Nokia's gaming handset, the N-Gage, has succumbed to the pirates - but the maker is fighting back.
Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia has confirmed that its phone-cum-console, launched in October, has been cracked. Enterprising users have removed the copy protection that was formerly active on the games' memory cards, which allows the N-Gage's games to be played on any Series 60-based phone, such as the Siemens SX1, and to be traded over the internet.
Nokia's response has been swift, as the company has stated its intention to work with ISPs and law-enforcement organizations to root out and punish any lawbreakers. Nokia are also working on strengthening the security of their gaming range, which currently consists of eight titles.
The success of the N-Gage as a gaming platform and phone - a unique combination - is already uncertain, with mixed reviews and stiff competition from the Nintendo GameBoy and the newly-announced portable PlayStation from Sony. Winning the support of game publishers will become still more difficult in the light of this latest piracy threat.
Nokia's games are stored on industry-standard MMC cards, rather than proprietary cartridges, which obviously makes it easier for users to pirate games. Added to this, Nokia chose the popular Symbian OS for its console, which is also used by other handset manufacturers.
As well as being shared across the web, games have apparently also been pirated across phone communities such as Nokia's own N-Gage Arena. The company are carefully watching for links to actual files, although few seem to be readily available.
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