Gamers Talk, Nokia Responds
One thing that I will give to Nokia is that when problems arise, they’re typically rather quick to offer up a solution or response, and very rarely do they simply hope things will die down so they can sweep them under a rug. Earlier this week, AllAboutN-Gage discovered that currently, N-Gage games that you’d purchased were stuck on the IMEI of the phone – FOREVER. At the time of post, Nokia’s official stance was that games would only be transferred to a new IMEI through Nokia Care, and only in cases where the original handset was being replaced for warranty issues.
Here at Symbian-Guru we spoke out against this, and the story was picked up all over the internet, with the Nokia Conversations team picking up on the tremors and digging deep within the company to make sure Nokia was aware of how upset its users were.
The good news is that they were, and they’ve issued a statement, which you can find at the Conversations blog. Nokia will implement, as an interim solution, the ability for users to call in to Nokia Care and have their activation code transferred from one IMEI to another – regardless of the reason. The statement goes on to say that eventually, a more fluid solution will be added.
I have to say I’m completely satisfied. Several users at the N-Gage forum spoke out against the DRM on these games altogether, but I don’t think that’s the problem, at all. I can say that I will be purchasing Snakes Subsonic later today (after I get my work done, lol), and likely Creatures of the Deep soon, as well.
I’ll also update this post in the future if we get concrete details about the number to call to switch, and that sort of thing. In any case, I just want to point out two things:
1. This was brought about by bloggers and users voicing their opinion – it proves the power of the S60 community, really. There are other communities built around mobile phones, sure, but in my opinion, the S60 community of blogs and users is one of the most powerful, and that’s awesome. I’m very proud to be a part of that.
2. Nokia, while they obviously sometimes make stupid decisions, is very open to change, and very open to listening to their customers – which is you guys. I’m a fan.
That’s indeed good news.
I will like to thank Nokia especially for taking the users opinions into consideration.
And of course without blogs like this and the S60 community, things like this wouldn’t have happened.
that’s awesome! glad to know that they have listened to everyone’s concerns.
[...] N-Gage game licensing policy that I discussed yesterday! From the same source as the original news, Symbian Guru reports today that Nokia has issued a temporary fix for the issue until a permanent solution is [...]
It was inevitable.
I agree, this response is adequate, and even if we can’t have transfers today the fact they’re promising them for the near future makes me feel confident about buying new games.
Y’know, if Nokia gets this response publicised widely enough, this whole controversy could turn out to actually benefit N-Gage because:
1. It shows Nokia responding to fan criticism appropriately and VERY quickly.
2. It gives the new N-Gage platform more publicity than it’s ever had up until now.
3. By their very nature the news items all emphasise the phone-to-phone angle, which gets across that this is no longer a single gaming-oriented device but a platform available across a range of “ordinary” phones.
Thumbs up for s60 community! :)
Folks,
Talk is Cheap.
I think together we have reached a point where the problem and feedback have been publicly and thoroughly displayed and discussed. Next is the hard part: delivery.
I would not like us to be all chummy now that we’ve agreed there’s a problem only to later not do a thing about it. Right?
I’m counting on all of you to keep the NGage folks’ feet to the fire and make sure they deliver on their promise in a reasonable time.
I think you guys should ping us again in a few months to make sure progress has been made.
Deal?
Tchau,
Charlie
http://conversations.nokia.com