Game manager with multi-platform api components

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for multi-player video games. In one aspect, a method includes instantiating, at a server, a game instance, the game instance being for a plurality of users, each user associated with a corresponding user device, and wherein a first user device of the corresponding user devices has an operational platform different from an operational platform of a second user device of the corresponding user devices, and providing, from the server to each user device, a game module for the game instance, the game module specific to the operational platform of the user device and including a server application programming interface (API) specific to the operational platform of the user device.

1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 instantiating, at a server, a game instance, the game instance being for a plurality of users, each user associated with a corresponding user device, and wherein a first user device of the corresponding user devices has an operational platform different from an operational platform of a second user device of the corresponding user devices;   providing, from the server to each user device, a game module for the game instance, the game module specific to the operational platform of the user device and including a server application programming interface (API) specific to the operational platform of the user device, each server API:
 converting one or more operational platform data types of the operational platform of the user device to which it is provided to one or more server data types of the server; 
 converting one or more server data types of the server to the one or more operational platform data types of the user device to which it is provided; 
   for each user device:
 providing data for the game instance to the user device, the data formatted in the one or more server data types; and 
 receiving data from the game instance from the user device, the data formatted in the one or more server data types by the server API provided to the user device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first user device is a mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a wireless network;   the second user device is a client computer device that sends and receives data over a wide area network; and   the wide area network is in data communication with the wireless network over a wireless gateway device.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first user device is a first mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a first wireless network according to a first communication protocol;   the second user device is a second mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a second wireless network according to a second communication protocol; and   the first communication protocol is different from the second communication protocol.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the operational platform of the first user device is a Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) operational platform;   the operational platform of the second user device is a flash operational platform.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first user device is a first mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a first wireless network according to a first communication protocol, and the operational platform of the first user device is a Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) operational platform; and   the second user device is a second mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a second wireless network according to a second communication protocol, and the operational platform of the second user device is a flash operational platform.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing game data for the game instance in a database, the game data including:
 game state data specifying the state of the game instance; and 
 statistics data specifying statistics of the game instance and statistics related to the game instance for each user; and 
   updating the game data in response to the data provided for the game instance and the data received for the game instance.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising storing user data for each of the users in the database, the user data specifying user specific data for each of the users. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising requesting, from first and second user devices to which respective game modules for the game instance is provided, device identifier data according to an API selection logic specific to the server API of the respective game modules, the device selection logic defining an order for requesting device identifier type from the server API, and wherein the device selection logic for the server API for the first user device is different from device selection for the server API for the second user device. 
     
     
         9 . A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 instantiating, at a server, a game instance, the game instance being for a plurality of users, each user associated with a corresponding user device, and wherein a first user device of the corresponding user devices has an operational platform different from an operational platform of a second user device of the corresponding user devices;   providing, from the server to each user device, a game module for the game instance, the game module specific to the operational platform of the user device and including a server application programming interface (API) specific to the operational platform of the user device, each server API:
 converting one or more operational platform data types of the operational platform of the user device to which it is provided to one or more server data types of the server; 
 converting one or more server data types of the server to the one or more operational platform data types of the user device to which it is provided; 
   for each user device:
 providing data for the game instance to the user device, the data formatted in the one or more server data types; and 
 receiving data from the game instance from the user device, the data formatted in the one or more server data types by the server API provided to the user device. 
   
     
     
         10 . The computer storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the first user device is a mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a wireless network;   the second user device is a client computer device that sends and receives data over a wide area network; and   the wide area network is in data communication with the wireless network over a wireless gateway device.   
     
     
         11 . The computer storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the first user device is a first mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a first wireless network according to a first communication protocol;   the second user device is a second mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a second wireless network according to a second communication protocol; and   the first communication protocol is different from the second communication protocol.   
     
     
         12 . The computer storage medium of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the operational platform of the first user device is a Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) operational platform;   the operational platform of the second user device is a flash operational platform.   
     
     
         13 . The computer storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the first user device is a first mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a first wireless network according to a first communication protocol, and the operational platform of the first user device is a Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) operational platform; and   the second user device is a second mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a second wireless network according to a second communication protocol, and the operational platform of the second user device is a flash operational platform.   
     
     
         14 . The computer storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the program comprises instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations further comprising:
 storing game data for the game instance in a database, the game data including:
 game state data specifying the state of the game instance; and 
 statistics data specifying statistics of the game instance and statistics related to the game instance for each user; and 
   updating the game data in response to the data provided for the game instance and the data received for the game instance.   
     
     
         15 . The computer storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the program comprises instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations further comprising storing user data for each of the users, the user data specifying user specific data for each of the users. 
     
     
         16 . The computer storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the program comprises instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations further requesting, from first and second user devices to which respective game modules for the game instance is provided, device identifier data according to an API selection logic specific to the server API of the respective game modules, the device selection logic defining an order for requesting device identifier type from the server API, and wherein the device selection logic for the server API for the first user device is different from device selection for the server API for the second user device. 
     
     
         17 . A system, comprising:
 a data processing apparatus; and   a data store in data communication with the data processing apparatus and storing modules executable by a data processing apparatus, the modules comprising:   a device connector module that upon execution causes the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 providing, from the server to each user device, a game module for the game instance, the game module specific to the operational platform of the user device and including a server application programming interface (API) specific to the operational platform of the user device, each server API:
 converting one or more operational platform data types of the operational platform of the user device to which it is provided to one or more server data types of the server; 
 converting one or more server data types of the server to the one or more operational platform data types of the user device to which it is provided; 
 
 for each user device:
 providing data for the game instance to the user device, the data formatted in the one or more server data types; and 
 receiving data from the game instance from the user device, the data formatted in the one or more server data types by the server API provided to the user device. 
 
   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein:
 the first user device is a first mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a first wireless network according to a first communication protocol;   the second user device is a second mobile communication device that directly sends and directly receives data over a second wireless network according to a second communication protocol; and   the first communication protocol is different from the second communication protocol.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the operational platform of the first user device is a Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) operational platform;   the operational platform of the second user device is a flash operational platform.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the modules further comprise a database connector module that upon execution causes the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 storing game data for the game instance in a database, the game data including:
 game state data specifying the state of the game instance; and 
 statistics data specifying statistics of the game instance and statistics related to the game instance for each user; and 
   updating the game data in response to the data provided for the game instance and the data received for the game instance.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the database connector module upon execution caused the data processing apparatus to perform operations further comprising user data for each of the users, the user data specifying user specific data for each of the users. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the modules further comprise an extension connector module that upon execution causes the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 provide environment data to the device connector module, the environment data defining a user management environment through which user data is added or modified;   receiving user data for each of the users from the device connector module, the user data being user data that is added or modified; and   provide the received user data to the database connector module for storage in the database.