One of the hot topics for iPhone developers continues to be the question of social networking technology.

Last week, Freeverse - the publisher behind games such as Flick Fishing, Grunts and Days of Thunder - threw its weight behind Plus+, the technology that's been developed by publisher ngmoco.

It was a significant decision, not least because Freeverse is big enough to develop its own technology, as rival publisher Chillingo has chosen to do.

We hooked up with Freeverse president Ian Lynch Smith to find out the whys and wherefores behind the deal.

Pocket Gamer: Why did you choose Plus+ over the other social networking platforms?

Ian Lynch Smith: Plus+ has the best-looking design and offers the features we want in a system such as this.

The Xbox 360 has one of the most brilliantly designed systems, and after working with it for four titles, we got very comfortable with it.

The Plus+ team have structured Plus+ to work very much like the Xbox does. It has all the features we want to use, and the creative freedom to use the features in interesting and fun ways.

What advantages do you think it provides for consumers?

Advantages include inter-connectivity, being part of a larger group, and one less log-in to remember.

Freeverse could have developed its own user login system for leaderboards, but it would be just another name and password to remember.

We see a huge advantage for customers to be able to use the same log-in for Rolando 2 and Flick Fishing. We want customers to make an online identity that is unique to them, and be able to share across games and networks. Plus+ is the right system to do this.

Doesn't it bother you that it's a proprietary solution from a rival publisher, unlike say OpenFeint which is open source?

There is no such thing as a truly open source alternative. Everything has to be run by someone. Ngmoco has an impressive resume, and is made up of industry veterans, who have been both developers and publishers. They know what problems developers face and they know the challenges of publishing an extremely large number of titles.

Ngmoco has the resources and experience to grow with us and what we'll be bringing to Plus+. The ngmoco Plus+ team thinks very much like Freeverse does - almost anticipating our needs.

Will all new Freeverse games support Plus+?

We would like to incorporate Plus+ into all titles where it makes sense from both a business perspective and a gamer's perspective.

How long does the integration process take, and how did it differ in terms of an existing game such as Flick Fishing, compared to a new game like Warpgate?

Plus+ was very easy to integrate. Ngmoco is a game company. If you know about game programming, especially on the iPhone, you will know it's very different compared to making an app. The methods used to make a game are vastly different from, say, our Postman app.

Ngmoco knows this and has structured Plus+ appropriately. It runs in a tiny amount of memory and uses data formats that we game makers need. And we control Plus+ via the web so making changes and tweaks is extremely easy.

The biggest difference in putting into Flick Fishing versus Warpage was where the Plus+ button had to go (Flick Fishing is vertical, Warpgate is horizontal). After that it was just thinking up clever Achievements and fun Leaderboards.

How many of these social networking platforms do you think are commercially sustainable?

I think we will see more coming out, but ultimately it's the customer who will choose the victor. Plus+ offers the best user experience and a rich feature set that will expand exponentially. Plus+ was built by gamers for gamers and at the end of the day, it will be the destination for gamers.Thanks to Ian for his time.Click the appropriate links to check out what's going on at Freeverse and Plus+.