Rare are those who haven't played a game on their cell phones. Whether it is Snake, Cricket or Sudoku, handsets these days inevitably come bundled with a few games on them. But although mobile games are downloaded by the million, the mobile itself is not considered a gaming device, norwithstanding a few efforts on this front. Well, Nokia's N-Gage platform could change that. Already in the final stages of development as we go to print, the platform could add a whole new dimension to mobile gaming by allowing users to play and purchase games online, as well as share experiences and maybe even face-off against each other.

In fact, there are indications that N-Gage could well be a mobile version of Microsoft's Xbox Live, which made console gaming a community rather than a standalone affair! And it is this attempt to foster a gaming community that might see mobile gaming finally come of age, as mobile gamers are currently a rather disconnected lot, playing games on a host of devices. Game developers are also likely to welcome N-Gage as it will give them a fixed platform for which to develop games, saving them the headache of having to come out with different versions for different handset manufacturers.

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Users, of course, are likely to love the experience of being able to play online, try out games before purchasing them, and swap messages with opponents without having to boot a PC or a console. Of course, cynics will scoff at the notion that a person will buy a phone purely for gaming, but then who had heard of a gaming PC in 1990?