Alex St. John is famous for his searing commentary on the various facets of the gaming world, but he's also known for his daring attempts to create a social games platform that rivals the likes of Facebook. While his most recent attempt, Hi5, didn't work out so well and has since been sold off to social network Tagged, St. John enters the ring once more with Magi.com.

This new social gaming hub, according to VentureBeat, employs many of the same ideas that the social game guru applied to Hi5 in hopes of boosting the potential of social games. Emeryville, Calif.-based Magi.com will allow Facebook game makers to easily adapt their games to its platform. But St. John's timing raises some red flags, what with Zynga's recently-launched game platform. That said, there's one key difference, he claims.

"It's a coincidence that Zynga is becoming a publishing platform, but we are doing this with real and anonymous friends," St. John told VentureBeat. "It does anonymous friend matching, but you can invite real friends and they can see who you are. It also does not sit behind a registration wall like Zynga has."
Because Magi.com was designed from the ground up with games in mind, St. John and his team of 30 could introduce some interesting features, like the Mojo Market, a universal virtual goods shop for every game on the platform. Social game makers DJ Arts, HitPoint Studios and Pixie Games are in on Magi.com's beta test. Of course, St. John has put the call out to others, and the fate of his new venture seems to rest upon whether more game makers bite the line.

[Image Credit: VentureBeat]

Have you tried the new Magi.com for your social gaming fix yet? Do you think that St. John and crew can finally take the fight to not only Facebook, but now Zynga? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.