A new report from industry analysts Wedbush Morgan is predicting that the usual things will happen when a new games console is released: it’s be very expensive on début, and decline in price afterwards.
WM’s report, The Definition of Insanity: Why the Next Console Cycle Will Start Off With a Whimper, bases its pricing of the PS3 on an assumption that it will be like Japan’s PSX – full of extra functions. I think this won’t be the case at all.
The PSX has a digital tuner, has PVR functionality and a DVD writer and is marketed as a home media centre that plays games. Gamers aren’t too worried about having a PVR that plays Killzone 2, PVRs appeal to a slightly older audience. Gamers aren’t too bothered about their games console having a DVD writer in it either – they have PCs for that.
WM predict that the PS3 will be priced on its US début at US$500 (€411) in 2005. I say it’ll be more like US$300 (€249), and because we always get fleeced here in the UK, call it UK£300 (€450) on its UK début.
The report predicts that PS2 games will be produced through 2008, which when you consider that PS1 games are still being made ten years after the original appeared, is not too much of a stretch of the imagination.
WM feel that the PS2’s backwards compatibility with PS1 titles was a key factor in its success, and with doubts over XBox 2’s compatibility with older titles we might just get to see this replayed and confirmed.
The report also attacks discounting of games, and they certainly have a point: gamers have come to expect prices of titles older than six months or so to drop dramatically, and so just wait until they do. WM’s recommendation to combat this isn’t going to win them any friends: keep supplies scarce at the beginning, and keep the price up.
See, I told you analysts were evil.
Nokia have admitted that their first attempt at a games console didn’t exactly set the world on fire: it had a number of design problems and they misjudged market desires – and failed to take into account just why Nintendo have had a 15 year reign on mobile gaming. But with new features, a greater emphasis on networked play and the GameBoy Advance looking a little basic these days, have they got it right this time? 
The deck is well constructed, and despite its compactness it has a reassuring weight to it (143g), without being awkward. It’s one of the most robustly-made phones I’ve used. The equator of the unit is a protruding rubber seal, and will generally be the first thing to hit the floor when you drop it, thus providing a fair bit of impact shock protection. The seal clips neatly over the phone’s ports limiting sand and water penetration, but doesn’t make it waterproof. External connections are limited to just headphones, power, and the game slot. All communications with the N-Gage are done via Bluetooth. The rubber equator also features no less than two loops for connecting a lanyard to – a quick look at any bus stop will demonstrate that youths like nothing more at the moment than hanging things like keys and phones round their neck with a lanyard. Or they do in Blackheath anyway.
Using the unit as a phone has been vastly improved – you now hold the unit flush to your cheek, rather than holding it out at an angle, as was the case with its previous incarnation. Sadly, the unit’s display rests against your face when you make a call. If you wear make up or use the phone on a warm day, be sure to carry a cloth so you can wipe sweat and foundation off the screen. Lack of exterior controls for volume mean you can’t easily adjust call loudness if you’re suddenly in a noisy or quite environment.
The 4096-colour display is difficult to read if the backlight isn’t on, but battery life in the QD is impressive. Nokia claim a full ten hours of gaming off a charge, up from about three to six hours previously. I charged the phone on Tuesday morning and only needed to give it a drink again on Thursday, after leaving it on continuously with my normal number of phone calls, texts and a few bouts of The Sims. As a side note, it accepts the standard Nokia charger and I can’t think of a household that hasn’t got four of those kicking around somewhere.
The interfaces for the phone and the game functions were evidently designed by two different teams. Two different teams in different countries. Who never spoke to each other or exchanged emails, or perhaps were even completely unaware of each others’ existence. The N-Gage Arena and gaming interfaces are much more compelling and excitingly designed, showing that Nokia have put a lot of thought into their appearance.
All the usual messaging functions are present: SMS, Multimedia Messaging, and email. I did come across an irritating feature whilst texting, however: pressing the uppercase key a couple of times whilst writing a text message (for the odd bit of EMPHASIS) turns the T9 dictionary off for some reason. This is highly annoying and requires six or seven button presses to switch it back on and then another six or so to get back to where you were. I do hope this is a bug rather than a deliberate feature.
Games are supplied on a MMC card, and the QD is backwardly compatible with its predecessor. The moving of the game slot to the bottom of the console is a welcome move, so you don’t have to take the back off the unit to swap games over. Nokia seem to have realised that people might want to play more than one game in a session.
Despite not having a camera, the QD will play video clips and other multimedia messaging, however there’s no radio and something key has been removed from this iteration of the N-Gage.