The age-old battle between Microsoft and Apple is about to begin anew in the palm of your hand. Both companies are launching new gaming platforms — the awkwardly namedWindows Phone 7 and Apple iOS 4 with Game Center – for their mobile devices.

Microsoft and its Xbox franchise have the edge on the games market, but Apple and its i-triumvirate of iPhones, iPad and iPodtouches have had a near-strangle hold on the emerging smartphone apps market with its powerful App store. Both companies are refreshing their brands by attacking their opponent’s strong suits: Microsoft with their rebranded phones and Apple with its recently announced mobile Game Center. But which one will be better for games and, more importantly, gamers?

While we can’t go hands-on with either system, both Microsoft and Apple boast an exciting range of developments. Here, we look at the planned updates, strengths and weaknesses of both brands as they (re)tackle mobile gaming.

User Experience

Apple blazed the trail for touch-based mobile devices. Microsoft is following that lead with touch-screen functionality modeled after the Zune (similar to how Apple adapted the iPod aesthetic for its phones). Windows Phone 7 introduces an Xbox Live tile that can display all available games, a section on game news, editorial, and a portable hub to Xbox Live.

Apple’s iOS 4 is working to create a similarly interactive profile where gamers can add friends and invite them to play games. As for the phone, expect the same functionality and elegance Apple has built over the years.

Which interface you prefer will likely come down to personal preference, though given Apple’s technology lead when it comes to touch interfaces, they likely have the lead. User experience is much more than UI, though; a complete platform that ties together gamer profiles across games and systems will be as important for mobile gaming as it has been in the console space the past few years.

“If [Apple] can work their magic and make you care, make the user experience great, market it right, I think that’s going to be really useful,” said Samuel Abbott, an avid gamer and analyst for a financial technology firm. “Let’s say I bought eight iPhone apps, eight games; it would be so much easier for me to buy a ninth if I knew there was a reward… even if I didn’t initially care about the platform.”

Yet, while Apple may have the lead in user interface, Microsoft likely has a lead in overall user experience by virtue of their hooks into the extremely popular Xbox Live platform.

The Platform

Most games are about achievement, whether it’s solving a crossword or winning a kart race. Microsoft nailed the concept on Xbox Live, its online profile system for Xbox 360. Any in-game achievements are saved to a central profile that can be publicly viewed by other gamers. Microsoft is now extending Xbox Live to sync up with Windows Phone 7. This means that gamers can carry their player profiles between their Xbox 360 and phone and earn achievements while playing mobile games. Any unlocked achievements will be viewable on either device.

This is a great move for Microsoft, and offers a unified and consistent experience for gamers. Microsoft’s expertise in this area and pre-built systems give them a decided edge.

Apple’s gaming experience, on the other hand, has been splintered with a series of profile systems includingOpenFeint and plus+ but with no central hub from Apple. As a result, gamers have to remember different passwords and slog through multiple logins to play their games. Apple’s new OS hems closer to Microsoft’s Xbox Live model by introducing Game Center, a persistent profile system that will let users track their achievements, compare scores, run multiplayer games and even invite friends to play. Game Center will act like an umbrella network, using one login and one persistent profile instead of several disparate networks across different games.

Of course, Apple’s in-house game platform play might spell doom for the current crop of profile systems. Still, some see it as an opportunity: “Game Center is an exciting first party innovation,” said Simon Jeffery, Chief Publishing Officer at iPhone game giant ngmoco. “… It will effectively clean up the social space on the iPhone, which has become confusing and cluttered to consumers due to the number of social gaming networks vying for attention.”

Developers

Both Apple and Microsoft offer well developed tools for game creators. Microsoft’s ‘XNA is a flexible and highly developed platform that makes it easy to port games between XNA platforms (like Windows, Xbox, and mobile) with minimal to no modification.

Because Microsoft’s format is so adaptable, game developers can focus more on the content of their games rather than worrying about squashing cross-platform bugs.

Apple’s iOS 4, meanwhile, includes APIs for developers that will allow them to add Game Center support to their apps and games, which means that developers won’t have to design their own profile networks, matchmaking services, or leaderboards. Further, third-party platforms like Unity make development across multiple platforms — including iOS — much easier.

Apple’s platform is more polished for mobile — and has a huge lead when it comes to mobile game sales, while Microsoft has more overall experience with games (especially non-casual games). Which is better? It’s really a wash.

And the Winner Is…

The consumer! Picking a clear winning right now is impossible, and probably unfair, without some time for games to be released and developers to sort out the kinks of Xbox Live mobile and Game Center.

While Microsoft was first out of the gates with persistent gamer profiles, sometimes being first doesn’t guarantee victory. “There’s really no benefit to being the trend setter and taking those risks because the people with the deepest pockets will win at the end of the day,” said Peter Moscone, co-founder of Toronto-based Integr8 Technology. “What happens when there’s competition is the consumer benefits. Because there’s hustle. Because when [companies] do have deep pockets, one way to get market share is by giving out huge benefits.”

The battle between Microsoft and Apple has yet to be resolved and a new front will be opened this year with the launch of new phones, new OS, and a renewed commitment to online gaming. Who do you think will come out on top?