You could say that Electronic Arts (EA) is trying to challenge Steam. You could also say that EA is trying to challenge Apple’s Game Center. The key difference with EA’s Origin game network, though, is that it is designed to work across platforms, including both mobile devices and your PC.

With Origin, you can purchase and download your EA games directly from their store, but it also means that you can challenge your Origin-connected friends to see who gets the highest score in certain games. The social network would also allow you to play these games with your friends in real time, but the kicker is that they don’t have to be on the same platform.

You could be playing Scrabble on your iPhone, while friend A has it on his PC and friend B has it on her Galaxy S. That’s awesome. What’s more, your saved files are stored in the cloud. You can start a game on your iPad while riding the subway, but continue it on your computer when you get home from work.  Whether this would ring true for any free apps you download, or they would have to be specifically developed for the Origin game network.  That would remove many hot titles from the equation.

One of the challenges that EA will have to face is getting this approved by Apple. After all, if you can buy your games directly through Origin, you’re skipping the iTunes App Store and Steve isn’t getting his cut of the profits.

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Electronic Arts is one of the biggest video game developers in the world for a reason. They’ve got access to a huge library of licenses and they’re not afraid to push out franchise after franchise on just about every platform. iOS is no exception, because EA is launching more than 70 games for the iPhone at 99 cents a pop.

What kind of games can you expect at the $0.99 price point? Fighting game fans (like me) will likely get a kick out of playing Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on the go. You’ll also find Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (for iPad), SimCity Deluxe (for iPad), and Battlefield Bad Company 2.

For something a little more classic, Scrabble for iOS is being offered by EA Games for the the incredibly attractive price of free. They’re also giving out Cause of Death for free. You can even play the Game of Life… in HD.

Now, EA Games isn’t going to release all 70 titles all in one go, but the first batch of this “massive 70 game wave” is already pretty attractive. Now we’ll just wait to see what Popcap, Rovio, and other mobile devs are doing to attract our attention too.

[SlashGear]

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While it naturally does not offer the same level of high-end graphics as its home console counterparts, the iPhone take on Need for Speed: Shift is no slouch either. Based on the provided screenshots, this game actually looks really good, especially given the mobile platform.

In the game, you can take your pick from 20 different vehicles from a variety of different manufacturers. The races take place across 28 street and pro racing events in places like Chicago, London, and Tokyo. As with the console version, you’ll also be able to buy upgrades to improve top speed, handling, acceleration, and nitro.

If you’d prefer to play with a friend, NFS:S takes care of that too. Multiplayer support comes by way of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Need for Speed: Shift is available now for $9.99.

Source: Intomobile

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