Apple just recently announced that as part of the iPhone US 4.0 update, along with multitasking (FINALLY!) they will provide Game Center, a new gaming network for the iPhone, iPod and iPad (autumn). The service is set to include leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations to make and play games.

Considering that it’s the only major gaming platform that did not have its own network, this comes as no surprise really. With the popularity of the platforms for gaming it was only a matter of time. Plus, they could tie in the Mac at a future time as well and have a PC and mobile cross-platform network since the operating systems are so similar.

While Nokia tried something similar with the N-Gage service, it never quite caught on, but with hundreds of games hitting the Apple platforms monthly it seems it will have a good chance of success. I have long bemoaned the disparate array of networks (OpenFeint, Scoreloop, etc) on the iPhone and longed for the day when there would be just one for all games. Now it looks like Apple has taken it out of the third-party hands and will manage it alone. This could be the end for the others. OpenFeint has already announced OpenFeint X which seems will be more of a virtual goods and currency service than a leaderboards and achievements service.

Jason Citron, CEO of Aurora Feint.  “Apple is a key partner and we are delighted that they have validated the first half of the OpenFeint vision and we can now fulfill the second half: OpenFeint X and Virtual Goods based Social Games. Our developers can be 100 percent assured that we will continue to invest in OpenFeint so our 1500 live games, 2000 games in development and 19M players have a flawless experience with OpenFeint and Game Center.”

Scoreloop has yet to comment on the matter along with the other networks that had popped up.

It really is a brilliant move on Apple’s part as it will consolidate their place in the gaming market. Since the majority of games on the iPhone are considered ’casual’ it means that the players of those games are generally more used to a social network setting. Many of them have played games online for years in browser-based communities and this will give them that same community, on their mobile.

That doesn’t mean that those who play more involved games won’t benefit as well. With ever improving and larger titles on the iPhone it’s only a matter of time before we have some large multiplayer titles that the Apple Game Center will help. 16-player, iPhone FPS anyone?

Another benefit of the Game Center will be its openness to the new and untested developers. The small studios, the indie devs. We’ve seen thousands of apps get approved on the iPhone that would most likely not have made it through the more stringent, and almost censor-like, ways of XBLA, PSN and the Wiiware or DSiWare channels.

It could mean that every indie developer turns an eye toward iPhone/iPad development and steps away from these other networks. While XBLA does have the Community games area, they never quite receive the same coverage when games are released as when something is released for the iPhone. It’s mostly a problem of visibility.

So why would small devs continue to struggle on XBLA (some, like Halfbrick have already turned away from it) when they could gain far more visibility and a higher possibility for success on the iPhone? PSN seems even more stringent in that they only have Minis and all of those are most assuredly approved prior to ever seeing the light of day on the PSN.

This could be the proverbial game changer. Apple’s Game Center could start pulling away game developers from the other console-based networks leaving them high and dry for content. That could then force the big three to change the way they do things and make their networks far more enticing for indie developers.

That spells a windfall for gamers if it happens as it would mean far more games for us to play. Games that, being from indie devs, could take bigger risks, bring more innovation into the market and generally propel the industry forward.

All we can do right now is wait and see. Of course some of us (myself included) won’t be able to take advantage of the iPhone OS 4.0 and Game Center benefits straightaway due to having jailbroken phones and will have to wait. But while we might be all avid gamers, we’re a small percentage of the install base.