Nokia envisions another handheld gaming device / handset hybrid

Apparently, Nokia just hasn't swallowed the fact that the world doesn't seem ready (or interested, whatever the case may be) in a handheld gaming system / cellphone hybrid. 'Course, with all that PSP phone chatter going on, we guess the times could be a-changin', and Nokia definitely doesn't want to miss its shot at redemption. A fresh patent application from the outfit details a handheld device that acts as a phone, multimedia player and gaming machine, but rather than forcing users to feel as if they're handling an NES controller, this concoction provides two wings that slip down for added comfort. Whether or not this thing would double as an acceptable boomerang remains to be seen.

[Via UnwiredView]

[Technex @ Dec 20th 2007 1:36PM]

Would it return back?

[coolant8 @ Dec 20th 2007 1:42PM]

...wait until Crysis comes to that

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 1:42PM]

it's not just a maxi-pad. it's a maxi-pad with wings.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 1:45PM]

how it's not another n-gage.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 1:45PM]

hope it's not another n-gage.

[Technex @ Dec 20th 2007 1:46PM]

Yeah, like fail... :P

[Daren @ Dec 20th 2007 1:51PM]

The N-Gage rocked. As a game machine, and as a phone. If nokia had just tried to stick it out, they could be controlling a nitch market right now... Because of their lack of support, im (and im sure previous owners of n-gage's) will not even consider another nokia gaming system or even a phone.

They have lost a customer for life.

[Safety Dancer @ Dec 20th 2007 2:07PM]

The n-gage blew nutz. It sucked as a phone and a gaming system. It would not have beat the PSP. And the new blueprint looks like its gonna suck even more. They should have just stopped at the n-gage cut their losses and moved on. You would have to be a retard to have liked the n-gage. "YaY! Lets play shitty games over the mobile phone network and pay out our asses for it!"

Long story short...N-Gage sucked, this new thing will suck..end of story.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 2:25PM]

i'm sure it would have to be on par with the ds or even the psp to actually survive mainstream...

but i agree with the support part. and the n-gage did have cool games like tony hawk's prok skater.

[Pdexter @ Dec 20th 2007 3:00PM]

There's is a future for these hybrids and it's the only right choise that Nokia is on it as it cant really get better than 40% market share with phones. And it's right choise that they have maid Ngage platform not device...thought they should have dumbed that Ngage name.

[Daren @ Dec 20th 2007 3:41PM]

To those saying that the ngage was not good- you have obviously never played with it. The online setup beats anything the DS or PSP could (or does) do. Its on par with Xbox Live.

[Jonathan Bergeron @ Dec 20th 2007 2:14PM]

just one more device to help you stay anti-social.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 2:26PM]

not exactly, it's a phone too!

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 2:27PM]

oh yea, and world of warcraft already has the anti-social community on lock.

[Eddie @ Dec 20th 2007 2:21PM]

why would they go in this alone, if they are really interested in gettin' a chunck of the gaming pie, contact Nintendo and partner up with them. The best selling cellphone maker and the best selling portable gaming system together.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 2:26PM]

oh yea, and world of warcraft already has the anti-social community on lock.

[Backlin @ Dec 20th 2007 3:59PM]

That looks really uncomfortable.

[apw76006 @ Dec 20th 2007 4:41PM]

I would much rather see Nokia put a little effort into updating their support website so that I can download OS2008 for my N800.

[TheDigitalKitty @ Dec 20th 2007 5:44PM]

I was writing in my blog about how aweful of a device this will be, then I came to a realization... they could make it work if they licensed the ability to emulate older Nintendo software. Think about it, a portable SNES, N64, etc. That way they could instantly aquire an established library. Also, even better, they could offer on the fly downloadable content. Everyone would benefit. They could even sell it without the phone, and use the networking ability as a feature to buy games instantly.

[poodlescoot @ Dec 20th 2007 5:25PM]

That's what I'm SIDETALKIN' about!

[Onetruebill @ Dec 20th 2007 5:41PM]

You guys keep missing the point.
It has wings!!
That way when it sucks, you can just fly it over to the garbage can.

[Luke Rogerson @ Dec 20th 2007 6:50PM]

N-Gage 2.0 anyone??

[tekdroid @ Dec 20th 2007 9:26PM]

I like my phones small and separate to other devices and I believe jack-of-all-trades approaches to convergence hamper games devices. However, they might find a niche, but I think it's gonna be an uphill battle if they are going for the dedicated gaming machine market (which I don't think they are).

It would be smart for them to drop the n-gage branding if they decided to release something like it again.

[Yubastard @ Dec 20th 2007 10:06PM]

give it up already, Nokia, this is SonyEricsson's alley...

[DanBot @ Dec 21st 2007 7:51AM]

I actually owned an N-Gage QD. For a mobile phone, it played some really interesting games, but had an outdated version of Symbian on it at the time. Currently I'll stick with picking up an N73 and going the software route instead of picking up this already bad looking design.

[DanBot @ Dec 21st 2007 7:56AM]

The phone features were nice, but I might as well have been holding a flaming garbage can to my ear, as on lookers never ceased to ask 100 question about that strange thing I'm talking into. Some major pluses were excellent phone reception and call quality, the ability to run a ton of software since it did run on Symbian S60, and the ability to emulate nes games.

[silverblackvoid @ Dec 21st 2007 10:18AM]

go nokia go! cant wait to have one!