Nokia signs industry veteran for UK push

Games industry veteran Nick Alexander is to lend his considerable experience to the Nokia N-Gage cause, according to sources close to the mobile handset giant.

Former Virgin Interactive and Sega UK chief Alexander will be working closely with Nokia in a consultancy capacity, with a brief to improve the N-Gage's thus-far lacklustre positioning among UK gamers, where it is believed that the hybrid mobile game 'deck' has sold less than 5,000 units since its launch last year through traditional gaming retailers.

Nokia has been vocal on the unfair use of ChartTrack figures to illustrate its N-Gage performance, but sources indicate that game stores still represent a third of the true figure, meaning the N-Gage may have sold just 15,000 units in the territory to date.

Alexander clearly has his work cut out, but will relish the task of being thrust back into a challenging role.