MOTION CONTROLS

Nintendo has been the originator of what are today some of the most fundamental control inputs, the prime example being analog sticks. Another type of controllers they pioneered in gaming was motion controls, which was brought about with the Wii. At first, it truly did seem like the future of gaming. The possibilities were endless, especially it tech was properly improved to capture 1:1 movements (which it was, with the Wii Remote + and the PS Move, but it still didn’t work out all too well). Ultimately, though, as it turned out, motion controls were just another phase. Sure, they’ve still managed to stick around even today, in some form of another, but as time went on, most people came to realize that while shovelware titles chose to experiment with motion controls, more traditional, hardcore gaming experiences chose to stick with regular controllers. Have motion controls replaced traditional controllers the way we thought they would? Definitely not.

The Xbox app for smartphones and tablets will now let you view screenshots, as well as letting you share, save, and comment on them. The new updates will put all the screenshots that you take on the console in a new Capture hub in your activity feed on the app, where you can interact with the screenshots.

The update is already available for the SmartGlass app on Windows 10 devices; a beta version of the update is already available for iOS devices, with a full rollout planned soon, while Android will be getting the functionality soon as well.

This makes the Xbox app even more full featured than it already was, allowing for more meaningful second screen interactions, and continuing the app’s lead over Sony’s similar PlayStation app for iOS and Android devices, which currently does not let you interact with screenshots beyond viewing and saving them.

Xbox SmartGlass is available on iOS, Android, and Windows devices.

Though second screen capability is starting to come into its own for the Xbox One and PS4, having been introduced with the Wii U, Epic Games vice-president Mark Rein still feels that we’re yet its true value, though it could be big one day.

In conversation with the [a] List Daily, Rein stated that, “I think we’ve yet to see the real value of the second screen idea, if you’re talking about [Xbox] SmartGlass and companion apps and things like that. But that doesn’t mean that it won’t be big one day. I don’t really know what it is yet.”

“Where it fits into gaming, I don’t know. I’m not sold on picking up my tablet to choose my play and then putting it back down and picking up my controller. It’s kind of a wonky way to choose to play, so I don’t know if that’s how it’s going to go or not. Developers should try everything and have lots of fun with it, and sooner or later there will be a killer app for that sort of thing, too.”

As of now, functions of second screen apps include being able to spectate on some one’s game, accessing certain in-game functions (calling an air-strike in Dead Rising 3, for example) and small mini-games within the main game.

The Xbox SmartGlass app for Xbox One, which basically transforms your smartphone or tablet into a second screen for your Xbox One console, allowing for some expanded second screen functionality, is now available for Windows Phone devices. A release for iOS and Android devices will come later.

SmartGlass is Microsoft’s take on the second screen concept that has been catching on in recent years, and that Nintendo pioneered and then proceeded to make central to its console experience with the WIi U. It works similarly to the PlayStation Vita/PlayStation 4 functionality on the PS4, or the PlayStation App for the PS4.

SmartGlass was already available on the Xbox 360 across iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, albeit in a much more limited and much less integrated form.

For more on the Xbox One and everything about it, its functions, and its games, as its November 22 launch draws nearer, stay tuned to this site.

[VG247]

Machinima is one of the most popular apps on the Xbox 360, so it stands to reason that it would also show up on Microsoft’s next generation Xbox One console. And sure enough, the console is getting an exclusive Machinima app, one that we are promised provides ‘a highly integrated Xbox One experience.’

The app will be fully multitaskable (meaning it can work using the Xbox One’s Snap feature, running side by side with the game you are playing, and even providing a selection of curated videos on the game you are playing as you play it); in addition, the app will also support the Xbox SmartGlass feature, which will provide the exact same experience as the Snap functionality, except with Machinima occupying your second screen (tablet or smartphone) so that your TV screen can be dedicated to your game.

The app launches on November 22, along with the Xbox One itself.

[Official Xbox Website]

Both next generation consoles, the PS4 and Xbox One, have exotic architectures and come loaded with a lot of memory that developers can play around with. This has resulted in extremely detailed and open world games like Metal Gear Solid 5, Tom Clancy’s The Division and the upcoming Xbox One launch title Dead Rising 3.

Dead Rising 3 had a pretty strong showing at GamesCom with some amazing gameplay footage and the ability to customize not only weapons but deadly vehicles as well.

Mike Jones, Producer of Dead Rising 3, shared his thoughts on working on the Xbox One and how the power of the next generation system has helped to create a truly open world zombie game.

“Working with the Xbox One has been amazing. The game is not only exponentially larger than Dead Rising 1 and 2 combined but we have been able to maintain the same destiny we had, that Dead Rising [series] is known for. The number of weapons, the number of physics objects, the number of zombies, what we have been able to do with SmartGlass and Kinect, the sheer memory and the horsepower of the Xbox One which helped turning Dead Rising 3 into fully streaming huge open world zombie sandbox,” Mike said in an interview with Xbox.

  The crazy Roller Hawg combo vehicle in Dead Rising 3.

He also shared his thoughts on the SmartGlass integration for the game.

“SmartGlass integration in Dead Rising 3 basically turns your cell phone into a cell phone which you can use to call for survival support, for backup. You will get calls on your phone which are exclusive missions to SmartGlass, so that’s a whole little world and fiction tied up in this SmartGlass experience. It is totally optional but it is also a lot of fun,” he explained.

Dead Rising 3 will be available launch day, exclusively for the Xbox One. For more on Dead Rising 3, check out our hub page here.

Baldielocks Peter Molyeux, creator of the Fable franchise who recently left Lionhead, says he isn’t too sure about Microsoft’s new tech, SmartGlass, even though it seems pretty impressive.

“The thing about the SmartGlass is that the tablet is a thing that you have with you all the time,” he told IGN. “Now, in that sense, I understand completely as a consumer and I’m excited to see what these guys do with it,” he said. “But I do have a problem with it.

“I now have a screen in front of me on my lap and a screen up on the wall that I’m looking at. Which one should I be looking at? Should I be looking up at the big screen and down, or at my lap and up? Should I be checking down on my lap every few seconds? What’s going to incentivize me to move my eyes from the wall to my lap?”

However, Molyneux says he is actually a little excited about this tech.

“In a way, part of me is excited by this,” he said. “But part of me is worried that this is a bit of tech which us tech boys get really excited about, and until I see some really great uses of that SmartGlass or the Wii U GamePad, the jury is out for me to be honest with you

“The real use for me is how it’s used as part of the entertainment experience, and then that divided attention that you’re demanding of a player is going to be really challenging to balance well.”

SmartGlass functions like a Companion app for the Xbox Live experience. You can control the Xbox 360 by way of buttons located on the touchscreen corners or even via swipes. The Xbox Video and Music apps will showcases information on what you’re playing. You can also pinch to zoom, and use your smartphone for keyboard entry, among other functions.

Of course, you still have the standard XBox Live functions such as being able to see what your friends are playing, achievements earned, who’s online, etc. It’s an interesting effort, and a major push by Microsoft to capture the “living room” demographic that watches TV and even games while keeping their smartphones handy.

Source: Eurogamer

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Smartglass which was announced at their E3 conference this year is actually pretty cool, according to some EA executives.

“I think it’s a killer initiative. I really like it a lot. It ties into what we’re trying to do as a company,” EA Label boss Frank Gibeau said to GamesIndustry.

” What we’re trying to do as a developer of games is – we’re looking at multi-screen environments as being really key in what’s happening in gaming. You play games on your mobile. You play games on your PC. You play games on your console. So giving people more access points through multiple screens is a great thing.”

He wasn’t the only one with a lot of praise for it. EA Sports boss Andrew Wilson revealed that it will change the way people interact with consoles and bring a new audience to gaming.

“If you look at Madden or FIFA this year, they have a series of multi-screen applications that allow you to manage your connected career or manage your FIFA Ultimate team while you’re in front of the screen or while you’re away from the screen. What that’s enabling is people to engage in a world that’s very, very important to them that they’re very passionate about even while they’re away from their 60-inch television.”

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Thanks, VG247.