So the talk of the town is currently Microsoft’s big next-gen Xbox launch which is happening later today.
No-one knows for sure if it’ll be called the Xbox 720 or some other fancy name, but Microsoft has been the dominant force in the console space for years now and you can bet it has invested significant effort into the new device to ensure it maintains that position.
As such, the Xbox 720 (as I shall refer to it for now) is expected to be fairly revolutionary.
But, in the smartphone and tablet era when mobile gaming is an ever-growing force to be reckoned with how can Microsoft keep the console format relevant?
The most obvious answer is that it’s going to need to fuse with mobile gaming rather than attempt to compete directly with it. There are a number of ways this could be done which I'll talk about in this article, but what's really interesting is how such changes could have a massive impact on not just mobile gaming and entertainment, but the entire balance of the mobile market. If Microsoft plays its cards right with integrating the Xbox into the mobile space it could swing the balance of power heavily into its favour.
Xbox 720 - Streaming games to mobile devices
If I had to name one big revolution mobile gaming needs it would be this. It’s not a new idea, as several companies have attempted the concept before, but it’s never been executed well enough to really take off. Largely this has been due to a lack of muscle on the part of companies trying to get it off the ground, but Microsoft certainly has the required clout to make it work.
If it did make such a move it would put Microsoft back in centre stage as the undisputed master of gaming, not just on consoles but in the mobile space too.
Mobile devices are more powerful than ever, but even at high clock speeds they lack the ability to handle extremely high-end gaming. This isn’t only an issue of graphics either, games which are purely graphically intensive tend to do quite well on mobile provided they’re confined to nothing more elaborate than an old-fashioned ‘corridor’ shooter.
But when you start factoring larger, more expansive and detailed game worlds with proper immersion, interactive non-player characters (NPCs) and advanced physics, things get a bit more complex and the confines of a phone or tablet chassis (which has no room for cooling fans) start causing a few problems. Importantly, these are the sort of games which sell in the multi-millions on the current crop of consoles.
At present, the mobile space excels at delivering very tailored gaming experiences with interesting graphical styles and highly contextual control methods purpose-built for touch and motion inputs.
For puzzlers and quirky platformers it is a fantastic medium but in broader gaming terms this really is just the tip of the iceberg. Tapping into the bigger mass of gaming potential would be a massive boost for the medium and any company driving it.
To enable this, Microsoft needs to set the Xbox 720 up as a device which can not only play games directly on a big screen in your living room, but can also beam that gaming capability to your mobile devices. This is a technology which already exists (Nvidia GRID, OnLive, Gaikai) but requires a company like Microsoft to implement the requisite back-end to support it on a massive scale.
In short, everyone’s dreamed of playing Call of Duty, Skyrim or Assassin’s Creed on mobile and the frequently poor quality cash-ins with limited scope simply don’t cut the mustard. Microsoft has the opportunity to make this a reality and if it lives up to the challenge it’s going to be laughing all the way to the bank - particularly with big blockbuster titles such as GTA 5, Watchdogs, Battlefield 4 and Dark Souls 2 on the way.
Another important consideration is that if Microsoft doesn’t do this Sony might beat it to the punch – the PlayStation maker already bought cloud gaming service Gaikai in 2012 and we could see such services debuting on the PlayStation 4. Microsoft is probably painfully aware of this.
Xbox 720 - Controller crossover
It’s pretty clear that Microsoft will continue with its work on the Kinect motion controller but there are other layers to game control, both of the console itself and on mobile, which could be really significant.
First and perhaps most obvious is to enable the Xbox 720 gamepad controller to double up as a universal controller for mobile devices. Many mobile games, specifically ones based on classic console tropes, make do with virtual gamepad controls on-screen and the result is frequently less than satisfying. These would benefit hugely from having access to a physical control input which is supported across the board and this would also be a big boost to the development community – developers would diversify their games and more developers would flock to create mobile content.
Rumours suggest Microsoft will not change the overall design of the Xbox 720 controller from its predecessor, but feasibly it could do this while still adding Bluetooth and NFC connectivity to enable pairing with mobiles. Combined with the streaming mentioned above this would mean you could actually pick up a console game on your mobile exactly where you left off in your living room.
The second opportunity is in integrating mobile devices and their touchscreens into Xbox gaming. Using a smartphone as a controller has been done before to an extent (FIFA for the iPad), but for the same reasons mentioned above simply using an on-screen gamepad is insufficient and frankly pointless when the package will ship with a physical controller bundled in.
One possibility is in implementing the smartphone’s sensors and gyro control capabilities so it becomes a motion controller. Another is using it Wii-U style as a supplementary touch-based interface element – you could, for example, use it to access a character’s inventory in a role-playing-game while keeping the action on your TV screen (or tablet?) uninterrupted. Such functionality would remove the need to include a touchscreen on the included gamepad, something which Microsoft might not be inclined to do if it wants to keep a similar form factor, though it would require some kind of cradle setup.
Lastly, is the opportunity to combine the phone’s sensor capabilities with Kinect for enhanced motion control. What, exactly, am I getting at?
Well, Kinect works by using a camera and a projected laser grid to detect motion, as well as having sound, voice, gesture and face recognition via various sensors and built-in technology.
Kinect is highly adept at what it does but there’s always room for improvement. Rumours suggest the next Kinect will have a greater ability to detect and transmit movement into games than the current model.
Such technologies can often be improved by increasing the quantity and range of sensory data available to it so, conceptually, it’s not a huge stretch to imagine Kinect synching with your smartphone in your hand and using the handset’s built-in sensors to add a new layer of data.
What would this mean for the end user? Well, more precise control is one thing as it would likely mean the console would know exactly where your hand is and can co-ordinate the rest of your movement more accurately from that point.
But an extension of this is how the phone could then become a controller for a variety of contexts. You could, in theory, have Kinect implement the smartphone as a sword within a fencing game, registering both your movements and how the phone is orientated in your hand. The phone could also use its vibration function to provide physical feedback.
Xbox 720 - Ecosystem: Inclusive or Exclusive?
The elephant in the room on all these discussion points is: would these features be available across mobile platforms or just on Windows Phone 8, Windows 8 and Windows RT?
Microsoft made its intentions apparent early on that it was going to unify its services between Xbox, Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone and that process has already begun in earnest with its selection of Windows Stores, Xbox Live, Xbox SmartGlass, Xbox Music + Video and the ubiquity of Internet Explorer 10 across these platforms.
The company’s own advertising has also made it known that it views the Xbox as much as a multimedia and entertainment portal, effectively a set-top box, as it does a gaming-specific device and it makes sense that this in an ethos which spans the various connected services, platforms and device formats that Microsoft is working with.
The result of this is that you can already control your Xbox with your phone, your films and music are accessible from both and so is a selection of gaming titles. I can only see this expanding. But, importantly, while many Xbox users undoubtedly have Windows PCs there are still plenty who don’t have Windows tablets and phones.
They may have instead opted for Android, BlackBerry or iOS and Microsoft has a stark choice to make in this regard.
Either it needs to cater to these people with its new features, whether that’s streaming games, integrated services or control inputs, by enabling them on rival devices, or, it can attempt the risky manoeuvre of trying to coax them across to Windows Phone et al by making certain key features exclusively accessible on its own platforms and devices.
That kind of deal would likely cause shockwaves in both the gaming industry and in mobile, because such a move would be substantial in mitigating the fairly lacklustre app choice on the Windows ecosystem currently. Arguably, Windows Phone currently doesn't have a significant USP, but Xbox 720 exclusivity might be just the catalyst it needs.
Development for Microsoft's platforms would be substantially boosted, because if everyone who wants a ‘completely connected’ Xbox does jump ship the user base would go through the roof. Android and iOS market share could drop and the whole balance of power could shift.
The key factor here is that Google and Apple don’t have their own console and the pull of Xbox musn't be understimated, it is absolutely colossal. Crucially Microsoft’s big rival is Sony’s PlayStation 4, but, if it ties all of its services along with a host of revolutionary new features to its mobile platforms, Microsoft has the potential to not only beat Sony in the console space but also Google and Apple in the smartphone and tablet space.
by pbriden via Featured Articles
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