The portable games console market has been served very nicely by Nintendo and its Gameboy models for many a year. So much so, in fact, that every competitor has fallen by the wayside, leaving the current Gameboy Advance SP to entertain portable gamers single-handedly. Other manufacturers are now eyeing a piece of this pie, however, and while Sony's PlayStation Portable won't appear until at least next year, Nokia has launched the N-Gage in time for Christmas.

Nokia isn't best known for its gaming products, so the N-Gage is a bit of a gamble. It's not a complete leap into a new area, though, since the N-Gage is still a mobile phone, but this function is strictly secondary to its game-playing abilities.

The N-Gage looks like Nokia's other funny phones - it's shaped more like a game controller, with the keypad on the right, a four-way control button on the left and a small colour screen in the middle. Given the current trend for tiny phones, the N-Gage is big but it's slender and will still slip easily into a pocket.

As a phone, it works just like any other Nokia model. It's tri-band and supports GPRS and MMS, although there's no built-in digital camera. It also has Bluetooth, a built-in FM radio and an MP3 player, and it can be used for email. You do have to hold the phone edge-on to your ear to use it, which is awkward and looks silly, but it may catch on.

As a mini games console, the N-Gage is a bit of a mixed bag. The main disincentive is the price - £220 from Virgin mobile and much the same elsewhere without a contract.

The small screen (half the size of a Gameboy Advance SP's) is a bit of a pain on the eyes too, even if the 3D graphics look pretty.

Unfortunately, when it comes to swapping the MMC cards that games come on, Nokia has really dropped the ball. Rather than popping a card in and out of a slot, changing cards entails removing both the back cover and the battery, which is convoluted to say the least.

Contact: Virgin Mobile 0845 600 0070
www.n-gage.com