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The End of N-Gage

Special interview with the world's leading N-Gage enthusiast inside!


 Some sort of N-Gage compound or something.
 Some sort of N-Gage compound or something.
Gadget-focused web site Pocket Lint is reporting that Nokia is finally pulling the plug on the N-Gage platform next year. I know, right? I figured they had pulled the plug on that mess years ago. But Nokia is planning to shut down the N-Gage store in September of 2010, and the service side of it--meaning the community features for all of those awesome N-Gage games you're still totally playing--will run through the end of next year.

Of course, the N-Gage service isn't the only casualty here. There is also the robust and not-at-all-dead fan community for Nokia's cellular taco. We floated some questions past the admin of the only N-Gage-focused website worth talking about, sidetalkin.com, to see what he thought about all this.

But first, some history. Sidetalkin.com was the spot for the sidetalkin' crazy of 2004-2005. I loved it for its amazing photos of Frank Provo, but, really, the entire site was amazing. But it was brought to a crashing halt when Nokia released the N-Gage QD, an "upgraded" version of its device that no longer required you to hold phone conversations by holding the side of the taco directly up to your stupid face. As soon as I got my idiotic hands on new QD, we sent off the photo that would shut down the site:

No Caption Provided
 Anyway, here is the transcript of said interview:

Giant Bomb: I figure as the world's foremost authority on sidetalkin', you must have some feelings on this important issue. What will happen to sidetalkin.com in the wake of this important news?

Sidetalkin: I REALLY ANGER THIS QUESTION, it is not nice to me, THE SITE WILL NEVER GO AWAY like a TRAIN that is TWO LAYERS OF STEEL WITH ENGINE POWER BY WHITE GOLD NUGGETS IT CAN’T BE STOPPED…... CAN’T MEANS CANNOT!!!!!!!!!!!!

GB: Do you feel that Nokia was right to abandon something as robust as the N-Gage and/or the N-Gage QD in favor of a software-only solution?

ST: DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE A STUPID MORON WHO DOES NOT HAVE ANY PENS??

NOKIA was wrong 555% and i am angry, THEY REMOVE THE BEST PART END OF SENTENCE PLEASE don’t understand NOKIA ARE MY HEROES BUT THEY ARE LIKE HEROES WHO FAIL TO THE GROUND, LIKE ICARUS WHEN CRASHING INTO THE SUN.

NOKIA™ whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ^_((((

GB: If you were running Nokia, what would you have done differently to ensure N-Gage domination in the marketplace?

ST: Firstable, SOME PEOPLE [[[not my friends]]] WOULD SAY “STEP ONE: NOT MAKE THE CUSTOMER LOOK LIKE INTERGALACTIC RETARDS WHEN USING PHONE"

BUT SCREW IT HOLE YOU GUYS ~~~ THIS ADVICE IS 155% BULLSHITS. SIDETALKIN’ was LIKE A WELCOME TO THE FANTASY ZONE, the WORLDS #1 METHOD TO TALK AND SCREEN FORWARD SIMULTANEOUSLY.

PROOF IS RIGHT HERE: SIDETALKING HAS NEVER BEEN SUCCESSFULLY COPIED BY ANY COMPETITOR!! not even china. BOOOOOOOOOM HEADSHOT w/sniper rifle no cheating

so my advice would be simplest: TRY harder MORE advertising CHEAPER PRICE ALSO better ads FREE SALES AND GIVEAWAYS, finally MAYBE A HIGH-IMPACT STREET TEAM, but i guess it is now too late.

……………………………~~~

HERE IS TRUE STORY NOKIA® GAVE ME MONEY TO PROMOTE NGAGE QD on sidetalking website BUT NOKIA OUT OF PROTEST I WOULD GIVE ALL YOUR DEVIL NAZI MONEY BACK NOW!!!!! would but unfortunately I’ve spent it all

NOKIA HAS LOST ME FOREVER and now I HAVE A MOTOROLA RAZOR :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

RIP SIDETAKLING 1903-2005

<IMG SRC=“ANGELSTEARS.BMP” WIDTH=“32

-Sidetalkin.Com Admin Staff, who may or may not be Cabel Sasser
Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

105 Comments

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Benny

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Edited By Benny

I just lost an hour of my life to sidetalkin.com after seeing it mentioned in a comment thread on a totally different site. I was so so so sure that this was a site made by Jeff that I almost lost it when I saw him on the QD page. Too fucking perfect.

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Anteater

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Edited By Anteater

 DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE A STUPID MORON WHO DOES NOT HAVE ANY PENS??


I have plenty of pens thank you very much!
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Belonpopo

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Edited By Belonpopo

I'm gonna mis palying Splinter Cell: Essentails on the N-Gauge I never had. 

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wintermute

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Edited By wintermute

That site and the interview were unbelievably funny! I could not stop laughing!

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Media_Master

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Edited By Media_Master

Too bad.

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thatfrood

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Edited By thatfrood
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71Ranchero

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Edited By 71Ranchero

My dreams of N-gage 2:Electric Boogaloo have been dashed to bits! 
 
Who will usher in a new era of Side talkin'? What about Top talkin' or Bottom Talkin'? The future is bleak indeed. 

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dutch42

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Edited By dutch42

this is now the background for my work pc... and all of my colleagues think I'm a bit weird as a result. score.

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nickystixx

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Edited By nickystixx

i wanted an ngage really badly. this was before i had played the DS.

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imad81

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Edited By imad81

i wasted 4 minutes of my life readin this..the picture was funny though..

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MasterChiefLopez

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Edited By MasterChiefLopez

hehehe thats silly.

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target_render

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Edited By target_render

There were only about two games which scored well for the Ngage on Metacritic:   Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and Pathway to Glory.     Nokia didn't give a crap about the quality of the games on that trainwreck  of a portable.     Outside the Gizmondo and Virtual Boy, biggest portable FAIL ever.

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Xeiphyer

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Edited By Xeiphyer

So stupid! =D Great interview though.
 
Also to whoever posted the gamespot N-Gage review done by jeff, that was great haha, thanks for it! Super funny to see Jeff from that long ago, back before he was so jaded =P He actually said having to take off the N-Gage case, remove the battery, and insert the game, then put it back together wasn't that big a deal and you get pretty used to it.  =P Oh Jeff.. Life has hurt you so!
 
Also the timetrotters link is great too, forgot about that old goodness =D

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Seanakin66

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Edited By Seanakin66

One wonders how the N-Gage might have fared had they scored an endorsement deal from, oh, let's say...Patrick Stewart.  Think about it.

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GregIsRad

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Edited By GregIsRad

I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty much done with the radio.

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MeatSim

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Edited By MeatSim

That picture and this whole article is getting bookmarked for sure.

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monster9999

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Edited By monster9999

Lololol great article

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SleepyDoughnut

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Edited By SleepyDoughnut

man what is going on

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Mike17032

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Edited By Mike17032

  I had an N-Gage, and I loved it.  For what it cost, it had a feature set well ahead of its time.   
 
I still have my Taco.    

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FlipperDesert

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Edited By FlipperDesert

Investigative journalism at it's finest, I too shall mourn the cellular taco, Sidetalkin'.

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Jensonb

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Edited By Jensonb

Oh my god, I'd forgotten about having to remove the battery to change games. What a fiasco. But it's okay guys! the N-Gage QD (For Quadre-Didi - no, really)had HotSwappin' TM! You know you effed up when you have a TM next to an action all your competitors included as standard.

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Biting_monkey

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Edited By Biting_monkey

It had some big titles (MGS and Resident Evil) but just wasn't rolled out in a sane way. Why Nokia just didn't put the client on every phone it shipped I will never know. Apparently the Ovi store is the next big thing. I'm getting an iPhone...

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headcase

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Edited By headcase

As implied by Jeff, this isn't the death of the N-Gage. The N-Gage died when sidetalkin died. 
 
Also, best interview ever.

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CL60

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Edited By CL60

Hah

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headcase

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Edited By headcase

As implied by Jeff, this isn't the death of the N-Gage. The N-Gage died when sidetalkin died.

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unsolvedparadox

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Edited By unsolvedparadox

Better go on eBay and grab 'em while you still can!

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Winternet

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Edited By Winternet
@Jensonb: thanks for the video.
 
Best news ever!
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Bigandtasty

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Edited By Bigandtasty

Award-winning news right here.
 
*sheds tear for N-Gage*

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AuthenticM

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Edited By AuthenticM

Holy shit.

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KillaMaStA

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Edited By KillaMaStA

that was an Interesting interview to say the least.
 
Ive never seen an N-gage so I have no opinion on the matter but the interview was pure gold.

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fwylo

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Edited By fwylo

I've honestly never seen a person who owns/has owned one. I though they were taken off the market years ago.  Who in their right mind would have purchased such a thing?

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LordAndrew

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Edited By LordAndrew
@onlineatron said:

" The service was on other Nokia phones as well. It was the Nokia games service but was branded with the N-Gage name... so that's what's shutting down.
 
The actual phones and games for those platforms were killed long ago. "

They should have killed off the name as well, because no one associated the N-Gage name with something they'd want to use. It was already dead to everyone. It took far too long for Nokia to realize that.
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chewii101

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Edited By chewii101

lol?

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ArbitraryWater

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Edited By ArbitraryWater

Oh man. The N-Gage. I remember that... flopping terribly. It didn't help that the DS and PSP came out like a year later.

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LaszloKovacs

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Edited By LaszloKovacs

This... is probably the best thing on the site right now. I have read this post several times, and it's still funny.

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Deusoma

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Edited By Deusoma
@Krataur said:
" Wait...I seriously just realized N-Gage was supposed to sound like Engage...  I'm just gonna blame that on Nokia as well.  Yep... "
Eh, it happens. Probably because they put all the emphasis on the wrong syllable.
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Shadow

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Edited By Shadow


.......yep
.......yep
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mattbodega

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Edited By mattbodega

HOW DOES GIANT BOMB KNOW THE BUGGY SAINTS ROW GUY??!?!?!!?

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Krataur

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Edited By Krataur

Wait...I seriously just realized N-Gage was supposed to sound like Engage...
 
I'm just gonna blame that on Nokia as well.  Yep...

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Mushir

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Edited By Mushir

The N-Gage sucked.

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Xeiphyer

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Edited By Xeiphyer

Oh Jeff, thanks for this! =P

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SBYM

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Edited By SBYM

This is fantastic.

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s-a-n-JR

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Edited By s-a-n-JR

@ZombiePie said:

"Ahh I remember when gaming websites had tabs for the N-Gage and then everyone realized it was a piece of crap and dropped support for it in an instant.
 
"


Haha, nice. Man Jeff looks young.

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dagas

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Edited By dagas

Which failed the most? N-gage or Gizmondo? (Finland and Sweden always have to compete even when it comes to worst handheld). I'm voting for Gizmondo, I mean crashing a Ferrari Enzo (and some other cars?) is pretty hard to beat.

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Donkey_Kong

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Edited By Donkey_Kong

I remember when the first ever N-Gage was announced and what a good idea I thought it was. Every loves their gameboy and everybody carries a cellphone, so I wondered why it took until 2003 for anybody to synthesize the two into one seemless device. I wanted one bad. At launch, it was terrible, and not seemless enough, that I didn't waste a penny on the damn thing. So long N-Gage!

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KingOfIceland

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Edited By KingOfIceland

What a superb and insightfull interview. 
 
And yes, I am quite ashamed of my lack of PENS!

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sparky_buzzsaw

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Edited By sparky_buzzsaw

Best interview since Frost and Nixon!  I give you both a thousand points.
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MildMolasses

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Edited By MildMolasses

I was really hoping that this would be another round table discussion like they had when Duke Nukem Forever was cancelled. That video was the tits
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citizenjp

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Edited By citizenjp

The N-Gage is a piece of dooky anyways.

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kerikxi

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Edited By kerikxi

Goodnight, sweet prince.