodbye N-Gage ! You will be missed.
Clinton is currently based in New Delhi, India and is executive editor for UnleashThePhones. He is responsible for all editorial decisions, and covers all forms of Mobile things.
Cj is addicted to caffeine, social media, and technology. Always up for a good conversation, you can reach him through the contact form, his website, on Google Plus 
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