A rush of consumer complaints directed at Nokia would seem to suggest that the re-launch honeymoon is over for the world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer as it once again attempts to ground its N-Gage videogame service.
Nokia\'s new N-Gage software service suffers a setback following game-lock consumer complaints. Image: Plutor/Flickr.
While Nokia has leant away from an N-Gage hardware platform this time around, opting for a software download system that’s instantly accessible for compatible Nokia mobile devices, user complaints regarding the locking of software to a single handset is causing something of a reactionary ruckus.
Specifically, customers are far from happy to learn that, upon purchasing and downloading an N-Gage title to their handsets, their game is then forever tied to the original host device and can not be transferred should they choose to replace their handset with a newer, or better Nokia product at any time in the future.
According to the All About N-Gage website, which first uncovered the contentious software lock, should a game owner wish to continue enjoying their N-Gage title (or titles) on their new handset, they are then forced to purchase and download it once again.
“It’s a bad idea for everyone,” commented the diligent fan site, “the N-Gage platform, gamers and third-party publishers.”
By way of reaction to the gathering gamer complaints, which somewhat damage the company’s reborn N-Gage ethos of creating a community of users that appreciate connectivity, the Finnish titan has said that its decision to lock software was to prevent piracy and ensure the protection of their business partners.
“Our policy is that the N-Gage activation codes only work on the device where they were first activated,” said Nokia in an official statement. “As with any digital media there is a potential risk of piracy and this policy is one of the ways we are dealing with piracy and ensuring our partners receive their rightful revenues from our platform. If users need to repair their device, the activation codes will be reissued.”
And, although customers are perhaps rightly aggrieved by the inability to transfer their purchased content -- especially as Nokia allows the transfer of similarly priced music downloads -- the terms and conditions for N-Gage membership do state that game titles are “limited to one private installation on one N-Gage compatible Nokia device only.”
Update: All About N-Gage is now reporting that Nokia has changed its stance on software locking and handset transfers will soon be made available via customer service -- with a more efficient long-term solution to be announced at a later date.
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