More Ways for Malaysians to ‘N-Gage’

New partnerships with Maxis and i-Serve make the N-Gage experience simpler

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Hooked on “Creatures of the Deep” or the ever popular “Tetris”?
Malaysian consumers will now be able to try and buy these and other games from Nokia’s N-Gage service through Maxis and i-Serve.

The agreements with Malaysia’s leading mobile operator, Maxis Communications Berhad (“Maxis”) and i-Serve Technology Sdn Bhd (“i-Serve”) mean that Maxis subscribers will now have the option of operator billing to pay for their N-Gage games while Malaysian consumers will be able to instantly download trial or purchase full game licenses from i-Serve kiosks nationwide.
“We would like to thank our partners Maxis and i-Serve for making these initiatives possible. Our commitment with the N-Gage platform is to provide a seamless experience that allows for easy discovery, trial, purchase, and play of quality mobile gaming content and these partnerships are making it easier than ever for local consumers to get into the experience,” said Vlasta Berka, General Manager of Nokia Malaysia.

“This is in line with our strategy to introduce Nokia’s internet services to Malaysia. We understand that to reach the local market, we need to create accessible and relevant channels. Not everyone has a credit card or would love to make a purchase via the internet. Thus, steps such as localising pricing and working with local partners are a key prerogative for us. In the end, what we want to achieve is a seamless, simple experience for the consumer,” he added.

These partnerships follow the implementation of local pricing for N-Gage games which ranges from RM23.00 to RM30.00 for a full game license.

Engaging Malaysia’s biggest mobile gamer community

What this initiative brings to Maxis’ avid and large mobile games user base is the easy option of paying for N-Gage game downloads over-the-air from their Nokia devices.

“It will be so easy now for Maxis customers to purchase game licenses from N-Gage. The new billing system allows Maxis customers to make these purchases with just a click of a button on the N-Gage application residing in their Nokia handsets. Now any Maxis postpaid or prepaid subscriber with an N-Gage-compatible Nokia device can directly purchase the game licenses and start playing, without having to use a credit card,” said T. Kugan, Maxis’ Head of Product Development and Infotainment Services. “With this arrangement, Maxis extends our already extensive mobile entertainment value proposition to our 600,000 mobile gamers – the largest mobile gaming community in Malaysia today.”

Maxis postpaid and Hotlink prepaid customers are now able to browse for games and download trial versions through the N-Gage application via Maxis 3G, free of data-charges. Purchasing a full game license is also really simple – Maxis customers can just charge it to their phone bill (postpaid accounts) or have the cost deducted from their remaining credit (for prepaid customers).

What’s more? N-Gage action comes to life with the Nokia-Maxis Mini N-Gage Game Challenge 08/09 at Maxis Centres in Kuala Lumpur.

Members of the public are invited to join in the games and compete for great prizes. The Nokia-Maxis Mini N-Gage Game Challenge 08/09 will be held at:

Maxis Centre, Pavilion Shopping Mall
27 – 28 December 2008 from 12 noon until 9 pm

Maxis Centre, Berjaya Times Square
3 – 4, 10 – 11 January 2009 from 12 noon until 9 pm


Get N-Gage from 140 i-Serve kiosks Nationwide

The agreement with i-Serve means customers N-Gage games will now be made available for trial or purchase and activate at 140 i-Serve kiosks already deployed around the country.

All users have to do is follow simple on-screen instructions to get their chosen games downloaded onto their N-Gage compatible devices via Bluetooth. Consumers also have the option to pay for one-day, one-week or full licenses for N-Gage games at the kiosk by cash.

“Our machine is a 24x7 self-service touch screen interactive kiosk which is user friendly that provides excellent user experience. We let the customer understand the content of the game before a purchase is made. This is done by way of touching on the game description to preview a short video. We are most proud to bring our kiosks directly to you at strategic locations such as local universities and colleges nationwide. We will soon be deploying our kiosks to condominiums, apartments, hypermarkets and shopping malls in major cities,” said Allan Goh, Managing Director of i-Serve Technology Sdn Bhd.

“We strongly believe in bringing convenience to our customers. Our kiosks allow purchases to be made by cash, as we understand that, not everyone owns a credit card today. We are most proud to be a partner of Nokia to bring N-Gage games to customers via our kiosks.” he added.

All Nokia users can download N-Gage applications and trial games to their compatible mobile devices directly through the N-Gage application on their devices, side-loaded via their PCs (games downloaded from www.ngage.com) or through i-Serve kiosks nationwide.

N-Gage games feature dynamic gameplay, vivid graphics and a community to connect you to other players across the street or around the world. Some of the games available are FIFA 2009, ONE, Brothers in Arms, Midnight Pool, Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, Pro Series Golf, The Sims 2 Pets, Snakes Subsonic, Mile High Pinball, Tetris etc. More than 30 games have been announced for the N-Gage platform.

Today’s N-Gage compatible devices include: Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia N78, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N82, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N79, Nokia N85 and Nokia N96.

To find out more about N-Gage, visit http://www.n-gage.com on your mobile device or PC. New games, features and compatible devices will be added regularly.