Enter the Raptr: How This Gaming IM Service Stacks Up to Xfire, Trillian, etc.

If you can't beat 'em, screw it -- join 'em all together.

The technology race to keep people connected over the Internet is reaching nonsensical levels, and we're not even talking about email here.

Twitter. Twitter updating your Facebook status. Facebook has an AIM app. AIM 7 is more Facebook/Twitter-like. Xfire supports AIM. Yahoo! Messenger supports Windows Live Messenger. Trillian and Digsby support AIM , MSN Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, and more. Seems like we're all pretty covered by now.

Yet here comes a radically updated Raptr, ready to outdo the outdoers by stuffing them all (yes, including near-direct competitor Xfire) together into one overambitious multiclient instant messenger designed specifically for gamers.

This new Raptr, just released today, attempts to do it all, including stuff you never associated with an IM program before (pie charts showing how much time you spend on Flash games? Links to relevant GameSpot articles?). Yet, it comes up short in a few areas as well. So let's take a closer look at Raptr and see how it compares to some of your other options.

RAPTR

Pros:

• Supports the most IM services (AIM, Y!, MSN, Google Talk, Xfire, ICQ, and Facebook)

• Tons of gaming-oriented features and content (see below)

• Can push updates to Facebook, Twitter, and more

• Clean design

Cons:

• Very limited IM functions at the moment (no renaming contacts, chat, file transfers)
• Info overload if you choose to look at it

Best for: Hardcore, multiplatform gamers with lots of hardcore, multiplatform friends

Right now, Raptr is better served as a master gaming buddy list than a traditional multiclient IM service. It lets you see what your friends are playing on the PC and Xbox 360 (but not the PS3 or Wii, although you can display your PSN ID and Wii friend code), compare Achievements, check games you have in common, and so on.

While Raptr is a spectacularly weak IM program on its own -- you can't send files, voice or video chat, rename contacts, etc., although representatives tell us this is all on the development road map -- it does let you poke your friends Facebook-style with a gamer's flair (pwn, throw barrel, Shoryuken, Zerg rush, etc.).

More relevant for gamers, Raptr tracks all of your likes and dislikes and gaming activities with a Skynet-like devotion. It automatically knows when you played what games, what PC games you own, how much of them you've played, what games you've spent the most time in...then it takes that info and shows you relevant news headlines from outside sources, other games you might like, how other people are playing the same games.... You can almost sense the inevitable marketing and monetizing opportunities Raptr has planned for you down the line.

If you're a fan of technology knowing more about you than you do (or of gaming-oriented social-networking/trend-reading sites like Pwned or gamerDNA) and love sifting through a lot of cool, relevant data, then check out Raptr. If you just want a way to AIM your sister and MSN Messenger your old college buddy at the same time, then keep reading....

XFIRE

Pros:

• Huge existing community
• Widespread support on PC games
• In-game chat support
• Video and screenshot capture

Cons:

• PC games only
• Closed garden, with only limited AIM support
• Cumbersome design

Best for: Hardcore PC gamers who do a lot of online gaming

Funny enough, Xfire was cofounded by Raptr's founder and CEO, Dennis Fong. The similarities between the two services are there: buddy lists, automatic hard-drive scanning for installed games, etc., but you can't help but feel like Raptr will someday eclipse Xfire since Raptr supports Xfire friends lists. But right now, Xfire has plenty of features Raptr does not, such as in-game voice and text chatting and video and screenshot capturing.

TRILLIAN, DIGSBY, PIDGIN, etc.

Pros:

• Full-service IM programs
• Support for multiple IM clients and sometimes Facebook and Twitter feeds as well

Cons:

• Still a little buggy at times
• Not really gaming-oriented for purposes of this article

Best for: Everyone else

And...if you just want to chat and need access to multiple IM accounts at once, look into Trillian Astra, Digsby, Pidgin, and...well, there are other options, but what do you want from us? We're here to talk about the stuff relevant to gamers. Go figure out your own non-gaming-related instant messaging solutions!

Tags: Raptr

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Brett Bates

July 22, 2009

I signed up for Raptr right after it was first announced. I thought it'd be kind of neat to let people know on Facebook what games I was playing. But then I realized I'd be no different than the people who clutter my feed with the 50 online quizzes they did today. Plus a lot of my friends don't play games, so the updates wouldn't mean anything to them, anyway. I haven't used it since.

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Lucas Goudie

Meh. I use steam as my IM service mainly, I can send game invites, look at browsers ingame, talk ingame, etc with it. No reason to use anything else. You also never get spammed.

Eduardo Reboucas

For chat stuff I just end up using meebo, really.

Kenneth Johnson

I agree with Brett. It's annoying to people who don't game (most of my friends) for them to see what game I'm playing. It's really not that important. It would be cool if they could get Raptr to work with Wii and PSN, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Toby Davis

Wonder when the playstation crowd will get in on this.

Dan "Shoe" Hsu

@Brett: FYI, you don't have to send all those updates to your social networking feeds. Those are optional in Raptr.

Carlos Hernandez

July 30, 2009

I mainly use Digsby for iming stuff, it has lots of features on that front...but it can make your pc run slow. I think I'll try this Raptr out though.