A right Smart Glass...

As an avid Xbox user, I have been playing about with Smart Glass for a few months. Smart Glass is an app that Microsoft released to allow your smartphone or tablet to act as a companion device to your gaming console. It can act as a remote control complete with swiping the screen control for moving around the Xbox interface, as an adjunct to your gaming experience, as another screen for playing back your Xbox media or a browser controller that is more familiar than using the gaming controller.

It is undoubtedly a very cool move by Microsoft, especially since they took the bold decision to create an app for a number of platforms. Old-thinking Microsoft would have only made it available on Windows Phone, giving it zero traction, but it can thankfully run on pretty much anything, ensuring a broad appeal amongst the Xbox user base.

The current usage options are a great start but I believe the system is only now scratching the surface. Only a few games have integrated in to it in any way but at simplistic levels (e.g. stats whilst playing Halo 4) and once the Smart Glass becomes more integral to the gaming experience it should be an even bigger boost to the platform. I could imagine a scenario where the gamer is fighting his/her way through a level in a first-person shooter and reaches a locked door that requires the lock to be picked. This might take the form of a puzzle that runs on the Smart Glass that needs to be completed before proceeding, bringing a focus to this narrow element of the gameplay that takes the gamer out of the big screen action and down to a macro level. Another example might be to have Halo’s Cortana (if she’s still alive of course!) solely depicted and talking from out of the Smart Glass device in the next game, mirroring many of the interactions Master Chief has with her throughout the various Halo games. It could also easily mimic many of the uses seen in the tablet controller that comes with the rival Wii U but without the heft.

The possibilities for Smart Glass are limitless really, especially as second screen devices such as tablets and phones get more powerful and it will be a platform that is worth watching closely, especially as we near the unveiling of the next Xbox. I also have little doubt that a similar approach will be used in the rumoured Android-based gaming platform Google are working on....

Full Steam Ahead...

Valve has released Steam for Linux - the open-source version of its increasingly popular gaming platform - no doubt sending shivers and tremors through Microsoft as a result.

The gaming company has previously announced its intention to launch a gaming rig based on Linux - dubbed the Steambox - in to living rooms around the world, challenging the Xbox, Playstation and Wii head-on. However, this early software-led open source play via Linux significantly reduces the barrier to entry for anyone looking to get their gaming freak on...no more need to buy a Windows licence.

The integration of Steam in to the Ubuntu Software Centre is unsurprising given the popularity of both and with it gamers can now download a free, stable operating system that will allow them to get down to business for nothing, outside the cost of your hardware.

I personally cannot wait to see the Steambox and what Valve do next...they clearly have a plan.

Black is back!!!!!!

The Ninja had a very surreal moment earlier this week. As an avid Xbox 360 fan, I was trawling through the game demos on Xbox Live and came across the game Bodycount. As a huge fan of good FPS games I took a chance and downloaded it. I was shortly up and playing, running and gunning and loving what I was seeing. I was struck almost immediately by how much this game felt, looked and sounded like my all-time favourite video game Black which had previously been available on the original Xbox and PS2 before mercifully reappearing in the Xbox Originals on the 360. 

Black was simply awesome with fabulous visuals even if it was SD, even better sounds and beautiful destructible environments to use in taking down enemies. I frequently had dug out my old rig to have a nostalgic shoot on this awesome game and often spotted red litter bins in the real world and wondered if they blew up the same way as they do in the game. Although short on length and depth of story, it had plenty to keep you coming back for more.

After rattling through the Bodycount demo a few times I was convinced the game had some kind of link back to Black and a quick Google search proved my instincts to be correct. It is indeed made by the same team headed up by Stuart Black and Steve Watt who have now moved on from Criterion to Codemasters. Needless to say it is my next purchase! Although the reviews so far seem poor, Black received similar treatment from the critics but has developed a cult following and I have little doubt I will love Bodycount as much as I did the original.

These images show the similarities between the two games...

Black - Xbox

Bodycount - Xbox 360

There was long a promise of a Black 2 but hopefully Bodycount will go some way towards filling the void (or bullet hole)....lock and load!

Unbundled TV = Internet TV

The FCC, the US government communications regulator is likely to step in soon to sort out an on-going row between tv networks and cable operators in America over pricing, especially as the hikes demanded by the networks will more than likely be passed on directly to the consumer. The FCC is much more pro-consumer than regulatory bodies are in the UK and has a great deal of clout.

The likelihood of any FCC intervention is the forced unbundling of channels which would be like an atomic bomb on the existing business model of paid-for television. The further international impact would be that as the USA leads, the rest of the world would follow….and I think that this would be a good thing!

In the UK, gone would be the minority channels such as Discovery Shed, Men and Motors, GOLD, the ‘+1’s’ repeat channels, limited broadcast schedule channels etc. and in would come probably fewer channels but higher quality content and less repeats. The reason for this would be the need for a unique draw as competitiveness would increase. The big winners would likely be the sports channels as these always sell well and the relative cost for these would drop as they were previously only available as part of a bigger bundle. However, there can be little doubt that there would be a large number of casualties.

The cost of broadcasting would also go up as the route-to-market providers (satellite transmission providers, cable companies etc.) would seek to recoup the lost income from the missing channels by driving up prices. However, advertising re-sale would be more valuable as fewer channels would control more eyeballs. The wider impact of this is likely to be that a number of channels will move to internet based television options – either directly through their own websites or via networks such as YouTube (see my Indian Premier League cricket post).

Internet tv is cheaper to produce, broadcast and maintain and 100% of revenues generated would go to the content creator – an incredibly appealing business model. With more and more devices networked to receive internet broadcasts including mobile phones, blu-ray players, ipads, ipods and network streamers, the accessibility of internet tv has moved beyond home theatre pc’s and gone mainstream. Even games consoles are in the mix with Sky’s channels now available on the Xbox 360.

Is seems inevitable that this will happen and the impact will be massive – a fundamental shift in broadcasting and if it comes to the point where television is delivered over your internet connection, necessitating a need for hat is in essence an always-on pc in your living room, then people will have no problem moving everything over this network too. Therefore telephone companies, radio networks, even gaming providers (see the impact of OnLive) should be fearful as well. The pc will be the even bigger doorway to the digital future and its primary weapon will be the internet.

Trans-media Storytelling – An untapped opportunity…

The more I think about the trilogy of Matrix movies, the more I think how much of a missed opportunity they represented. The Wajchowski brothers took what I believe to be a unique approach to telling their story by expanding the tale of Neo and his fellow humans in their battle with the machines across various forms of media, in this case including a video game (Enter the Matrix by Atari/Activision) and anime-style cartoons (The Animatrix - only on DVD).
The concept was incredibly clever – the mainstream products (the movies) would stand alone as a story-telling medium but if the ardent fan wanted more depth to the storyline, he or she could dip in to the other outlets to get a bit more background. The pc game merged in nicely with the beginning of the ‘Revolutions’ movie for example. However, the execution was left lacking as the game featured brutal gameplay and graphics akin to an Eighties console game – not in keeping with the cutting-edge high-flying visuals of the movies. Also, anime cartoons are not necessarily to everyone’s liking.

The only other example I can think of such a cross-media approach prior to the Matrix movies was the prequel comic produced for the Independence Day movie but more recently a more measured and careful approach has been taken with the hugely popular ‘Halo’ video game franchise - an approach likely to be replicated in many other areas in future.

Halo was the original launch title for the first Xbox and has become a cultural phenomenon with the sequel ‘Halo 2’ setting awesome sales records. Low key expansion of the storyline has included a series of books (currently numbering four) and a graphic novel which again grew the storyline for the ardent fan but critically has always left them (us!) wanting more and the casual fan at no loss for having delved further afield. The hype surrounding the upcoming Halo 3 has left every gamer at a fever pitch and this despite a very cloak and dagger approach from the game’s developers (Bungie) who seem to actively restrain the promotion of the game rather than cynically milking it for all they can. The recent hold put on the planned Halo movie showed incredible restraint from Microsoft (Bungie’s owner), and clearly illustrates the high value they place on the franchise.

When the movie companies behind the film (20th Century Fox and Universal) tried to leverage their position to obtain a bigger slice of the revenues, Microsoft called their bluff and walked away from the deal, confident in the power of the intellectual property of their product. They should be applauded for this less is more approach, one that is bound to be followed in future as the power (and money-making success) of Halo grows. Halo 3 is set for release in 'Fall 2007' - likely to be October-ish.