Nokia continues to shift focus away from mobile gaming

Nokia's VP of corporate strategy, Antii Vasara, has confirmed that there are no plans to develop future versions of the N-Gage as the company turns its focus towards other mobile entertainment media.

Speaking to Vnunet, Vasara admitted that the N-Gage did not achieve projected targets, stating: "N-Gage is still being sold but it was not a success in the sense of developing a new category."

"We learnt that people want to play games on all devices. As such we are integrating the gaming software into Series 60 phones."

Nokia will now focus on mobile TV and music with the introduction of handsets such as the N91 - a smartphone that can hold up to 3000 music tracks.

According to Vasara, Nokia will place a greater emphasis on mobile gaming in 2007, by which time screen sizes and quality will allow for better games.

Support for the existing N-Gage and N-Gage QD handsets continues, despite the fact that there are no plans to introduce further iterations in the series. Nokia recently announced the release of a raft of new software, and launched a new online store selling hardware and accessories. The company also continues to run N-Gage Arena, the mobile equivalent to Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service.