Z2Live

In this video, Damon Danieli, founder and CTO of Zero260, gives you a look at Showdown Poker Tournament as played over the Z2Live multiplayer gaming platform for the iPhone and iPod touch. Showdown Poker is a Bluetooth-enabled game that uses Apple's new GameKit API, which came out in OS 3.0, and it is available in the Apple App Store now. Showdown Poker is the first heads-to-head poker game that doesn't require a Wi-Fi or Internet connection. The flexibility this gives players, allowing them to connect easily with friends and play together, makes the game an excellent choice for killing a bit of time with a friend, perhaps over lunch.

The first demonstration in the video shows Showdown Poker being played on two second generation iPod touches. You'll see that the game is completely gesture-based. Each player needs simply to touch and drag his chips into the pot to bet or raise, touch and hold and then drag all his chips to go all-in, or drag his cards onto the table to fold.

The second game demonstration in the video shows a player using the Z2Live multiplayer gaming platform, enabling a Wi-Fi-connected iPod touch to play Showdown Poker with a first generation iPhone over an EDGE connection. The initiating player selects a friend from her Friends List and sends an invite to him through Z2Live's patent-pending invite system. The invited player does not have to be online to receive the invite on his iPhone. Even if the user's iPhone is in sleep mode, the game invite will be delivered. Z2Live leverages Apple's Push Notification Service to deliver Game Invites, while overcoming challenges that the Push Notification Service generally poses to game developers.

When the player accepts the game invite, with one simple swipe, Showdown Poker automatically launches and Z2Live connects the two players seamlessly over the Internet. Game play proceeds on both the iPhone and the iPod touch with the same real-time alerts of each player's actions.