Mobile giant Nokia has begun its second phase on handheld gaming dominance, with the launch of the N-Gage platform dedicated for gaming only. The company has shifted its approach, from focusing on a dedicated games system to titles which can be played on a range of Nokia devices. The N-Gage “First Access” process has been kick-started with N81 owners getting a preview of the download.

This N-Gage First Access lets N81 owners download the pre-release version of the N-Gage application tryout and buy selected N-Gage games. Other N-Gage compatible devices will be added to the service in near future. N-Gage has the support of developers such as EA, Gameloft and Vivendi, who are making titles for the platform.

Nokia’s first launched of N-Gage handset in 2003 was criticized for its design and poor sales led to the phone being quickly overhauled with new versions, including the QD. The primary target of the N-Gage device was to compete with the highly-successful Nintendo GameBoy, which off course didn’t even come closer.

This alpha release of “First Access” could be the sign that Nokia is considering to evolve the N-Gage as a gaming platform rather than a device, which could be the turning point.

This is the portal application that allows access to the games and community features. This is a pre-release version and the features of the service are still evolving. Do not try to install it on other N-gage devices, since the device check will only allow the installation to N81 series.

More Details on N-gage Blog.