Elimentals
Honorary Master
With the announcement of iOS5 yesterday something big is going unnoticed, and I think that this will be the new war on mobile platforms. That feature is called Social Game.
iOS revealed there enhanced Game Center on iOS 5 to directly target Windows Phone 7's Xbox live and bring the social aspect of gaming to the mobile with achievements and following friends. Windows Phone had this feature and hooked up the Xbox live experience to be able to carry your points and achievements on your mobile as well as being able to get points with the games you play on your mobile phone.
Android again had there own game center announced in the form of PlayStation Suite. I dont know how I feel about something so open as Android running with something so closed as Sony, but time will tell. We will see how it goes with the new Sony Express Play and if people will grab onto the concept but Sony did state yesterday with there key announcements that it will come to all certified Android devices.
Also you can see your Xbox friends and achievements on iOS and Android with Xbox applications, only limitation is that you can not earn points on the mobile. The same can not be said about the other 2 products as they are directed to the supported platforms only.
We also have unified game centers like the one from Gameloft where iOS, Android, and Windows Phone players can communicate and spar off against each other and ern achievements and gamer points, with no artificial walls between the devices. Only problem with the centers like Gameloft is that it only support the games they created.
We will see where this leads in the next year or two. Personally I would love for a unified experience like Gameloft but open for all developers. Maybe OpenFeint might be a better route.
iOS revealed there enhanced Game Center on iOS 5 to directly target Windows Phone 7's Xbox live and bring the social aspect of gaming to the mobile with achievements and following friends. Windows Phone had this feature and hooked up the Xbox live experience to be able to carry your points and achievements on your mobile as well as being able to get points with the games you play on your mobile phone.
Android again had there own game center announced in the form of PlayStation Suite. I dont know how I feel about something so open as Android running with something so closed as Sony, but time will tell. We will see how it goes with the new Sony Express Play and if people will grab onto the concept but Sony did state yesterday with there key announcements that it will come to all certified Android devices.
Also you can see your Xbox friends and achievements on iOS and Android with Xbox applications, only limitation is that you can not earn points on the mobile. The same can not be said about the other 2 products as they are directed to the supported platforms only.
We also have unified game centers like the one from Gameloft where iOS, Android, and Windows Phone players can communicate and spar off against each other and ern achievements and gamer points, with no artificial walls between the devices. Only problem with the centers like Gameloft is that it only support the games they created.
We will see where this leads in the next year or two. Personally I would love for a unified experience like Gameloft but open for all developers. Maybe OpenFeint might be a better route.
