If there’s anything you can guarantee about a video game system, it’s that in 20 years after one suffers a commercial failure there will be a tiny yet rabid group of enthusiasts obsessed with that system. It’s true for the Virtual Boy, the Atari Jaguar, and of course, the Nokia N-Gage. For those not familiar, this was a quirky competitor of the Game Boy Advance that was also a cell phone. And for that reason it had more buttons than a four-player arcade cabinet, which has led to things like this custom controller.
Most N-Gage gaming these days takes place on emulators, this build is specifically built for the emulator experience. The original system had so many buttons that it’s difficult to get even a standard 102-key keyboard mapped comfortably to it, so something custom is almost necessary. [Lvaneede], the creator of this project, took some parts from an existing arcade cabinet he had and 3D printed the case in order to craft this custom controller. The buttons he chose are a little stiff for his liking, but it’s much better than using a keyboard.
In the video below, [Lvaneede] demonstrates it with a few of the N-Gage’s games. It seems to hold up pretty well. With backing from Sony and Sega, it’s a shame that these gaming platforms weren’t a bigger hit than they were, but there are plenty of people around with original hardware who are still patching and repairing them so they can still play some of these unique games.
Thanks to [Michael] for the tip!
Thanks for featuring my controller and video. As a small creator, its great to have some exposure
Looks lime there were enough exclusive titles to make it a fun addition to an emulator. Well done!
Wow, this is an unnecessary level of luxury I need for all my emulation. :)
> it’s a shame that these gaming platforms weren’t a bigger hit than they were
The games were mad expensive, they were simply rehashes and copies of games on better platforms, and the N-Gage sucked as a phone. It had all sorts of problems, like the loudspeaker/microphone placement that had you holding the phone edgewise to your ear like an idiot. Playing games on it would also drain the battery very quickly, which was a bad thing at the time since ubiquitous fast USB charging and pocket power banks weren’t a thing yet.
Am I the only one who was expecting this to be about model railways?
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_N_gauge )
While I do have N-guage railway components, my first thought was Capt. Picard ordering “Engage!
B^)