I’m a little late to the Game Center party, because I was waiting to jailbreak 4.1. But now that I’ve arrived, it doesn’t feel like much of a party. Apple’s much touted Game Center app is supposed to be an “out of the box” focal point for all your iPhone (3GS/4), iPad, and iPod touch (2G-4G) games.

Compare your scores with friends, see how you rank worldwide, and try to achieve game goals to earn bragging rights (or to let people know how much free time you have to waste). You can also challenge friends to matches or play strangers in a multiplayer matchup.

Game Center does everything advertised above, so why am I not having any fun? Because this is what I was greeted with upon logging in:

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With the release of iOS 4.1 came Game Center, Apple’s mobile and social gaming platform. Unfortunately for iPhone 3G owners, Apple decided not to include Game Center on the iPhone 3G. Why did they do that? Probably to prepare iPhone 3G users to the fact that they won’t get support from Apple anymore when the next iPhone comes out in 2011.

This being said, I was tipped about Game Center running on an iPhone 3G, and while the results are kinda mixed, it works for sure. Proof is this YouTube video made by Taimur showing Game Center running (a little slow) on a 3G. So how do you get Game Center on an iPhone 3G? Read More

On This Episode:
OpenFeint currently stands at a crossroads – with Apple taking on OpenFeint in the metagaming space on iOS, they find themselves trying to remain relevant in the long-term. And as of today, it appears as if OpenFeint is looking beyond iOS for the future of their products. Today, OpenFeint is announcing that they are launching their service and Feint Spotlight app for the Android Marketplace, along with launch month titles such as Fruit Ninja from Halfbrick, MiniSquadron from MrFungFung, Flick Kick Football from PikPok, and Mega Jump from Get Set Games.

The CEO of OpenFeint, Jason Citron, was kind enough to sit down and speak with me about this announcement and what OpenFeint is doing in the future on iOS. According to Jason, OpenFeint’s goal is to unify the various platforms – for people to be able to play games with their friends on other phones, to bridge the gap between the various hardware that people have. As well as their future on Android, OpenFeint is launching tools for developers to let their OpenFeint scoring and achievement systems work with Game Center easily while still taking advantage of OpenFeint features that Game Center does not provide, such as replays, asynchronous multiplayer services, and the upcoming voice chat feature PlayTime, launching with OpenFeint 3.0.

Jason Citron spoke at length with me on the new episode of The Portable Podcast to discuss what they’re doing on Android, the challenges that Android’s various devices bring, and the perception of the Android market versus the reality of the situation. On the iOS side, we talk about how Game Center and OpenFeint can coexist (including Jason recommending that developers take advantage of Game Center), and how iOS fits in the future of OpenFeint.

Who Are We:

Music:

“Beatnes7 (Theme to The Portable Podcast)” by The Eternal – Download on iTunes here:

How to Listen:

Apps Mentioned on This Episode:

FREE!

OpenFeint Game Spotlight

iPhone App – Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-01-08 :: Category: Entertainment

[ The Portable Podcast, Episode 50: An Interview with OpenFeint’s Jason Citron About The Future of OpenFeint is a post from 148Apps ]

As we reported last week Apple unveiled a special section in the App Store that features entries compatible with Game Center. This new iOS 4.1 feature is a social gaming network that allows you to compete against as many friends as you can convince to accept your requests. Apparently that isn’t the case if your friend tally goes beyond 500.

TiPb has a story about an employee running into issues once their friend counter gets to 500. Beyond that it appears that once you delete a friend and you’re at 499 another request is then allowed through which bumps your tally to the seemingly restricted 500… Read More

It’s always a busy time in the world of iPhone blogging when the iPhone iOS gets an upgrade. Reports are flying high and aiming low about every feature implemented in the newest version of the operating system.

As you know by now iOS 4.1 has brought us Game Center, the social network fix for Apple gamers. So now that the platform is there and you’ve convinced all your iOS toting friends to add your handle, you may be asking what you’re supposed to do without any games. Have no fear, the App Store is here… Read More