How Nokia Secretly Failed N-Gage! 

the fact you had to remove the battery to change games is a sign that Nokia was a phone manufacturer first, game console maker second it's actually kind of like switching SIM cards on their old phones

The commitment to the bit of not letting Adam finish "It's Just Bad" - incredible.

One of my fond memories of working as a GameStop employee around post-launch of the N-Gage was talking with the Nokia sales representative when he'd drop by the store. It was probably no more than a few times in total. By that last visit, he'd ask the same question that he'd ask each time he'd come in: "How are the N-Gage sales?" "There aren't any." I replied. Also...awesome video!!!

The fact you had to remove the battery to switch cartridges shows they had no idea what they were doing.

What I love about the Worst Ever series is that it fully disects whatever hardware is featured. Most other people would just show things off, laugh and say "wow look at how bad this is," and then end things at around 15 minutes or so, but the Rerez team really dive deep and deconstruct every aspect about a video game system's faults and explain why systems fail. Even the not so obvious causes. I've learned so much about the gaming industry just from these videos. It's like I'm watching a docummentary each time.

I love that mini Just Bad Games segment during this episode. Makes me feel like it’d be possible to see more mini JBG segments in future Worst Ever episodes

My brother won a free N-Gage in October 2003 at their launch party in LA. The only game he had was Tomb Raider, I remember taking off the backplate to put in the game and it stayed there forever. It was more powerful than a GBA, but less powerful than the DS which released a year later. You're spot on about the games being very difficult to control. The loading screens are because it used MMC (too early for SD, yet still had some kind of DRM) cards, and the transfer speeds are similar to that of a CD-ROM.

They say Adam is still yelling "SHANE?! SHANE?!" to this day.

Fun fact: Ngage actually pretty popular in my country Indonesia, because it was the first phone released in my country that can be used to emulate gameboy games which is a big deal considering how hard to find real gameboy cartridge in Indonesia

It’s always a good day when Rerez posts!

Bethesda designing an elder scrolls game exclusive to a weird phone-game hybrid thing nobody wants is somehow very on brand for them

Wow, the level of detailed research for this video is commendable. Great job Shane, Adam, and Rerez crew. 👍

Yes, yes I did have an N-Gage when it was relevant. Who wants my autograph? 💅

I still remember what a "big hit" that phone was in my country, Malaysia but the users cared more about playing Java games especially pirated ones on it than physical games which I think that's not what Nokia wanted exactly. I remember I wished to have that phone when I'm old enough but I completely ignored it once PSP and Nintendo DS arrived. Eventually, I got my first phone Nokia 6120 which was a great phone, and bought and downloaded dozens of Java games. EDIT: Now, I just remember playing N-Gage for the first time in a Nokia kiosk playing Sonic and Tomb Raider. Interesting experience.

This was a really fun video to watch. So many people like to always knock on the Nokia & I totally understand but it's nice to see someone show the strengths while acknowledging it's flaws that doomed the system. I miss those days of video games feeling like video games and hardware makers were coming up with new ideas to make their hardware unique.

I had a Nokia N-Gage phone and i honestly LOVED it 🙂 It was actually a very good phone to talk and text with and its radio and blutooth was working very well. Oh and it was fun to play game on. Not all N-Gage games was fun due to poor controls but overall it offered nice graphics and possibilities.

I worked at EB Games as a second job during the N-Gage's V2 release. We had about 20 of them in the back room. Not a single one sold. Nor did any of the games. I still have a picture of the backroom with the stacks of N-Gages.

Rerez is up there as one of the most underappreciated game channels. So much effort goes into research, writing and editing while making the videos gleefully entertaining and knowledgeable. Still a hidden gems after all those years. Kudos to all involved.

26:12 Gotta love the early 2000s tomboy chic style, low-rise wide pants, tiny top, sporty body instead of silicone, this reminds me of Gwen Stefani circa Rock Steady period.

I’m genuinely ecstatic to see this show up on this channel. I remember Nokia went hard on advertising the N-Gage when it first released. I also remembered the first time I had seen the N-Gage. I walked into a Gamestop and it was front and center in the store and nobody cared except me because I was curious. I never knew that it supported 3D graphics since I only got to play the one game they had on hand and that was the port of Sonic Advance from the GBA. It was… ok. I had a lot of experience with Sonic Adv, since I had beaten it on my own GBA a ton. The biggest issue that I noticed was the control input didn’t feel quite right. The GBA just felt right, where the N-Gage felt like a phone trying to be a game handheld… which makes sense.

Love how you were able to fit a "Just Bad Games" segment into the "Worst Ever" series. Maybe we'll get more videos like this in the future.

"E3 is no longer relevant" such words hit the heart harder then I thought lol. I remember it was always a dream to one day save enough money to attend. Even if it turned out to be a terrible year for games you could at least take contentment with the fact you attended gaming's biggest event. Now that dread is just "dust in the wind dude"- Bill and Ted Lol.

Wow, I absolutely love what you did with your backdrop lighting man! Very aesthetic, I love how you match, satisfying as heck. Rerez most fashionable gaming channel CONFIRMED.

I worked at a Verizon contracted call center and saw that phone and wanted it so bad. But it was a few hundred dollars and making only $8.50 an hour there was no way I could afford a phone and a plan. Verizon’s plans were so friggin expensive. Especially the data plans and they did throttle people though we were never to say that or we’d get written up. Such memories lol. 😂

A "Worst Ever" with an "It's Just Bad" cameo is what everybody needed to finish off the week. Thanks guys!

Some devs at Sony had probably a good chuckle at that time when they discovered that the N-Gage's most impressive games were just PS1 ports and they realized that they could cramp a processor into a handheld that makes the entire PS1 library compatible.

always loved your stuff! Since I was a kid I wondered what sonic n was like! Thanks for the clarification!

Love the camera work this time around!!

Love that you threw in a short "It's Just Bad" segment into this informative and well put together entry into "The Worst Ever" series. Keep up the good work Shane and Adam.

One massive issue with the N-Gage is that it wasn't a games console --- it was a primarily a smartphone running Symbian. There were a huge number of applications available for it, including games, and it had a mobile JVM which let it run MIDP and CLDC games (remember them?). The N-Gage games system was an addon. That's why it did things like not boot directly into the game, or the weird card changing system; powering off your smartphone to change storage cards was completely standard for these devices. It was also why it was so expensive. $299 was pretty standard for a smartphone of the day. Unfortunately it was then _sold_ as a purely mobile gaming device. But it wasn't one! So peoples' expectations of it were all wrong.

Found this page recently and I'm so glad I did. Great content

Excellent video guys!! This is my favorite gaming channel. Every video you put out is just so well done

I love how this series, that I hadn't seen a new episode of in awhile, also secretly doubled as a 'Just Bad Games' episode as well!!! Very fun to watch!

Rerez, the real mistery is why the heck your channel hasn't skyrocketed. Edits, script, informations, they are all top quality. This channel is not an N-Gage, it's a PS2.

Superb video history. I didn't own an N-Gage at the time it was out (actually, I've never owned one!) but I do remember seeing it in stores and playing on a demo unit. As described in the video, playing a fully 3D Tomb Raider on a handheld was really quite impressive at the time.

Thank you for another awesomely entertaining video!

This is so well done. Really enjoyed this! Good stuff, Rerez!

I actually *liked* my N-Gage. I installed a bunch of emulators and had a grand old time with it. The symbian games were awesome and the Snake Port was wonderfully immersive. Yeah, most of the official games sucked, but that didn't mean there wasn't fun to be had with it.

Goddamn every rerez video is great. Always excited too see it in my feed.

Wow, who would have thought Nokia didn't even try to optimize the N-Gage for E3? No wonder they failed. They didn't have a good start. Good video as always, Rerez!

Another problem with N-Gage if I recall, was that it was a carrier specific thing to maybe two service providers. That doesn't sound bad now cause there's only essentially two major service providers, but in '03 there were I think 5 or 6 major service providers, and this was also in the time where most unlimited data plans were so expensive that they were only purchased by rich people or true business people who literally worked and lived on their phones.

Damn! Great content, this is the very first N-Gage review that tackles every detail about the handheld. Many videos out there are all just the same saying its taco shape is the worst but here you guys even review the E3 event on the day of its debut. Such a good and detailed video. However I want to add 7 Days Salvation game

Not to be weird Shane but I’ve watched your older videos recently, and it looks like you’ve slimed down, you look good brother. Keep up the excellent videos. Dunno if Adam is the editor but the production is great. Literally you two found your calling and I hope it’s as satisfying to you as what you make is to us.

This video made me feel so nostalgic. Not for the N-Gage itself, but for the advertisements in German magazines from 2003. I can vividly remember some of these adverts. One featured an image of a dimly lit toilet stall with a tagline along the lines of "this is where Lara seduced me" or something like that. It wasn't a great advertisement, but it was an easier time for me.

Speaking as someone whose very first cell phone was a Nokia 5110, it feels really weird hearing that some people may never have heard of Nokia. Makes me feel old, too. ToT

A DOUBLE WHAMMY! MORE BANG FOR UR BUCK, love both series & all the work rerez

I've been casually watching you guys for a while and i think this is the first time I've seen Adam's face Keep up the great work. You guys are funny

So back in the mid 2000s I was a hobbyist developer for Symbian. When the N gage was out, it took forever to get any support for developing anything to do with that console. After it failed, the N gage service was basically rolled into the Nokia version S60 V2 update. Ironically, most N gage software runs best on non N gage software, specifically later N series phones. Symbian phones were always lean on hardware compared to the competition, but even they advanced over time.

I think this deserves a future video on the Gizmondo and the whole can of worms that system went through. If there’s any one good thing that could be said about the N-Gage, it’s that it would serve as foreshadowing for the rise of mobile gaming as defined by iPhone.

I love how you included Colin McRae Rally 2005. I really love that game. It is probably the best mobile port of a Colin McRae Rally game. But I really wanted some more coverage about it in this video. But you gave those game justice! Fun fact, despite it being an N-Gage port it is in reality Colin McRae Rally 2.0. They used the 2005 cars but with 2.0 stages and car sounds from the PS1. This also a fun game to speedrun, I do speedrun the games. Edit, Colin McRae Rally Plus on PSP is an exact port of Colin McRae Rally 2005!

Thank you for the info. Very interesting.

The only thing I know about the N-Gage is that it had Crash Nitro Kart on it (thanks Caddicarus). But other than that, it’s funny how the idea of a game console that allows phone call failed back in the 2000s but now works today

Excited to watch this one. The N-Gage always fascinated me. I got to play it pre-release at E3 so I've always had a soft spot for it. For the record? You could actually sit down and PLAY the thing on the show floor, and it played just fine. I don't know what was happening with that press kit.

Awesome stuff Shane!

Used to have one, i really loved it! Imagene emulating retro games in class on an Ngage in 2003. Great times!

I stumbled on the N-Gage in my local video rental store, they'd a section dedicated to games and consoles. And Tomb Raider was on display at the time, I didn't even like the original game that much, but I was blown away that they managed to get what seemed like the entire game, on a tiny cartridge and also actually be 3D, but for some strange reason, I always just felt it wasn't going to take off and at that stage I didn't even know how silly it was as a phone

Great episode. I love that your intro shows your personal experience as a kid and then explained the flaws. Also crazy that the E3 demos was worse than the actual consumer product.

Thank you for making this video, and bringing this issue to light! I, too, had no idea that this was something that happened, even though I was aware of everything you said about the retail performance model N-Gage, thanks to Uncle Derek over at Stop Skeletons from Fighting (thanks for including a clip of his work!). And, I even had the Sonic Heroes issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, which had Seanbaby covering his experience at E3, including the crap performance of the N-Gage! I'm honestly ashamed of myself for not putting two-and-two together on this one, and sadly, it seems nobody else did, either. Until Rerez came along in 2023 to save the day. Thank you, Rerez, for making the public aware of Nokia--most likely unintentionally--self-sabotaging their own product before launch! That's what happens if you're not careful, and if you don't plan correctly; Nokia were absolutely in over their heads with their entrance into an industry they clearly did not understand well enough.

You remind me of an old G4 TV show lol great work man

I'm impressed on how you guys dig up all that stuff. You never disappoint!

I can’t believe you crossed over The Worst Ever Series and Just Bad Games. It’s so cool

I used to own the successor of the original n-gage, the N-gage QD and it indeed had removed some of the issues of the original handheld. You could have a regular phone conversation without holding it weirdly, it had a dedicated slot which didn't require taking the battery away. That aside, it was like a semi-smartphone with Java apps which included Mp3 players (back then uncommon on most phones), videoplayers which supported most formats (mkv, mp4), gameboy and other emulators, multiple browsers like opera and even internet via bluetooth ( yes, you read that correctly...bluetooth )

N-Gage and N-Gage QD owner here, and I'm not happy. Well happy to see my devices from my college years being covered. You missed so much: 1) The N-Gage was missing a 3.5mm headphone jack. The N-Gage came with a 2.5mm jack that you needed a Palm Treo conversion plug to work. It limited it's functionality compared to the IPod 2) The carrier limitations. The $399 price tag was WITH a contract, that wasn't just the price itself. Then you could only use it with GSM and with the conversations starting about LTE, it was dead in the water as a data device. 3) the N-Gage storage card was NOT a SSD but a proprietary MMC which was EXTREMELY costly at that time and almost impossible to get. MicroSD was too thick for conversation. 4) The N-Gage QD actually took away features. The FM Station was removed and was a PAIN to jailbreak to get working with the international versions of Symbian. EDIT: Charging! Oh how I hated that I needed a barrel jack for this thing. The barrel plug was slow and I think the N-Gage and QD had different plugs.....

16:40 You know you're in for a bad time when one of the reviews for the game describes it as one of the "most playable" games on the system

Nokia really said it's "n-gaging time!" And n-gages all over the place

I love finding out more about obscure things and also how in-depth you guys go. Maybe you should have a look at Sony's Mylo next? It's not exactly mentioned in the same breath as the Playstation lite for sure.

I came in here for an episode of The Worst Ever & was treated to an episode of Just Bad Games at no extra cost. What a steal of a deal!!

I was given this as a birthday gift last year in its original box and it sits with my console collections. Don’t have games for it but I’d like to get some for it some day. So cool to see you making a video on it.

OMG my friend had one of these I remember seeing it at a convention and after a little bit of talking with the vendor he sold it to us for like 30 dollars I think its still in his gaming colection

One thing I always liked about the N-Gage (a friend had both versions at different times) is the design. Especially the first N-Gage looks great from a purely aesthetic standpoint. If only it's the stuff inside these things were equally good designed. :/

I used to play ngage games on my dad’s 6600 and later 7610. It was the only console in my childhood and it lit the fire of gaming in me. I still remember all the maps of Ghost recon, and configurations for Pathway to glory. For a 12 year old, these games were incredible and I was completely hooked. I am sometimes still amazed at what my steam deck can do to when I think of old times.

I was only 15 minutes into this absolute GEM of a video before I realized with absolute GLEE that there was still SO much video left to enjoy. (I watch these while I am working on and off and 44 minutes of Rerez bliss can last me all morning sometimes) Thank you to everyone involved in making this great show. I really enjoy it.

Excellent video, glad to see a new upload! This was an amazing overview of the N-Gage and all of its shortcomings, very well done!

Thanks for the young Jeff Gerstman clip, must've seen that as a kid. I was a big GameSpot fan and learned english by using their forums ^^

I love the zoom moment at 26:04, really emphasized your point xD

You absolutely needed to talk about Sony Ericsson Xperia Play in more detail Sony's failed attempt to enter the mobile gaming market back in 2011. it has the same goal as the Ngage but spectacular...

Excellent and entertaining review and product history, as always.

Great video, I think the N-Gage was meant to be the ultimate device for the time, not just for gaming but with MP3 capabilities and being a cellphone. I do think saying that the cellphone plan is adding even more cost to the N-Gage, I'd assume most people in 2003 would have been paying for those regardless, at least most people interested in the N-Gage.

Man I love this channel. Comedic timing, superb editing and useful info. What is not to like?

My day is way better because of a new Rerez video!

Finland’s history with involvement with the international video game/electronic market is honestly funny to me. They started with simple games like Snake on phones that are even known nowadays(for their durability of all things). They later made complex games on the N-Gage, and that console failed. But, the country came back into gaming relevance by making a simple game again; Angry Birds. Admittedly through a different company, but still Finnish. (Which blew my mind when I found out about it; I was a huge fan of it when I was younger, and the whole time in that obsession I thought it was from the US!) Not a bad rise-and-fall-and-rise-again(in terms from The Company Man), for a country far away from both the United States and Japan simultaneously.

Funniest part about the whole battery removal is that the game cartridge is really close to the outer shell anyways, they just neede to move the wiring a little bit and turn the slot 90° so the cartridge could be slottet in from above

I loved the N-Gage QD back in high school. I used it for like 3 years.

I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to open RU-vid to find you guys have released a new video ! My goodness, y’all just made my day!

Never die bro your videos are some of the best content in existence

"Just Bad Games" is my favorite series on this channel. I love that you snuck a mini episode of it into this review.

I loved n-gage. I wish sega would re-release Pocket Kingdom, an online rpg for it. And splinter cell 3d was ahead of its time !

I love how you showed how the phone calls without talking about it

I had a N-gage. I enjoyed it for what it was. The emulation scene for the system ended up being pretty good and the aspect ratio was good for arcade games.

I fondly remember playing MGS mobile on N95 as a high school student. Sure I didn't have any handheld nor console at the time since my parents didn't allow it, but the game was solid and enjoyable enough. It let me experience how cool feels like to play this thing called video game that everybody was playing. I am thankful to Nokia forever for that.

My man Marcel, please never stop making videos 😄

Great video!

This video was absolute genius, and to sneak an episode of just bad games in there also; just blown away. Great research and great production

Loved the mini "Just Bad Games" segment 😄 But yeah, lots of bad ideas leading to squandered potential. Same company that dominated the cell phone market but then basically disintegrated (in that market) when smartphones got big.

I was tempted to get one when it came out.

Awesome! A Worst Ever\It's Just Bad-Crossover Episode! Nice.

Really enjoyed this deep dive into the N-Gage. I wanted one as a kid because the idea of having a phone/game handheld hybrid was so cool, but it turns out getting the GBA was a much MUCH better decision.

The N-Gage isn't completely useless, heck I use mine as a sledgehammer. Its surprisingly effective.

Damn, you guys kill it with every video! Just curious, I know Adam does most of the work in after effects. But who edits your episodes? They do an awesome job!

i agree with all about N-gage. even so i for some strange reason still love that device. i wish there was a Snapdragon 850 modded board with a modern screen, and android installed so i could use my Ngage QD today.