Established publishers and developers have already signed up to produce content for the Finnish giant’s Nseries phones and S60 software, which are due for release early next year.

And now Nokia’s head of games for UK and Ireland Martin O’Driscoll has told ME sister magazine MCV that games consumers will be forced to make a choice between its mobiles, Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS.

“There’s going to reach a point where we and other handheld platform owners are battling for the same partners and the same consumers,” said O’Driscoll.

“We’re moving into a new competitive space, where we have a real attractive offering for the games consumer. The research is showing us that people are playing games on phones more often and spending more time doing it. These are no longer just ‘casual’ games – they are real games played by real gamers.”

He added: “The consumer will have to make a decision: does he wants a standalone gaming device with a limited browsing capability or a phone with an MP3 player, a camera and a bloody good games platform? I think consumers will be prepared to spend £300 on a phone that offers all those different things rather than £100 to £150 for a standalone games machine.”

The news comes after Nokia released a new study revealing worldwide mobile gaming habits. The research found that the average length of a mobile gaming session is 28 minutes, and that over 80 per cent of mobile gamers play at least once a week.

The report also concluded that community-based play will prove vital in the future growth of mobile gaming.