据financial post在线版消息。除了将发布新一代iPod以及电视机顶盒，苹果还将在明日的发布会上推出一款社交网络：“游戏中心”(Game Center)。

尽管苹果的社交网络规模不大，并不会成为强大的Facebook杀手，但苹果的“游戏中心”很有可能夺走Facebook在iPhone游戏领域的一杯羹。

iphone-game-center

苹果为面向iOS应用的社交游戏网络进行了数月的准备。苹果曾经在今年4月透露了关于“游戏中心”的消息，在明天的发布会上预计会宣布更多内容。iPod touch可以算得上是苹果的旗舰游戏设备，在iPod touch将要发布升级之际正是推出“游戏中心”的最好时机。

苹果4月时曾透露，“游戏中心”的基本功能包括邀请朋友进行游戏对战、随机挑选同级别对手对战、周排名查看以及总得分查看等。用户注册基本信息之后将可以多种方式添加好友，与其他社交游戏平台基本相同。

iPhone游戏平台在苹果之前已经层出不穷：如Ngmoco公司的Plus+，还有OpenFeint等等。评论认为Facebook也希望涉足iPhone游戏领域，利用与发挥其自身社交游戏平台的成功经验。

不过，苹果自己开发的社交网络将直接内置于操作系统，这可能将更容易被广泛接受。

苹果iPhone拥有更大的画面和更好的社交游戏体验，这或许不仅将威胁到其他手机平台，如Android和微软即将推出的Windows Phone 7等，而且甚至可能会与任天堂DS和索尼PSP等游戏机构成竞争。而且，如果苹果的新电视机顶盒也搭载游戏功能，那么“游戏中心”也可能为其所用。

苹果明天可能会宣布一系列游戏中心的演示样本。是否会有EA或Gameloft等大型游戏公司采用苹果游戏中心、游戏中心是否会整合 Facebook登录及社交图谱功能、苹果社交网络是否会像Google那样遭遇失败、抑或成为下一个Xbox Live，这一切都将于明日揭晓。

In addition to new iPods and a new TV-watching device, Apple could introduce a new social network tomorrow. Look out, Facebook!

Okay, it’s not a big, elaborate Facebook killer, so Mark Zuckerberg and company don’t actually have much to worry about.

But Apple’s “Game Center” might take some of Facebook’s juice away in iPhone gaming, which could be a drag.

Apple has been preparing a social gaming network for iOS apps for months. The company gave a preview of Game Center at an event in April, and we expect to hear more about it at Apple’s iPod event tomorrow. The iPod touch — arguably Apple’s flagship gaming device — is due for an upgrade, and now seems like a good time to launch Game Center.

The basic features Apple announced in April include the ability to invite friends to play a game against you; have the servers match you up with a random person of the same skill level for a game; leaderboards; and achievements. We assume you’ll have a basic profile, and will be able to add friends in various ways, as other social gaming networks function.

Apple isn’t the first to launch a social gaming network for the iPhone: Several already exist, such as Ngmoco’s Plus+, OpenFeint, and others. Presumably, Facebook would want to have a play here, given how successful its gaming platform has become on Facebook itself.

But the idea is that an Apple-made social network, built right into the OS, could be more universally adopted, and not under the control of a single studio. (Who knows, those third-party systems may even link into Game Center at some point.)

Bigger picture, better social gaming on the iPhone could make it a stronger competitor not just to other phone platforms, such as Android and Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Phone 7, but also to handheld consoles like the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. And if Apple’s new living-room gadget has gaming elements, Game Center could be useful there, too.

So what’s coming tomorrow?

As Daring Fireball’s John Gruber wrote earlier this month, look for “a bunch of Game Center demos during the event.”

It’ll be interesting to see if Apple got any of the big studios, such as EA or Gameloft, to adopt Game Center. It’s easy to implement, we hear.

It’ll be interesting to see if Facebook login and social graph integration is ever part of the Game Center roadmap. It’s not part of the first version, we’re told by someone who has played around with it.

Does Apple have any social mojo? Or is it too uptight?

Will it flop like all the social stuff Google has tried over the years? Or will Game Center be the next Xbox Live?(source:financial post/sina)