Amazon just announced that they are opening up the GameCircle service to include support for all Android devices. If you don’t already know, GameCircle is a proprietary game service like OpenFeint or the new Google Play Games. It allows developers to offer in-game achievements, an RPG-like leveling system, accomplishments and even cloud service support. The latter option allows players to store their game progress in the cloud so that they can pick up where they left off on other devices.
Of course, the cloud service support also allows developers to offer online multiplayer gaming modes through the API. Roughly translated, this means a broad adoption of new gameplay support for Android gamers.
Other features of the new service include automatic data sync between mobile devices and the cloud, queuing updates for offline support, and a unique menu interface that Amazon claims can be “integrated in minutes.”
Achievements may not be the most innovative feature in the world, but they certainly are fun to unlock. Of course, that holds true when they offer fresh ways to play a game. There are times when achievements have a tendency to get in the way.
Even though, the GameCircle service has been around for a year or more it was only available on select devices. By expanding support, Amazon is now prepared to go head to head with Google’s own game service.
Game developers that wish to use Amazon’s service will need to implement the related API just like they would with Google services. It’s possible that some developers may even incorporate API data from both services, thus allowing players to choose which one they’d like to use.
Interestingly enough, Amazon requires that developers using the GameCircle API also incorporate a unique splash screen, which likely advertises to players that it’s included. As one would expect, all game data and rights are retained by the developer[s].
Have you used Amazon’s GameCircle service before? Are you planning on giving it a try now that it’s available for all Android devices? Or would you much rather use Google’s new game service, and if so then why?