Nokia N‑Gage

The Nokia N-Gage was a hybrid gadget that tried to combine a phone and a handheld game system into one heroic taco-shaped device. It was built on the extremely confident belief that convergence could beat dedicated hardware.

Even though it struggled, the N-Gage pushed the idea that gaming and phones were eventually going to collide in a serious way. In that sense, it was awkward, clumsy, and oddly prophetic.

Its design compromises made both calling and gaming weirder than they needed to be, which gave critics an absolute buffet of material.

The N-Gage is still remembered fondly because it failed loudly, boldly, and in a shape nobody could ignore.