Despite its incessant efforts over the years to bring to its 2003-introduced N-Gage gaming platform the desired success, Nokia finally announced on Friday that it intends shuttering the device as well as the N-Gage store down in 2010-end.

N-Gage, which was Nokia's standalone handheld gaming device, managed a small yet fervent fan-following. However, the device was discontinued later, and Nokia decided to develop phones for the N-Gage platform; and in early 2008, it introduced phones that allowed users to play N-Gage games.

Posting a note about its latest plans pertaining to the N-Gage platform, Nokia informed its users on its N-Gage Web site that it would soon stop publishing new N-Gage games. The existing games will be sold till September 2010; and soon after that it will disable the N-Gage. com Web site and community aspects of the platform.

Expressing its gratitude towards the N-Gage users, Nokia said: "Thank you for being part of the N-Gage community and your participation over the years."

Nokia's shift in strategy related to N-Gage clearly implies that the company wants its die-hard gaming customers to turn to its Ovi application store, which is already supported by nearly 100 Nokia models, and will come as a built-in feature on most of the new compatible Nokia devices, including the Symbian S60 and Series 40 phones, from the 2009 fourth quarter onwards.