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Google Play Games to rival the iOS Game Centre

by Mark Tyson on 13 May 2013, 09:50

Tags: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), PC

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qabv4f

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Earlier this month we found out that Google had hired its first Chief Games Designer in the shape of industry veteran Noah Falstein. Also at the same time an APK teardown of the MyGlass app revealed something new – a Google Games Service.

Now we have learned a lot more about this games service thanks to the leak of a new version of the Google Play Store and Google Services analysed by Android Police. We expect that this new facet of Google Play, set to rival the iOS Game Centre, will be revealed in full during the Google I/O developer conference held in San Francisco on 15th to 17th May.

So a new “Play Games” section will appear in the Play Store - with game apps so popular on Android it’s about time. According to the Android Police teardown of “Google Play Services v3.1.36” the following services are included:

  • Synced Game Saves – playing games across devices should be improved by allowing you to continue a game on another device
  • Icon Badges – for company branding#
  • Matchmaking and Invites – for multiplayer of course
  • In Game Chat
  • Achievements – you know the score
  • Scoring and Leaderboards – all time, this week, today, in my circles and many others

Ron Amadeo from Android Police, who wrote about all these newly discovered features, said this APK teardown has revealed a great deal but there are definitely some components of this gaming services system which are yet to be released, or leaked, as the system isn’t working now. He speculates that this is possibly due to servers not being activated yet – Google doesn’t expect anyone to have or use these apps until after the I/O conference.

These new Google Play Games services are all welcome additions for gamers on Android and will be especially good for people who will play games across multiple Android devices; smartphone, tablet and GameStick for example.

HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Posted by YenRug - Mon 13 May 2013 10:10
Thank god for that, developers can finally get rid of bloody annoying leaderboard apps, i.e. OpenFeint and its ilk, that don't work and crash the games they're used in.
Posted by kopite - Mon 13 May 2013 10:18
Game saves is the main thing i`ve been wanting for ages.

I went through a phase of changing firmwares every couple of weeks which menat I couldnt really get into any games.

Also Games like FM handheld will be awesome :D Play on my phone whilst at work then on tablet when i ge thome :D
Posted by crossy - Mon 13 May 2013 10:19
So a new “Play Games” section will appear in the Play Store - with game apps so popular on Android it’s about time.
I just checked my two most modern Android devices and the “Games” heading is already there. And there's a “Games” subheading on the “Apps” page.

Also nice to see that the new Play store also seems to be doing more to split up the content into headings, but I'm less than impressed that the search feature still seems to be pretty indiscriminate - e.g. if you're in the “Productivity” section and search for “Galaxy” then you'll still get hits in the other categories - especially “Live Wallpapers” - which can make it darned difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. :(

I'm not into gaming on my android gear in a big way (sudoku's and the occasional tower defence game) but I can see cloud store/sync of game saves being very popular with a lot of people. Shame that Ouya is going to miss out on this, since I can see a positive selling point in being able to start a game on the train home (on your phone) and then continue it after dinner on your TV/Ouya combo.
Posted by YenRug - Mon 13 May 2013 13:09
crossy
So a new “Play Games” section will appear in the Play Store - with game apps so popular on Android it’s about time.
I just checked my two most modern Android devices and the “Games” heading is already there. And there's a “Games” subheading on the “Apps” page.

Also nice to see that the new Play store also seems to be doing more to split up the content into headings, but I'm less than impressed that the search feature still seems to be pretty indiscriminate - e.g. if you're in the “Productivity” section and search for “Galaxy” then you'll still get hits in the other categories - especially “Live Wallpapers” - which can make it darned difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. :(

I'm not into gaming on my android gear in a big way (sudoku's and the occasional tower defence game) but I can see cloud store/sync of game saves being very popular with a lot of people. Shame that Ouya is going to miss out on this, since I can see a positive selling point in being able to start a game on the train home (on your phone) and then continue it after dinner on your TV/Ouya combo.

They're not talking a Games app section, this a Games hub on your Android phone providing functions similar to Live on Xbox.
Posted by crossy - Mon 13 May 2013 13:52
YenRug
They're not talking a Games app section, this a Games hub on your Android phone providing functions similar to Live on Xbox.
Yes, realise that. Point I was making (badly) is that the move to shift Games from merely a type of app to a full-blown Play “product line” (a la Music, Books, Magazines, etc) is already underway. :)