Nokia annoys N-Gage gamers

There were protests last week when gamers realised that N-Gage downloads bought for their Nokia handsets were locked to that specific device. The All About N-Gage website revealed that customers who replaced their phone or upgraded to a different Nokia handset needed to buy the games again if they wanted to keep playing. Nokia has subsequently relented, saying it is now "solution that would allow people to transfer purchased N-Gage games to a new Nokia device". The N-Gage gaming platform was re-launched last month, five years after the first dedicated N-Gage device appeared.

Orange and Nokia to form "strategic international partnership"

Orange and Nokia have said they're extending their current working agreement to form a strategic international partnership that'll see them co-operating with music, mobile gaming, maps, advertising and location-based services. As part of the deal, Orange will be launching a range of Nokia phones that offer access to the Orange Music Store, Orange games, N-Gage games, and Nokia Maps. [Press release]

Nokia N-Gage goes live

The Nokia N-Gage gaming platform has been officially launched. Anyone with a compatible Nokia phone - just the N81, N82 and N95 at the moment - can download the N-Gage application for free game trials and chargeable full game versions. The launch is a little later than expected, having originally been scheduled for November 2007. [Source: N-Gage.com]

Nokia releases N-Gage platform

Nokia's N-Gage gaming platform has been released, with Nokia N81 users able to download a pre-release version of the software. [Sources: BBC News, N-Gage.com]

Nokia delays N-Gage

Nokia has delayed the launch of its N-Gage gaming platform, which had already moved from November to December 2007. [Source: N-Gage blog]

Mobile gaming to hit $6 billion by 2011

The analysts at Understanding & Solutions say revenues from mobile games will rise from $3.6 billion this year to $6 billion (£3 million) by 2011, showing stronger growth (although admittedly a smaller market share) than console games and dedicated handheld devices.

And, on a similar subject, Nokia is officially relaunching its N-Gage mobile gaming platform this week. Instead of only being available on a dedicated handheld device, the new N-Gage service will be accessible on a range of compatible Nokia phones - starting with the new N81 handsets. [Sources: UandS.com, Nokia blog]