Game Center vs OpenFeint (Pros and Cons)

Game Center is currently under NDA. Public discussion is only allowed after the release of 4.1. Head over to the Apple Dev Center beta forum if you want some detailed information.

 

I think it's safe to assume that once GameCenter is up and running, it would be the de facto standard, given that its built in and by Apple.

It's a question of timing for you. If your app is almost ready, then go with OpenFeint or leave out that functionality until later.

If your game is doing well with OpenFeint, you can always switch it to GC later.

 

OpenFeint will be Cross Platform (Android + iOS) and have easier to integrate advanced features (OpenFeint PlayTime, IM, Forums, Action Replays, etc.).

We'll also be 100% game center compatible so you can mix and match to take advantage of the best features on both.



And you can email us (or me) directly if you have questions!

 

I think Apple have really dropped the ball with Game Center. It's majorly lacking in features.

Let's look at it solely from the social game perspective. Friend discovery isn't great (what happened to the Facebook link?). There's no mechanism for viral spread of games. As a game developer I certainly don't feel comfortable spamming people with "Push Notifications" for a social game. A "news feed" type thing of who of my friends are playing what and enjoying what is all it needs - but... nothing!

It was actually a pain in the ass to sign up my email addresses to it for discovery. I imagine a lot of people will bypass that step.

 

I would vote for OpenFeint. It works on ALL iDevices, not just on the newer ones. There's no reason for Apple to drop support for older devices.

 

Isn't the upcoming update for OpenFeint going to integrate Game Center functionality into OpenFeint?

If that's the case, it seems to make sense to use OpenFeint (as it will also run on older iDevices, is easier to implement, and has more functionality).

 

So now that OpenFeint supports Game Center can anyone see a Con for using OpenFeint? Is there a fee or something?

I really want to incorporate leaderboards and achievements in my upcoming App and was planning on integrating Game Center on its own. Now that OpenFeint will support Game Center I can't really see a reason to "only" incorporate Game Center.

NOTE: I have no experience with Game Center or OpenFeint so maybe one is easier to code. Any devs out there with experience on this...let us know your feedback. Thanks!

 

All I can offer is a non-dev view....

As someone using an Ipod Touch and is often without internet access, I prefer Open Feint. You can load up achievements on Open Feint when you’re offline. You can also earn them offline, and when you get back to a wifi hotspot, those achievements will transfer back over online.

With Game Center, you can’t view achievements offline. When I completed some of them (e.g. in Carcassonne), a message indicated I completed them while offline, but when I went back online, the icons didn’t register as being completed. I will say, one nice thing GC has over OF is Game Center lets you view the list of achievements in portrait mode. Many of them have so little text that you don’t need the whole length of the screen in landscape mode.