Xbox Live和PlayStation在传统游戏领域具有很好的玩家黏性，现在这样的状况已经延续到了苹果游戏中心（手机社交游戏平台）。Scott Steinberg将它称为是苹果对竞争对手的巧妙的抄袭。

game center

Sandlot Games首席执行官Daniel Bernstein表示很多成分在传统游戏操作台时代就已经存在的东西现在已经成功被演绎到智能手机上，从一个领域到另外一个领域无疑就具有革命性的意义。

Bernstein将苹果手机社交游戏平台称为是手机游戏领域的facebook。但是事实上Jim Squires并不这么认为，他觉得苹果手机社交游戏平台已经不仅仅只是手机游戏领域的facebook。

没有人会怀疑苹果平台上会产生伟大的游戏，但是Bernstein仍然觉得苹果平台上的游戏和传统游戏相比甚至会觉得不够精致。Jim Squires表示其实这并不是一个界限，社交游戏和PC游戏甚至传统的游戏很多原理是相似的，你并不能找到很本质的区别来。

但是苹果平台可能将具备更深的生命力。Pangea Software首席执行官Brian Greenstone表示一旦iphone或者ipad外接手持控制器，那么这无疑将是DS和PSP的杀手。

apple

Gamers looking to quickly hop online and score permanent bragging rights typically turn to set-top multiplayer services like Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

But now, Apple is stealing a page from the competition’s playbook with Game Center, a social network for smartphone users that helps you instantly find and connect with opponents anytime, anywhere — and offers global high score boards to compete on.

“We’ve seen this sort of thing on consoles for years, but never on a phone, and that’s revolutionary,” says Daniel Bernstein, CEO of Sandlot Games, publisher of celebrated franchises “Cake Mania” and “Tradewinds.”

“People will soon be able to play more types of games than ever before, from social titles like ‘FarmVille’ to multiplayer games to those supporting trophies and ranking ladders.”

Consider it the Facebook of mobile gaming. Planned to launch with a future iOS 4 update for iPhone and iPad, users can set up and browse profiles, issue friends invites to play and enjoy mobile multiplayer matches wherever the urge strikes.

“It’s like dining in vs. takeout,” explains game developer Steve Demeter, creator of popular puzzler “Trism.” “Because Game Center’s meant for a mobile device… you’ll be more in touch with friends in games [and] have more ways to make new friends, helping make the community a real thriving thing.”

Collectible achievements — virtual badges earned for completing challenges (e.g. collecting rare items or killing 100 enemies) — should also provide long-term incentive to stay in the game.

Not that your DSi XL or PSP is headed for extinction anytime soon: Games for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad tend to be less sophisticated, with puzzles and arcade outings more common than first-person shooters or sprawling role-playing adventures.

Competing multiplayer services like OpenFeint and Plus+ may also undermine Game Center’s appeal, while Apple’s inexperience in game design could result in missing features, undercooked user functionality or myriad technical hiccups.

But by offering a one-stop solution for mobile multiplayer networking, the inside word is that the service will ultimately let developers spend less time programming, more designing new and innovative games.

“Apple’s finally getting serious about being a player in the gaming industry,” says Pangea Software CEO Brian Greenstone, who says the technical support and software upgrades it could offer developers may lead to new breakthroughs. “Once they add buttons and a gamepad to the iPhone/iPad, it could be a DS or PSP killer.”

拓展阅读：

In a recent article on CNN.com, technology and video game consultant Scott Steinberg made a bold statement about Apple Game Center, the upcoming mobile social gaming platform from Apple. Steinberg called it “the Facebook of mobile gaming.” While his words feel more compliment than criticism, it’s a claim that I can’t help but take umbrage with. Apple Game Center has the potential to be much, much more than simply Facebook for mobile gaming.

No one is questioning Apple Game Center will provide an outstanding mobile home for the social gamer, but its scope hardly seems to be that limited. In his article, Steinberg suggests that “games for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad tend to be less sophisticated,” than those on devices like the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, because “puzzles and arcade outings [on the iPhone are] more common than first-person shooters or sprawling role-playing adventures.”

While it’s true that casual gaming fare makes up a greater percentage of games on the App Store, it’s equally true that core games like Street Fighter IV, Call of Duty, and Madden remain among the top grossing apps on the service. What’s more, games aimed at this demographic are largely rooted in what Apple Game Center is trying to accomplish.

Online multiplayer, achievement-based challenges, and competitive leaderboards have long been the hallmarks of traditional online gaming services like Steam and Xbox Live. The standard Facebook gaming format may have borrowed some of these elements, yet few would have a hard time telling them difference between Facebook-style “social gaming” and PC and console “multiplayer gaming.”

What makes Apple Game Center so unique is that it doesn’t simply have to be Facebook gaming for the iPhone or Xbox Live for the iPhone – it can be both.

Like the DS before it, the iPhone is a device that has managed to do the seemingly impossible – appeal to casual and traditional video game players alike. As such, we’ll be downright shocked if Apple Game Center doesn’t reflect that diversity when it’s released to the public later this year.