This week marks the launch of Windows 8, on October 26, and with it comes the deployment of Xbox SmartGlass into the fray. Running on Windows phones and tablets, later-generation iOS devices, and Android smartphones, it’ll provide experiences… well, shown above. Sure, this video doesn’t cover GAMES at all, despite being labeled an XBOX product. Sure, Microsoft recently killed off its Twitter and Facebook Xbox apps because they weren’t being used at all, but that doesn’t mean non-gaming uses for gaming products are dead, right? RIGHT?!
Ahem. Anyway. Give it a gander. It’s… interesting. There’s some pretty intriguing ideas presented here by the SmartGlass (or as Break calls it, Xbox FartGas), and then again… there are other takeaways as well.
- This guy’s living room is HUGE.
- Sorry, guy; Battleship NEVER looks great, no matter what screen you play it on.
- The ability to actually look up not just characters via IMDB, but to actually limit that search to who is actually on screen at the moment? That’s nice.
- This is easily the best Maroon 5 song I’ve ever heard. What’s that, you say? You can’t hear anything? Exactly.
- “…SmartGlass becomes a beautiful visual remote control…” – A remote control without any controls on it? Ok, yeah, sure, I can click somewhere to show the controls, but that just rhymes with design flaw. I want to be able to pause and play without having to click around more than I want “easy access to similar artists”.
- Being able to pass web sessions to and fro from device to device to device is pretty awesome. Being able to control the mouse and typing from your device, also very awesome. Requiring Xbox Live Gold to access Internet Explorer on your Xbox? Not awesome. What, they didn’t mention that? Yeeeeaaahhhh.
- Aaaaaaaand sports. What Microsoft presentation would be complete without a mention of sports? I have nothing else to say here, because I have no feelings about sports, other than the feeling that cats undoubtedly have towards their litter tray.
As for games, there’s pretty much fuck-all to be said right now, at least from Microsoft. The Verge has brief footage/non-footage of it below, calling it “a tool for trolling your friends in Dance Central.” Sounds fun. You can check that out below.
