One of the most distinguishing features of Windows Phone 7 over the iPhone or Android is its ability to connect to Xbox Live and earn Achievements. That connectivity may soon be expanded to allow real-time interaction with an Xbox 360 system, as shown off at this week's Mobile World Congress.
Back in the day, Nintendo tried all sorts of connectivity features between the Gamecube and Game Boy Advance - for example, you could play an adventure game on your Gamecube, and see the map on your GBA while playing. Or, in a game of Pac-Man, one person could control the yellow creature on the TV screen while anyone with a GBA could control the ghosts on their own separate screens.
Even though connectivity still exists with the Wii/DS and PS3/PSP, developers have kind of shied away from that idea of making games that simultaneously use both devices. It looks like Microsoft wants to try it again.
At the trade show, it's demonstrating a Kinect game in which players have to sidestep to avoid being hit by dodge balls. The dodge balls aren't just being randomly tossed out, though. Other players with Windows Phone 7 devices are controlling when and where the balls are tossed, allowing them to join the game without sharing a screen or controller.
[Source: TMCnet]
Feb 15, 2011
