E3: Xbox Smart Glass Brings Xbox and iPads Together

[John Funk]

E3: Xbox Smart Glass Brings Xbox and iPads Together

Control your games with your Android phone.

Microsoft's "Smart Glass" technology will link all of your smart devices together - whether you have a Windows PC, an Android phone, or an iPad. If you find yourself watching a movie on a tablet during a vacation and come home, a simple button press will transfer the movie to your Xbox to watch it on your widescreen TV. Your tablet, then, becomes a secondary source of information about the movie and cast.

With games, we saw that the player could use the tablet to redraw a Madden NFL play on the fly with his iPad, and control the passes and action accordingly. Exploring a particular place in Halo 4 would unlock a Waypoint that might show you some new Halo lore. While you were exploring that on your tablet, you might get a notification for multiplayer, which you could accept (on your tablet) to join (on your console).

You will be able to use your tablets and smartphones to browse the internet via your Xbox 360, with built-in Internet Explorer functionality that will be coming soon.

Essentially, this is Microsoft getting the jump on the Wii U by adding that sort of cross-device functionality with hardware that many gamers and tech-heads actually already have.

See all our coverage directly from the E3 2012 show floor. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/conferences/e3-2012]

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[The.Bard]

Yeah, this is just a Wii U ripoff.

They are covering the bases in case of the Wii U taking off and leaving them in the dust like last time.

It's hard to say Microsoft is "ripping off" Nintendo here. This isn't exactly something Nintendo invented. It's picture-in-picture, only on a completely separate device. Disney has been pumping out "Second Screen" apps to go with their home movies for almost two years or so now.

I wouldn't hold my breath expecting the WiiU to take off. I predict more tough times for Big N. Idiotic design decisions (limited third party support, drought of games, no backup plan, catastrophic wii sales plummets, etc.) tend to catch up "WiiU".

But then again, I predicted Dolphins would kill off humanity and take over the globe 5 years ago, and that still hasn't happened.


.... YET!!

 

[Mr_Terrific]

Will someone please explain why you need Kinect and an iPad to use the internet instead of just using your iPad's superior web browser. Completely unnecessary imo.

There also seems to be a conflict between Kinect controls and this smart glass. Better with Kinect and an iPad...

 

[The.Bard]

Yeah, this is just a Wii U ripoff.

They are covering the bases in case of the Wii U taking off and leaving them in the dust like last time.

It's hard to say Microsoft is "ripping off" Nintendo here. This isn't exactly something Nintendo invented. It's picture-in-picture, only on a completely separate device. Disney has been pumping out "Second Screen" apps to go with their home movies for almost two years or so now.

I wouldn't hold my breath expecting the WiiU to take off. I predict more tough times for Big N. Idiotic design decisions (limited third party support, drought of games, no backup plan, catastrophic wii sales plummets, etc.) tend to catch up "WiiU".

But then again, I predicted Dolphins would kill off humanity and take over the globe 5 years ago, and that still hasn't happened.

This is a clear retaliation to Nintendo, they got burned last gen for being late to motion controls, they want to be ready in case this takes off too.

It's like with smartphones. The iPhone was the first big one, was it just a coincidence that after it's success everyone else started making them? They don't have to be the first ever to be copied.

Also, don't count Nintendo out just yet. People have been saying they will die since the N64. They're a bit like PC gaming in that way.

I could roll with retaliation on some level, but it's worth noting that Microsoft has been amping up their console-phone connectivity for a while. The Windows phone with companion apps were rolling before the WiiU was even announced. It's possible Nintendo drove them to push further, but MS has been steadily building towards this on their own. I personally wouldn't equate it to the iphone situation, as the iphone actually WAS better than the competition, and by a large margin. The Wii wasn't better, it was just hyped, flat out. Other than the wand, it was an inferior product on every technical level.

Either way, though, as someone who owns a 360 and will die before owning a WiiU, I'll take the functionality whatever the reason.

It'll be interesting to see how Nintendo fares. I think they burned a lot of people with the Wii. I had a large handful of friends who bought one because it was cheap and seemed cool. The telling bit of info is none of them were gamers. Just people who wanted a party toy. Other than that they never touched it. That's a dangerous group to put faith in for future console sales.

I think the WiiU can succeed, but nowhere near as well as the Wii. That initial sales explosion with the Wii was lightning in a bottle. I'll eat my shorts and lose all faith in humanity if it happens again.

 

[The.Bard]

It'll be interesting to see how Nintendo fares. I think they burned a lot of people with the Wii. I had a large handful of friends who bought one because it was cheap and seemed cool. The telling bit of info is none of them were gamers. Just people who wanted a party toy. Other than that they never touched it. That's a dangerous group to put faith in for future console sales.

I think the WiiU can succeed, but nowhere near as well as the Wii. That initial sales explosion with the Wii was lightning in a bottle. I'll eat my shorts and lose all faith in humanity if it happens again.

People said they were burned by the N64 (despite being awesome), people said they were burned by the gamecube and people said they were burned by the Wii.

Yet Nintendo is still selling. I think they will survive.

I wouldn't call it an initial explosion. Sales only slowed down in 2011.

They sold about 20 million a year until 2011 when they "only" sold 10 million. I'd say that's pretty strong over time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii#Reception

True, the Wii sold very well lifetime. But let's look at it another way. In its first 3 years it sold 67 million units. In the 2.5 years since, it's sold 28 million. I'd call that a dip.

Nintendo had a major loss in profits last year, its first ever, I believe. I'm not saying it's all doom and gloom. But to expect a unit geared for the core gamer (many of whom are angry for being abandoned) with a price tag of $4-500 "ish" dollars to sell the way the Wii did, which was geared - and more importantly, PRICED - for casuals? Calling that hopeful is generous.

Their series have started getting long in the tooth. The most recent Zelda & Metroid games have gotten a lot of critical hate, something unheard of a few years back. They've always make their stamp be "the cheap option with a hideous online platform and all of the Mario/Zelda/Metroid games".

The WiiU NEEDS to have a fully functional - and more importantly, COMPETITIVE - online platform if it wants to even stand a chance. Online is everything these days. It's priced outside the Casuals wallets, so you can kiss that gold mine goodbye.

They'll survive, but they'll need a miracle to have any sort of repeat opening performance that the Wii had.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

Will someone please explain why you need Kinect and an iPad to use the internet instead of just using your iPad's superior web browser.

Because clearly other peripherals like a controller or their beloved motion can-troll technology could never accomplish the same goal more efficiently and without costing a fortune on their own. And clearly everything is better on the big screen. And clearly Internet Explorer is superior to all other browsers.

Clear as shit if you ask me.

I consider everything about SmartGlass to be fucking ridiculous. Every single thing. There is not a single occasion where I could see it being useful. Having many different approaches to the same game is great, but they have yet to show SmartGlass being used for this. Instead they showed it's wonderful ability to display the lore screen on your phone while you play.

Also, I have serious doubts it will ever be utilized, as developers have absolutely no way to figure out what the install base is. How can they get an accurate measurement of how many people own a tablet, a smartphone, and a 360 at the same time, and use them together? Seems a bit ridiculous to me.