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World exclusive: Nokia swoops to rebrand Xperia Play as N-Gage 3

Fourth time lucky

World exclusive: Nokia swoops to rebrand Xperia Play as N-Gage 3
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The mobile games industry has been shocked by the news that a resurgent Nokia has purchased Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play business for an undisclosed sum.

The first PlayStation-certified gaming handset launched today and despite Nokia standardising around Microsoft's Window Phone operating system, it said picking up the Android-powered gaming platform was an opportunity that was too good to miss.

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"No one knows the mobile game hardware market like Nokia," said executive vice president Timito Itvasntmo.

"Our hard won learnings in this area have been vital to Nokia's performance over the years. I'd even go as far as to say no company understands failure like Nokia. And we're committed to a monopoly when it comes to such knowledge.

"We won't let another company fail without our involvement," he told PocketGamer.biz.

"We've been impressed with Sony Ericsson's activity thus far, but together, we're sure we can make the Xperia Play launch a real industry millstone."

[source: Nokia Press Office]

Normal Mainer
Normal Mainer
American author and journalist Normal Mainer was born in Ketchum, Idaho. He's written widely about the computer games industry, although in a manner often described as being "hesitant, disorganized, and confused". He won the IMGA's Best Game Journalist Award Ever for the fifth time in 2012.