"This is a new device in the N-Gage portfolio. It's the same basic software so it's backwards compatible with the older games. We have improved the gaming ergonomics on the device, the game controls are a little crisper, the screen is a little brighter. And we've added some nice features for gaming….like we've added a hot swappable MMC card. We've made it more game centric…we've removed the MP3 player and the FM radio."
And the price is as low as 99 dollars. Being able to hot swap game software cards is the biggest improvement over the original. And even though the MP3 player has been eliminated…third party music players will still work on the device. What's missing is stereo sound. But the under one hundred dollar price should help Nokia win more fans for the N-Gage QD. Sales for the original were below expectations…
"We really see ourselves moving in the right direction. There's a lot of stuff coming up in the mobile gaming space."
Nintendo plans to ship its dual screen, Wi-Fi connected DS game machine this fall. More on that, coming up. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.