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1 entry of 164 involving Nokia

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2000-2009 The 2000s

Mobile gaming

A phone maker builds a handheld console and misreads the market

Nokia put the N-Gage on sale on October 7, 2003: a mobile phone shaped like a game handheld, with cartridges and online play. It sold poorly and was withdrawn within a few years.

Key facts and significance Hide details
Who
Nokia
Platform
Mobile devices
Region
Europe, Worldwide
Period
The 2000s

Why it matters

Failure here is instructive rather than trivial. The N-Gage identified the right destination years before anyone reached it, and its collapse showed that hardware convergence fails when it compromises both functions. The lesson shaped how later companies approached games on phones.

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