Online, Multi-Player Gaming Comes To The iPhone (AAPL)

Apple's (AAPL) iPhone's gaming platform is already a huge hit. And it's starting to get more fun: Companies are starting to roll out games that take advantage of the phone's Internet features for live, multi-player gaming. The latest:

• SF-based game publisher Zynga is launching "Live Poker," which lets you play free Texas Hold'em (no gambling) against 1.4 million daily players on their Web game, or against your real friends from Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, or Hi5. The game uses Facebook's newish "Facebook Connect" feature so you can sign in with your Facebook login and password without leaving "Live Poker." It's free for the iPhone and iPod touch; a $9.99 version offers a "larger chip package" and access to tournaments.
  
  
• Palo Alto-based iPhone software publisher Tapulous has issued an update to its popular Guitar Hero-for-the-iPhone game "Tap Tap Revenge," which includes online gameplay. The game advertises it as a work-in-progress feature, but it worked well in our test. (Our tapping skills, however, aren't nearly as good as this pigeon's.) "Tap Tap Revenge" has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times, so there's a good chance you'll always have people to play against. (And hey, look... ads!)
  

A good start, and something that could give the iPhone another advantage over consumer-focused rivals like the Google (GOOG) G1 and BlackBerry Storm (RIMM). But we're still waiting for something that looks as fun as this wacky video, which leaked several weeks before the iPhone 3G was announced.

See Also:
Apple, Studios Giddy Over iPhone Gaming
iPhone Game 'Tap Tap Revenge': Popular With Humans, Birds
Are Over-The-Air iTunes Downloads Coming Soon?