Opinion: Games are becoming communities

Fittingly, considering it's the largest annual gathering of game developers on the planet, the GDC conference in San Francisco has gone gaga for community this week. The 10,000-plus attendees have heard speakers of all sorts explain why MySpace and YouTube are set to influence games just as much as they are changing the Internet.

Consider Nokia's next-gen N-Gage. As Nokia's execs mentioned in the ">exclusive podcast interview we recorded live at GDC this week, community is a huge aspect of where it sees mobile games going. Not to be outdone, Qualcomm, the company behind Java-rivalling BREW, also unveiled its own Xbox Live-style BREW community system in GDC this week, which is set to launch in 2008. Talking of which, we're still waiting for Microsoft to move the real thing onto mobile, as promised this time last year by none other than Bill Gates.

But it was Sony's Phil Harrison who stole the show with his PlayStation 3-focussed Game 3.0 keynote. Harrison revealed how PlayStation 3 gamers would be able to kit out their own online homes with gubbins acquired in games, invite friends over to admire their in-game achievements, and even shop for movies and music from their virtual pads.

Conspicuously missing, however, was any mention of PSP. It beggars belief that Sony can't think of a way to fit the portable PSP into this connected world, which means it's the first time we've wondered if the Internet tittle tattle about the PSP's imminent demise might be true. Then again, Nintendo also disappointed DS owners by failing to reveal an expected DS demo download channel for Wii.

Perhaps these companies are merely biding their time when it comes to their handhelds, but they can't afford to be complacent. There's another format out there that is ALWAYS connected, and the games are getting better week by week. Which one? You'll have to excuse us – our phone's ringing…