On the sixth day of Christmas, Pocket Gamer gave to me...

If there's one subject that's kept us on our toes during 2007, it's been the next-gen N-Gage drama. Indeed, at times, the whole operation has felt about as organised as a group of mercenaries attempting an African coup d'etat.

We started the year with the scoop that Nokia was holding technical meetings with publishers to prepare them for an autumn launch; news that was quickly followed up with public presentations during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Then came the drip-drip approach as details of actual titles came to light. Examples included Creatures of the Deep, System Rush: Evolution, as well as secret cross-platform game, Project White Rock.

By the summer, however, the wheels started to fall off the 2007 schedule. Nokia stated 35 games were in development but the launch was now 'Q4', which eventually translated to November, and then December. Finally, a couple of days before that launch, it was confirmed as being early 2008.

Still, having spoken to various Nokia execs, including N-Gage boss Jaakko Kaidesoja and director of technology and strategy Mark Ollila, we still think the company can make a splash. But as our N-Gage expert, Stuart Dredge, puts it in his Top 10 mobile gaming trends of 2007 article, the platform "has huge potential, but everything to prove."

As for those honking geese, it was another of Nokia's marketing campaigns: "Honk if you're happy. Be more Nokia". Frankly, we're just hoping the company manages to lay some golden eggs soon.