Ovi Store versus N-Gage

So, Nokia’s latest attempt at cracking the multimedia digital distribution market has been released, and our initial impressions of the gaming side of Ovi Store are undoubtedly positive (regardless of the issues elsewhere).

Despite some early quirks and the inevitable toll from a large amount of early traffic, the games service appears to be clean, crisp and functional.

Considering it’s widely expected that Nokia will integrate its N-Gage gaming service into Ovi Store, we felt that one of the first questions to be answered is: how do the two services compare?

Although N-Gage has hardly taken off with the masses, it would be a bit of an embarrassment to Nokia if the overall experience on their new gaming service was markedly inferior to the existing (outgoing?) one.

Let’s take a closer look.

Access

The first and most obvious thing to note is that Ovi Store suffers for the current lack of a dedicated client app. As we pointed out in our initial look at the service, the general Ovi navigating experience through WAP is a pleasurable one, but when held up next to the single click, dedicated app smoothness of N-Gage it feels a little unwieldy. The sooner a single-click solution is made available the better.

As our sister site PocketGamer.biz pointed out, Nokia clearly intends to make such a dedicated app available for Ovi, but clearly there have been some early teething problems.

Round 1: N-Gage

Usability

Onto the services themselves, and both have clearly come from the same uncluttered Nokia school of design. Ovi feels far sparser than the rounded edges and stylish fonts of N-Gage, but that’s understandable given the vast quantity of content that needs to be loaded quickly and efficiently. It’s easy to be flashy when you only have 37 games to present. By contrast, my N95 has 193 Ovi titles from the off.

Ovi may be plainer than it’s older cousin but it’s more functional and clearly geared up to handle thousands of apps. It allows you to search for games by price, popularity, age and genre - although the latter’s definitions are slightly limited, and only one can be attributed to a game.

Try finding Puzzle Quest under ‘Puzzle’, for example, and you’ll come out empty handed (it can be found under ‘Strategy’). Still, it’s a feature the N-Gage service will probably never even need.

When you're browsing for games, Ovi not only manages to squeeze more games in but it also presents you with more information at a glance - the game’s name, some artwork, the price, genre and what other users thought of it (a three star rating system).

Compare that to the N-Gage’s prettier but less informative approach of game art, title and publisher (is that really necessary for a first-glance system?) and we know which we prefer.

Ovi’s functional design and all-round readiness for the big time marks it out as a winner in the usability stakes.

Round 2: Ovi

Buying

When it comes to actually buying the games, N-Gage has a considerable edge thanks to its integrated demo system. Every game on the service allows you a free trial, letting you have a taste of the experience on offer before committing to a purchase.

And N-Gage’s smart purchasing system doesn’t end there, permitting you two buying options. You can either pay £1.50 to have unlimited access to the game for 24 hours, or buy the game outright for the full price (usually £6-£8).

At the moment, Ovi Store is populated by Java games that are available on any mobile phone, so there’s no trial facility or tiered pricing structure in place. This may change as games are made specifically wth Ovi in mind, but for now N-Gage is clearly the superior system.

Of course, the other consideration is the pricing itself, with Ovi Store titles currently costing £3 for older titles and £4 for newer ones. That makes brand new titles a pound cheaper than the exact same game bought through your operator portal, and around half the price of a brand new N-Gage game. Whether the disparity in price is a factor is a subject for the following round.

Round 3: N-Gage

Games

Perhaps the hardest aspect to compare between the two services is the games themselves, which is annoying, as it’s the reason we’re all here right now. As I write, N-Gage and Ovi Store are operating at entirely different levels, which is no doubt how Nokia has planned it.

N-Gage looks to offer a premium package of rich 3D visuals, detailed sound, landscape views and fuller gaming experiences - although many would question whether the service has fulfilled its brief on enough occasions, with a number of half-hearted Symbian conversions padding out a roster that includes a couple of absolute gems.

Either way, there’s no escaping the jump in visual sheen from the sort of Java games found on Ovi Store to a typical N-Gage effort.

But a jump in sheen doesn’t necessarily mean a jump in quality. With games like Zombie Infection - which earned a rare Platinum Award on Pocket Gamer earlier this year - and the masterful Bejeweled Twist available for around half the price of an N-Gage title, it’s questionable which service is home to the better games.

At the moment it’s tough to call, but one thing’s for certain: the games on Ovi Store are going to get better and even more varied. Can we confidently say the same about N-Gage? Possibly not, which is why we hand the slight edge as things stand to Ovi.

Round 4: Ovi

Overall

Nokia’s intention to gradually merge these two services, with the ultimate goal being to completely absorb N-Gage into the Ovi fold, is a wise one. While Ovi is the service that Nokia will be pinning its future hopes on, it should spare a glance into the recent past to consider N-Gage’s bespoke accessibility and impressively flexible purchasing model.

Ultimately Ovi’s gaming success should be based on taking the best bits of the flawed N-Gage service and combining them with the centralised, all-encompassing hub of the Ovi Store. If this is achieved, then the ultimate winner can only be Nokia.