Apple 
Next week just can’t come soon enough, especially if you’re an avid iPhone gamer like me, because next week heralds the arrival of iOS 4.1 – a major update to the iOS software base. One of the biggest reasons to update (and forfeit your Jailbreak if you’re on a software version older than the current one) is ‘Game Center’: Apple’s social gaming network. Think, Xbox Live. Or even better, think N-Gage Arena, except with a bazillion more games and a much larger userbase.
Apple’s Game Center will offer it’s users a consistent account profile, leaderboards, unlockable achievements and friends lists. With the introduction of friends list functionality, comes matchmaking and competitive gaming. Users can invite their friends at anytime to join a game by sending a request. This request appears on the recipients device as a push notification - even if they’re not currently in the game. Man, I’m not gonna get any work done when this thing drops.
Game Center will live or die on it’s level of integration. At the moment, there are at least three third party social gaming networks available for iPhone/iPod touch, namely OpenFeint, Plus+ and Crystal. This means gamers may have multiple usernames and separate profiles – causing their unlocked achievements to be diluted and all other sorts of general mayhem. Not fun.
Here’s an idea: Apple, why don’t you integrate Game Center, iTunes and Ping? That would make for a pretty solid ‘entertainment network’. (FYI: I’ve just coined that term).
Expect a full review of Game Center when it arrives folks.
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