We are lucky to be living in a spectacular new era for consumer software. Developers are in a creative fervor that reminds me of the first days of computer games, with games being programmed in garages, dorm rooms and start-ups. Now three of the most important youth brands (Facebook, Apple and Myspace) have opened their APIs and SDKs with stunning success. Consumers can drink beer on their iPhones, play poker tournaments in their social portals, and put out mafia hits on friends of friends of friends. If it's cool to reach out and touch someone, it is totally awesome to slay a total stranger.

The Facebook platform, in my opinion, changed everything when it went live in May 2007. Its developer APIs were as solid as any videogame console development tools, and it achieved mass market penetration much more quickly (Facebook apps are estimated to have reached 40 million users in just 12 months.) The iPhone apps development environment has also proven to be enormously productive, and the iTunes Apps store is clearly a new "killer app" for mobile computing. If 2007 was the year of the "API-able Internet," 2008 is the year of the "Virtual Platform."

I must have worked on 24 meaningful game platforms over the years, from the Atari 800 and C-64 in 1983 to Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii in 2008. I have tried to forget many of the non-meaningful ones, like PC Junior, CD-I, Sega CD and Dreamcast. There have been cyclical patterns worth noting:

• The Market Maker must have a first party brand owner and driver. No platforms succeed with brand owners who falter.
• Exclusive apps, from Halo to Mario to Facebook Photos, position platforms.
• Killer apps grow markets. The "long tail" (multitudes of games) doesn't matter; but 3rd party software is necessary to provide breadth and energy.
• Critical mass or die. 20 million customers within 5 years in the US.
• Risk is asymmetrical. First parties "bet the company" before launch, but independent game-makers "bet the company" for years after. This creates "frenemies" who battle for game market share and profits.

The internet has changed many old patterns. Can these Virtual Platform companies re-shape the experiences of game-makers and game-players? I am hopeful.

Let the games begin!