Nokia is expected to port the underlying gaming technology behind N-Gage and its successor software platform - introduced at the annual Games Developer Conference in March - to its consumer-centric Nseries smartphones during the first half of next year. Building on that, Nokia recently announced plans to work more closely with Gameloft to make a range of the developer's games available for its devices at that time.

"Gameloft has been a driving force in the mobile games industry so it's only natural for us to increase our level of cooperation as we evolve our mobile games strategy and launch our next generation games platform next year," said Jaakko Kaidesoja Nokia director, games, Multimedia. "Gameloft has an amazing portfolio of mobile games and supporting technologies that generate fantastic mobile experiences. Working with them fits well with our strategy."

Meanwhile, at the largest game show in the world, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), taking place in Los Angeles this week, the Finnish phone maker took a step towards better-than-Java gameplay on multiple handsets with the introduction of six new games. The upcoming titles include Creatures of the Deep, ONE, Pocket Aces, Pro Series Golf, Space Impact and System Rush: Evolution; all playable on not just N-Gage, but Nseries smartphones and other Symbian-based S60 handsets as well.

Three - Space Impact, System Rush: Evolution, and ONE-Who's Next? - update current franchises. Space Impact is an arcade title where you can customize your fighter with various weapons and battle more than 30 enemies, including explosive ballistic cannons and deadly energy leeches, while navigating across 10 levels.

System Rush: Evolution is a futuristic interactive 3D racing game sequel. The players are pitted against a new network defenses and hacker bosses, and posses a new form of experimental technology to beat the 10 newly installed network "firewalls."

The follow up to 2004's ONE features more advanced graphics, including real-time reflections, light glow and gameplay at 30 frames per second. It also includes adaptable controls and all new scenarios, some designed for landscape mode gaming.

Creatures of the Deep is a fishing game with vibration feedback; with Pocket Aces: Texas Hold'em, players can use their winnings to customize their avatar, which learns their user's poker strategies and eventually becomes capable of playing on its own; and the multiplayer Pro Series Golf enables you to challenge your friends or others from around the world through the N-Gage Arena.

Nokia director of games of publishing Gregg Sauter said, "Nokia is redefining current mobile games benchmarks by offering top quality games on a range of devices. Whether you have a few seconds to make a catch in Creatures of the Deep or a few minutes to fight to the top in ONE, we make it easy and convenient to get and play great quality games on your Nokia device."

According to Telecoms & Media, mobile gaming surpassed $2.43 billion in 2005, is projected to reach $4.02 billion this year, and could top $10.17 billion in revenue by the end of the decade.

Nokia Gaming Solutions
The developer tools Nokia unveiled in March include Game Development Libraries based on C++ programming libraries that are updatable on client devices for resolving compatibility issues, and new features including industry standard DRM solutions for content protection with minimal integration. Developers can also take advantage of the real-time connected gaming and community features enabled by the N-Gage Arena.

There's also Nokia provided debugging and analyzing tools, as well as enhanced support through a new PRO Games Zone section for game developers on Forum Nokia, the company's developer site. It joins an expanded Mobile Games section on the Forum Nokia community Web site.

Nokia also wants to make it easier for operators to create communities for gamers to support its new mobile game interface and developer initiatives. SNAP Mobile's purpose is to encourage the creation of these online communities for mobile Java games, using the same underlying technology as N-Gage Arena.

Operators who choose SNAP Mobile’s Starter Kit or Standard Package, for example, can have their users hosted on the SNAP Mobile Community, a full-featured, generic Web site, which creates an online gaming community almost instantly, according to Nokia.

Nokia said in-game players will have their own unique user identities, as well as features such as friend lists, presence, rankings, chat and instant messaging. Out-of-game, users will not only have the ability to maintain their unique user identities and view rankings, but will also have at their disposal news and events, message boards, and featured game pages.