Game Center has had a lot of attention since its release about a month ago. Apple’s foray into social gaming has been viewed with skepticism by some and excitement by others. We still don’t know if this will truly catch on and beat the networks already available, such as OpenFeint and Plus+. However, Game Center definitely has a lot of promise, and its support is growing quickly.
The network launched with only a handful of games; for a few weeks, I had none at all. However, developers are flocking to the system; it currently has over 400 games (up from 350 when this article was begun), well ahead of Plus+’s 120 and closing in on OpenFeint’s approximately 2000. Many of Game Center’s games are poorly-designed apps from no-name developers, due to the fact that the system is built in to iOS and therefore easy for developers to add. However, this is one of the biggest perks of the service, and perhaps it will reveal some games from these indies that really shine. Plenty of high-quality, well-known games are also in the list, and many more are coming soon. (Visit http://bit.ly/9Vk7fr for the App Store’s Game Center page.)
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