Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Here’s more of my observations and photos from my quick perusal of E3.

XBOX SMARTGLASS
A certain media pundit I know, slammed Xbox SmartGlass as “just another app – an improvement on something that already exists as Xbox Companion… just a better remote control”, and I thought to myself, “Wow dude. You may be considered an authoritative source or some technologies but console gaming is NOT one of them”

Yes, SmartGlass, at its basest form, is an app that runs on tablet & smartphone form factors running Windows 8, Windows Phone, Apple iOS iPads & iPhones, and Android-based Tablets & Smartphones. But what it provides is rich, touch-enabled, real-time interaction with your Xbox 360 gaming experience. Besides the obvious power behind enabling users to leverage the tablet/smartphone technology they already own with their Xbox 360, SmartGlass provides an amazing array of capabilities not experienced today, including:

• VIDEO PROJECTION: Transfer a movie being streamed to your phone or tablet to the Xbox 360 – without missing a beat.
• VALUE-ADDED INFO: Display relevant “background” information on the tablet/phone about the content being displayed on the Xbox 360. Interact using touch capabilities without interrupting the TV video experience.
• MULTIPLAYER SEPARATION: Keep game time selections (such as football plays in Madden) between competing players separate, to prevent prying eyes from cheating.
• INTUITIVE TARGET SELECTION: Rapidly target objects using touch instead of using the controller. Pick a wide receiver in Madden to pass to for example.
• KEYBOARD TYPING: Leverage the soft keyboard to enter data into fields on your Xbox 360. Redemption codes, player names, etc.
• INTERNET BROWSING: Use the tablet/phone as a soft keyboard as well as pinch-to-zoom & touch navigation to allow browsing on the Xbox using the newly introduced “Internet Explorer for Xbox 360.”
• MUSIC SYNC: Obtain media content from Xbox Music service on your device and synchronize the content to your Xbox 360, keeping your catalog offline available on all your computing devices: PC, Mobile Companions, and Xbox 360.
• MEDIA CONTROL: Leverage your tablet as the dashboard interface to the Xbox 360, eliminating the need for the controller when using the Xbox exclusively as a media access console, including for Amazon PRIME Video, Netflix, Xbox Live Marketplace, Hulu, YouTube, and the other 32 services available on the 360.

VIDEO GAME HISTORY MUSEUM
This was, honestly, one of my favorites at E3 this year and it had nothing to do with Microsoft.

It was the Video Game History Museum – a 30×30 booth in the back of the South Hall that was the brainchild of the guys that run the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

They showcased a HUGE number of classic game systems from the Odyssey to the Colecovision, to the Intellivision, to the TurboGrafx. They showed classic memorabilia from the Pac-Man era as well as the original Activision era with Pitfall, etc. The availability of Electronic Arts classics like Super Boulderdash, Archon, Realm of Impossibility, Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One-on-One, and Hard Hat Mack kinda made me tear up a bit.

The museum is still an ‘idea’ that needs home but with time it could become a reality. They are looking for some place in Silicon Valley… and I saw a donation bin in clear plastic loaded with bills – many in $100 denominations.

I know I made a contribution.