Gamers ‘angry’ over new N-Gage’s DRM

Will Nokia ever catch a break? It’s latest stab at the N-Gage – which turns it from a flop hardware platform to a digital distribution system – was plagued with delays, and now that it’s launched users are being ‘angered’ by the service’s DRM according to the BBC.

The anti-piracy measures in the new N-Gage platform lock each game bought and downloaded not to each user’s account – but to each handset, so if a player upgrades a device they will have to pay for all their games again.

Now gamers are up in arms about it.

"It’s a bad idea for everyone… the N-Gage platform, gamers and third party publishers," the BBC quotes site All About N-Gage as saying.

Nokia’s terms and conditions read: "Content shall be […] limited to one private installation on one N-Gage compatible Nokia device only."

But now gamers are campaigning Nokia to change the situation.

In a post on the official N-Gage forum, one user said: "Changes need to be made soon, and sticking one’s head in the sand will not change anybody’s mind."

The Telegraph prints a response from Nokia which reads: "Our policy is that the N-Gage activation codes only work on the device where they were first activated. As with any digital media there is a potential risk of piracy and this policy is one of the ways we are dealing with piracy and ensuring our partners receive their rightful revenues from our platform. If users need to repair their device, the activation codes will be reissued."