最近的不少新闻表明，手机游戏的跨平台发展趋势日益明显。据游邦了解，Aurora Feint公司日前旗下的手机游戏平台OpenFeint将支持不同手机操作系统的用户跨平台互动。这项称为OpenFeint Connect的服务支持iOS、Android、Windows Phone 7和Palm Pre这些手机用户同时进行游戏互动。据TechCrunch报道，有一家位于美国加州初创企业Game Closure，日前也发布了一项类似的服务，支持开发商创建基于HTML5的手机游戏，让游戏在不同手机浏览器中运行。这就是社交游戏在手机平台的发展方向吗？

farmville-iphone

游戏邦获悉，像Zynga之类的社交游戏开发商已经采用HTML5技术，开发跨平台手机游戏《Mafia Wars》。现在又有了Game Closure提供的服务，开发商很可能也会开始创建基于HTML5的手机游戏，让用户跨平台体验游戏乐趣。不过在这一点上，OpenFeint似乎有更好的主意。

HTML5游戏目前尚不敌原始手机应用（想想iPhone版本的《FarmVille》）的运行性能，据Aurora Feint首席执行官Jason Citron所称，OpenFeint Connect可以让原始版本的游戏用户实现障碍的互动和沟通。想象一下，假如《FarmVille》是针对Android平台而开发的，不管这个版本看起来还是玩起来很像iOS版本，但却只能在Android手机上运行。游戏邦获悉，OpenFeint提供的新服务，支持iOS和Android两个版本的《FarmVille》玩家在同一时空相互交涌和体验游戏。

手机社交游戏朝这个方向发展是一个自然而然的过程。Facebook是一种面向所有浏览器和Flash技术的服务，而Flash又是在电脑平台上运行的社交游戏的主要开发工具，所以开发商如果只针对某个特定的手机平台开发Facebook游戏，那就无异于限制了自己的发展空间。不过游戏邦认为，HTML5技术要赶上手机原始应用的运行效果，可能还得再经历一段时间才行。

目前最具知名度的HTML5手机游戏是《Mafia Wars Atlantic City》，但比起iPhone版本的《FarmVille》其实还有一定差距。但HTML5技术总会不断成熟，直至完全追赶上手机原始应用，提供与其毫无区别的用户体验。这样一来，游戏玩家就可以看到高质量的社交游戏在多个手机平台大量涌现，到那个时候，OpenFeint Connect就可以派上大用场了。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Is the future of mobile social games cross platform play?

Recent headlines certainly suggest that mobile games will be developed for multiple mobile devices at once. OpenFeint creator Aurora Feint announced today that its mobile social network for games will soon support play across several mobile operating systems, VentureBeat reports. The service, known as OpenFeint Connect, will allow iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7, and Palm Pre devices to play games with one another. Coincidentally (yeah, right) Game Closure, a Palo Alto, Calif.–based start up, has launched a service of the same name, according to TechCrunch. It allows developers to create HTML5-based games and release them on several mobile devices at once through their respective mobile browsers. Is this where social games are headed on mobile devices?

It sure looks like it, doesn’t it? Developers like Zynga have already released games such as Mafia Wars for mobile through HTML5 on several devices. With Game Closure, developers would be forced to create HTML5-based games for its cross platform service to work. However, OpenFeint appears to have a better idea.

HTML5 hasn’t exactly caught up with what native mobile games (think FarmVille for iPhone) can do. So, OpenFeint Connect allows these native games to communicate regardless, according to OpenFeint CEO Jason Citron. For instance, imagine if FarmVille was created for Android, a version that looked and played exactly like its iOS friend yet was only available for Android. With the new OpenFeint, players of both the iOS and Android versions of FarmVille could communicate and play together.

It’s only natural for mobile social games to head in this direction. Facebook is a multiplatform service available on every browser out there and Flash–the primary tool for creating social games on computers–is compatible with them all as well. To release a mobile version of a Facebook game on one device (ahem, FarmVille) is just limiting yourself. However, it is going to be a long time before HTML5 catches up with native gaming apps on mobile devices.

The best mainstream HTML5 mobile game out there is Mafia Wars Atlantic City, which is clearly miles behind FarmVille for iPhone. Hopefully it will mature to a level that natives apps are capable of. That way, us gamers could see high-quality mobile social games released on several devices as quickly as they crop up on Facebook. Until then, OpenFeint Connect can have the job.（Source：Games.com）