You can't do that with an XBox

December 5, 2003 2:28 PM

Sidetalkinprovides humorous photos that force us to ask the question: Has Nokia's NGage redefined phone ergonomics or simply provided a humorous diversion for a slow Friday afternoon?
posted by donovan (14 comments total)

I am swimming in confusion
posted by Outlawyr at 2:35 PM on December 5, 2003

Thank you donovan.

[this is good]
posted by Ms.JaneDoe at 2:41 PM on December 5, 2003

one or two actually of girls

I found this rather telling.
posted by sharpener at 2:50 PM on December 5, 2003

So, its some kind of handheld game that is also a phone and you have to hold it in an unusual way in order to use it as a phone? I don't get it.

I'm pretty sure the first site is some kind of viral marketing site, but I can't prove it. The whois leads you to these people.
posted by anastasiav at 2:55 PM on December 5, 2003

That's exactly what it is anastasiav. A phone that is goofy because you have to side talk, but it's also a video game so people made fun of it with this site.

The site is weeks (if not months) old now, coming out days after the phone was released. Panic Software are a bunch of good guys, fun loving programmers in Portland that I've met and have no hidden agenda other than simply mocking a new technology for laughs.
posted by mathowie at 3:01 PM on December 5, 2003

how the hell did they get a picture of my cat on that site? and where did she get the gameboy? damn cat.

and i don't think panic is doing any viral marketing. in addition to its badass ftp client, it is also the place to go for food reviews. and this.
posted by birdherder at 3:04 PM on December 5, 2003

That's hilarious.
posted by carter at 3:06 PM on December 5, 2003

Yeah, Sidetalkin' is unquestionably genuine mockery. Those who spend too much time keeping up on video game news (not that I know anyone like that) have no doubt. The N-Gage is just a big colossal mess of a system that proves, once again, that large companies (Nokia) that do very well in their field (mobile phones) can be fuckups when they wander into new territory (handheld gaming).

What's really fabulous is the tremendous amount of effort Nokia is putting out to pretend like they haven't totally screwed the pooch. They've made claims as to having sold something like half a million units -- but the vast majority of those are still sitting, unpurchased despite massive rebates, on the shelves of games stores, while GBAs continue to fly.

It makes for some primo schadenfreude, lemme tell ya.
posted by cortex at 3:10 PM on December 5, 2003

That's my new favorite dating website! But, how do you respond to the pictures? Boy, there are a couple I'd like to date...
posted by PigAlien at 3:23 PM on December 5, 2003

Hardcore gaming fansites helped turn this into a rather marvelous collection of rare consoles. It makes me hurt with envy. Look, it's one of the five guys who has a Bandai Playdia!
posted by kevspace at 3:25 PM on December 5, 2003

hehehe!
posted by nthdegx at 3:29 PM on December 5, 2003

Holy crap, its like a catalogue of nerds! Unbelievably hairy nerd. Check. Classic Poindexter. Check. Anime nerd. Check.
posted by skallas at 5:14 PM on December 5, 2003

Silly Nokia. And they could have worked with Nintendo too.
posted by bonaldi at 2:29 AM on December 6, 2003

man, and i thought i looked silly talking into my palm pilot on the bart, phew.
posted by NGnerd at 7:45 PM on December 6, 2003