N-Gage $199 until November
UPDATE: Nokia's "Halloween promotion" cuts console's price by $100 at EBgames and Gamestop.
The two-week-old N-Gage received a major boost today, when Nokia slashed $100 off the console's $299 sticker price. This afternoon, Gamestop and Electronics Boutique began offering the hybrid cell phone/game deck for $199 on their Web sites and at their retail outlets. While still the most expensive game device on the market and twice as much as the $99 Game Boy Advance SP, the N-Gage is now in the same range as the $179 Xbox and PlayStation 2.
At first, the motives behind the drop were unclear. The fact the $100 is termed an "instant rebate" on EBgames.com and Gamestop.com suggested that N-Gage manufacturer Nokia could be behind the retail offensive. However, some analysts believe the two games merchants may be trying to rid their massive inventories of a poorly selling product. Also interestingly, no mention of the price drop is present on the official N-Gage site.
However, a Nokia spokesman told GameSpot that the $100 is part of an soon-to-be-announced "Halloween promotion" at EB and Gamestop which will run from October 24 to November 2.
