Though we've known for a while that the next N-Gage -- in whatever form it'll ultimately take -- will be drastically different than Nokia's lackluster gaming efforts thus far, details have been slim for the picking. While we don't know with certainty whether there's going to be an actual in-the-flesh N-Gage 2 per se, the software platform to support it is a done deal, and we've got good news: it'll support several existing Nokia phones from day one. "Something like 5-7," in fact, according to Jaakko Kaidesoja of Nokia's Play New Experience division, which is the next N-Gage platform's caretaker. What models make up that list remains to be seen, but upcoming games have been demonstrated on several Nseries devices, suggesting that most (if not all) S60 3rd Edition phones may make the compatibility list. Granted, none of those phones have the kinds of controls we'd expect out of a gaming-oriented device, but there's some talk that we might see a Bluetooth controller down the road designed specifically to make those complicated moves a little easier to execute (provided the user has the required thumb dexterity, that is). Add that to N-Gage's online features and the N93's TV out, and we have the makings of a makeshift game console on our hands, no?

[Via Tech Digest]