Apple’s much talked about Game Center initiative will apparently be leaving the past behind. That’s right: Apple has again decided to abandon users of older models by announcing that Game Center will not support the iPhone 3G or the second generation iPod Touch. The news is a major bummer for those that have yet to upgrade.

The decision by Apple to discontinue support for the older models came as a bit of a surprise to some of the developers that we spoke with; who said that they were under the impression that Game Center support would be extended to some of the older models. Apparently, however, this is not the case. Game Center is said to extend Xbox Live types of features to the iPhone platform.

The restrictions will come as part of iOS 4.1 when it is released. From what we understand, if you can get 4.1 of the iOS to run on your device, then you will get Game Center support. While no one is exactly sure right now of the launch date for 4.1, the developers that we spoke with were already using an early beta or expecting beta 3.