New N-Gage platform to be unveiled at GDC in March
But Nokia has no plans for a dedicated N-Gage device at the moment
Our story yesterday on Nokia's N-Gage workshops has gone around the world, and now Mobile Entertainment magazine has turned up more info on Nokia's plans for its next gen games platform.
According to the mag's website, Nokia will officially unveil the new platform during March's Games Developer Conference in San Francisco. This is from comments by Nokia's head of games Jaakko Kaidesoja.
Kaidesoja also tells ME that there are "no plans for a new N-Gage device at the moment", stressing again that N-Gage will be a feature across Nokia's range of Nseries smartphones.
It's strange that people reading these latest developments have jumped on the new platform and assumed it means a dedicated N-Gage 2 device is coming, especially since we and others long ago reported that it will be essentially an iTunes / Xbox Live-style software solution and development framework targeting Nokia's smartphones.
That said, ME argues we shouldn't rule out the prospect of a new device appearing at some point in the future, given Nokia's release of dedicated TV, music, web access and imaging handsets.