Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iTunes, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Scramble Live lets iPhone users play against Facebook users
Zynga has released a new iPhone game called Scramble Live, and while the game itself isn't anything really new -- it's Boggle, basically -- the technology is pretty interesting. They've already got a Facebook version up and running with over a million users, and the new app will let you play against other users, on both the iPhone and Facebook, in real-time. That's a pretty impressive hook -- rather than building up a new social audience, you can just carry away your Facebook friends and play with them while you're on the iPhone.Unfortunately, there's a catch (isn't there always?) -- the game's iTunes page says the live game is only available over 3G or Wifi, so us first-gen iPhone users are out of luck for that mode. But there's also a solo mode, as well as a "pass and play" version that you can use to play with people around you.
The game's "on sale" at $2.99 until March 9th, when it'll jump back up to $4.99. If you're a fan of the Facebook version and want to try out some cross-platform gameplay, give it a look.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andre said 9:30PM on 3-04-2009
I can't imagine how it could have me play against my Facebook friends without knowing my Facebook login credentials.
They're certainly not getting my FB username and password.
Can someone report back on how they do this without my login information?
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John Luetke said 10:28PM on 3-04-2009
I'm going out on a limb here, but it probably uses the Facebook API like any other Facebook app. So you'd have to authenticate through Facebook's website and then the app would be allowed access to the information you give it.
Andre said 10:43PM on 3-04-2009
I think it would have to be web-based to do that without separate credentials I believe.
Adam said 10:26PM on 3-04-2009
....my first gen iPhone has wifi....what do you mean we're out of luck?
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Ethan said 10:31PM on 3-04-2009
'users' in the context of addiction, I think.
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jonathan ober said 10:37PM on 3-04-2009
shake & spell is better...way better and compatible with facebook, if you let it.
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jehu said 11:38PM on 3-05-2009
Jonathan, I completely agree with you. I checked out Scramble Live because I play Scramble on FB. The only online feature is being able to play random people and see where you rank. There isn't any real social interaction. Can't chat with people, can't challenge your friends. Shake & Spell is FREE and has all of these things I mention. The devs also have been updating the app regularly adding new features and fixes every couple of weeks. Anyone who hasn't checked it out, I would recommend.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=299362032&mt=8
Tim said 11:49PM on 3-04-2009
Maybe I'm mistaken, but I swear I have a Texas Hold'em game on my iPhone, made by Zynga, and it lets you play online with Facebook AND Myspace Users too. So it's not really a new feature (I've had the game at least since the fall.)
But for the Hold'em game, I had to log in with my facebook credentials in order to play.
But I could be mistaken... lol
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Eric said 12:47AM on 3-05-2009
This is what I have said consoles should do for several years - why can't cross-platform games play online together?
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XxDerkaxX said 11:07AM on 3-05-2009
Works fine over EDGE for me.
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Mystic said 1:11PM on 3-06-2009
In the description it says it's on sale for 0.99 until March 8th. I would definitely get it if it was .99.
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Andre said 10:30PM on 3-06-2009
Glad I waited a couple of days. The price has dropped to $0.99.
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zen said 11:52AM on 3-16-2009
If anyone wants to play free real-time mobile to PC (or Mac) go to www.thedojo.mobi. We support over 300 handsets, always around 15-40 users online to challenge against. We also did a beta Facebook version at apps.facebook.com/thedojo/ . True cross-platform, global and our first game is cubed addict, a really addictive puzzler. I bet you can't beat the Russians at it.
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