Game on!

Online mobile Mpowerplayer launched Mobile Arcade, a Facebook app that enables users to preview and purchase mobile games.

By behaving as a "portal for mobile games like Sims Bowling and Guitar Hero," the unit "[combines] the mobile gaming experience with the online environment [inside] a Facebook application," AllFacebook writes.

Mobile Arcade users receive direct access to mobile gaming pages, organized like a gaming directory. A preview feature lets them play the game on Facebook in roughly the same way they would on their handhelds. (The system isn't perfect, since a handheld-based game would rely heavily on a keypad, and the Facebook preview games make liberal use of the mouse.)

Games can be recommended and shared. Users that want more capabilities and features can purchase the complete version for mobile.

While Mobile Arcade provides gaming developers a fresh opportunity for exposure through the socnet, it lacks the social features that typify the Facebook experience. "What's missing […] is an integrated gaming experience that fully tracks your high scores, or a social component that lets you see what your friends are playing or recommended," AllFacebook pointed out.