Microsoft working on phone-to-console gaming with WP7

Jos

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We already knew Microsoft would be putting a strong focus into gaming with their upcoming mobile platform, Windows Phone 7, but it seems the company has a few things up its sleeve beyond offering built-in Xbox Live functionality for things like leaderboards, achievements, messaging and demos. Speaking at the X10 event in Toronto, Microsoft's Greg Milligan confirmed that multiplayer gaming between Windows Phone owners and their Xbox 360 counterparts is in the works.

It won't be available when the platform launches in early October, though. Initially Windows Phone 7 will be limited to turn-by-turn gaming between handsets as well as companion-type gaming where "you play a level on the phone and it may unlock a level or a weapon or some special achievement on the console game." Milligan also mentions real-time gameplay between PC and phone owners using the Xbox Live infrastructure. In either case he believes that when the feature arrives, connectivity will likely be limited to Wi-Fi, as "operator networks are sensitive to that."

Back in July it was revealed that "many many months ago," Microsoft scrapped an Xbox Live project to let PC and console users interact on some form of united multiplayer platform because the experience was so different on each system that PC gamers "destroyed" console players every time. It's unclear what type of games would be taking advantage of this phone-to-console or phone-to-PC functionality, but we're curious to see what the company has planned to get around the obvious differences between platforms when it comes to gaming.

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The problem with PC, Console and Phone gamers playing with each other on Xbox Live is the controls.

OF COURSE PC gamers "destroyed" console gamers (in *some* games, at least), because a mouse is far superior for those twitchy games that require you *manually* target something. You point and it goes there - it is as instantaneous as possible without reading the user's thoughts. The venerable controller as we know it simply can't do this.

For other games though, a game controller would be clearly superior. I'd take a gamepad over a keyboard/mouse ANY day for a side scroller or certain puzzle games etc...

Phone gamers will suffer the same problem. Much like console gamers can only be competitive against PC gamers with certain *types* of games, phone gamers are really only going to be competitive with everyone else for things like chess, pool, scrabble.... Microsoft is going to have to come up with some creative ways to even playing the field if they want consoles and phones on the same gaming network and for people to still have fun.

I feel like limiting the types of games shared between the two is the most obvious answer, but I don't think it is necessarily a good one, either.
 
I dunno, PC gamers will destroy the competition when it comes to FPS and certain puzzle games, RTS's and indie games such as World of Goo, plus 3rd persons as well. Racing games could be quite interesting, with the tilt control on a mobile and a keyboard arrow keys or a control pad joy stick?
 
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