Nokia Say N-Gage Popularity Increasing

Ah, N-Gage. Such a…tarnished brand. You’d think after two failed N-Gage handsets and a “who cares?” launch of an N-Gage gaming portal, Nokia would just give up. But they’re not.

According to a statement released by the company yesterday, the number of registered users on the new service (think Xbox Live, but for phones) has “accelerated”. The reason? When the new N-Gage service was launched, it was an optional download. People didn’t care.

But now, it comes bundled and pre-installed on many of the company’s phones, meaning more people are willing to give it a shot. While refusing to disclose the number of actual, active users, the company did say that “almost” 1 million N-Gage accounts have been created and registered since the launch of the service.

Which will sound like complete rubbish to American readers, but remember: in many other countries (especially European ones), Nokia phones rule the mobile roost. The more handsets that come with N-Gage included, the more users Nokia will be able to attract to the service.

Nokia says gaming service take-up growing [Reuters]