The lines below hit us via PocketGamer.biz:

Ask any developer or publisher whether they’re planning to make a camera-enabled location-based multiplayer game for N-Gage anytime soon, and most will say ‘No’. We know, because we’ve asked them.

And often, they’ll point you in the direction of the N-Gage sales charts by way of explanation. When Tetris, poker, Monopoly, solitaire and well-worn console franchises are what’s selling, you can see why developers see more risk in heading for the bleeding edge of innovation.

Or, to put it another way, when a Nokia exec gets up at a conference and talks about augmented reality or mapping mash-ups, many developers are thinking ‘Sure, I can DO those games for N-Gage, but can YOU sell them?’

Even though the conclusion is clear, I personally do not see this as an N-Gage-specific fault. Power users have always been a small (but vocal) part of the market, which are much more difficult to target than the huge army of casual gamers. Why should a developer invest huge amounts of money into an unproven concept if he can reach a much bigger market with a simple and proven one?

P.S: As for augmented reality: just because you can do it, doesn’t mean that you should. Moolan is a prime example – it won a (questionable) price, but is unlikely to sell more than hundred copies…


Related posts:

  1. Nokia N-Gage – its about casual gaming
  2. N-Gage weekly sales figures
  3. Top-selling N-Gage games, week 2
  4. N-Gage top games, week 21
  5. Nokia goes insane: N-Gage games locked to phone IMEI