Xbox SmartGlass Review for Video game industry

Tablets to keep winning graphics and computing power, gaming companies are rethinking how to integrate the devices into their overall strategy.

But industry experts say it's still a long way to go before the tablet is used as a console - on par with the Xbox or PlayStation - mostly upscale AAA games like Assassins Creed or Gears of War.

In Entertainment, Entertainment Expo, which began in Los Angeles on Monday, Microsoft unveiled a new feature that will bring to the Xbox, called Smart Glass. The feature allows Xbox games, movies and TV shows with tablets and smartphones to be integrated. He will be with all of Apple tablets and phones, and Android devices, and those working with the Windows operating system, and allow tablets as part of the overall gaming experience used.

Video game industry consultant Jason Della Rocca, founder of Perimeter Partners, said that most of the games on tablets similar to those on smart phones: they are casual games that are usually free, and not take advantage of graphics processors of the higher end tablets.

He said most of the editions of tablets hardcore games greatly reduced and limited to allow the players to buy armor and weapons for use in a multiplayer version of the game, instead of providing a complete version of the game

He believes the players will soon be demanding.

“Having a full experience on your big screen, and some crappy just little branded thing, just to say you have something on the iPad, I think we’re getting past that point,” Della Rocca said.

It is expected that there will be games hardcore many more that are designed for tablets that the Xbox should be made to compete with the iPad.

But despite the technological advances of tablets, he believes it is still a market for game consoles and games are developed for them.

Yannis Mallat, CEO of Ubisoft Montreal, said he still sees, smartphones and tablets as a companion for consoles that allow players to be fully on their games all the time.

He said compressed video games in the hands of those who have not put in possession of a console. But all this is potentially a new market for game companies, he believes he is the wrong step to deliver the same experience of a game like Assassins Creed AAA, in a tablet.

 

“I see the hard-core gamers still pretty much on the console HD experience, unless there is some benefit to playing that on the tablet. The technological gap is slightly closing. Does that mean I want to have the exact same experience, the same hard-core HD AAA experience on the iPad? Maybe not the exact same one. Maybe a different one.”

He added having games on a mobile device can expose Ubisoft to a large audience that may not be familiar with its games.

“From 300 million gamers to 2 billion (players on smartphones or tablet), if we can (get) even a small percentage of those newcomers, we’ll be very successful,” he said.