Video game rental service Gamefly launched its GameCenter App in the App Store Thursday. This free application gives iPhone and iPod touch users access to data on over 5,000 video games, as well as news, videos, screen shots, release dates, user reviews, and cheats. While the app doesn’t allow users play the games themselves, it does serve as a pocket library for gaming information, as well as a quick way to research, rent, and buy games.
“We designed GameCenter to provide iPhone and iPod touch users with a complete one-stop destination for video game information,” said Sean Spector, GameFly’s co-founder and SVP of business development and content.
The current version of the GameCenter app features news and information for several platforms including the PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, and PSP. So far, there are no Mac or iPhone tabs, but Spector says the company may address this in future updates. The tabs can be customized through the game’s settings tab, so you only get the news and information you want.
The GameCenter app is designed to be easily navigable. Tapping the Games tab will give you a list of platforms on the top. By tapping a platform name you can immediately view the most popular games complete with images, user rating, and release dates.
When you tap on a game title, you are directed to the game’s individual page that gives the user a game description, game specs, game controls, cheats and codes, and the ability to rent the game through GameFly. The most helpful user reviews are also highlighted on the game’s page next to reviews from GameFly’s partner IGN.
The developers clearly intended for the user to be able to perform everything in the app, from viewing videos embedded in news stories to renting or buying games to sharing game news and information with your friends. You can share GameCenter content via in-app Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail. You can also invite friends to download the app themselves.
While the scale of the information contained on the app is definitely useful for gamers, and is much more intuitive than your average gaming site on the mobile platform, the app will perhaps be most appreciated by existing GameFly members. To encourage the use of the GameFly rental service, anyone who downloads the app is also granted access to a fifteen-day free GameFly membership.
For a free app, GameFly’s GameCenter has a remarkably large amount of information and is definitely worth a look.