Click to View

Finnish cell phone giant Nokia today showed off its new mobile gaming phone, the N-Gage, at events in London and Sydney, Australia, and announced partnerships with several game developers.

THe N-Gage mobile game deck, which Nokia announced in November, allows for multi-player gaming via a short-range wireless Bluetooth connection or the wider-area phone network.

The company said the N-Gage will be available in the fourth quarter, which is later than expected. Nokia had originally said the phone would ship in February. Pricing has not yet been determined.

Nokia said the N-Gage will provide opportunities for game developers, network operators and other service providers to generate new revenue streams. According to ScreenDigest, the European wireless gaming market will be worth 2.2 billion euros ($2.39 billion) by 2006.

Game publishers including Activision, Sega, Taito and THQ Wireless have agreed to develop games for the N-Gage. Nokia said it would also develop games.

Nokia also announced a mobile phone partner: T-Mobile. The companies said that they would co-develop games and services globally for the N-Gage.