N-Gage QD or "Less Embarassing Mobile Gaming"

Nokia'a N-Gage system sold so poorly, one has to wonder if anyone out there has actually seen them in use outside of the kiosks in every Electronics Boutique store. For those not in the know, it is a mobile phone with built-in software to make it act like a portable game system a la the Game Boy Advance. The original had added features like a built-in radio, MP3 player, and allowed wireless link-ups for gaming. However, it also had several critical errors in its design including a requirement that you speak into the side of it when using it as a phone, leaving others around you assuming you were using a magic taco. And of course, the biggest design flaw was that you had to remove the back and take out the battery in order to switch games! (i.e. If you were not quick enough, your address book and settings might be lost while switching from Red Faction to Sonic the Hedgehog.) Recently, however, Nokia released an update called the N-Gage QD. Here is the first review I have seen of the new system.

The N-Gage QD has all the useful features of the original model (with a touch of skimping on the mp3 playback, USB port and the radio, resulting in a marginally lower price) yet is noticeably smaller, a better shape, and, thank god, a much more user-friendly device all round, the cartridge slot - or the 'hot swap' as Nokia call it - now located apart from the battery compartment, which means no more opening-up-the-whole-thing-and-taking-out-the-battery milarky: QD lets you just slide the little sim-like cartridges into the slot on the bottom edge of the phone, and access immediate game play, simple as that. And, joy of joys, the ear-piece is on the front! No longer shall the Nokia owning mobile gamer have to slink away to a darkened corner before answering his phone to avoid the notoriously embarrassing 'you're speaking into a taco in public' scenario...But ah, alas, the screen. At 176 x 208 pixels, it's still the same size as its predecessor, and...while it's a decent enough size, one can't quite get over the feeling that it's the wrong way around.

Eh. I am still waiting for the PSP (Playstation Portable) before I upgrade from my current GBA SP. Plus, Nokia was the phone of choice for Cingular Wireless in our area, whose coverage is... shall we say... less than stellar around my usual hang-outs.