Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/259450
C G W Ja n u a r y / Fe b ru a r y 2 014 ■ 21 with cloud computing," Greenawalt says. "Because we are a first-party studio, we were in on the ground floor with develop- ing for the cloud on the Xbox One. From first-person shooters to real-time strategy games, the potential of cloud computing is limitless." Taking Control This new console generation is seeing advances and innova- tion in how we interact with our games. Microsoft recently touted that it spent over $1 billion developing the new Xbox One controller, making it feel just right and adding haptic feedback to the triggers. Sony's new Dualshock 4 controller advances interaction by offering up a capacitive touch pad that's clickable. Not only that, but the controller also has a glowing light and a speaker to make the experience more immersive. According to Jurney, Supergiant is using both the light and the speaker to better immerse the player in the environment of its Transistor game. "Your character in the game wields the Transistor – a sword that glows when it talks – so it can map both the sound and lighting into the controller to make you feel more like you're holding the Transistor directly." Knack, the new PS4 game created by Japan Studio (the production and development arm of parent company Sony Computer Entertainment), features a character, named Knack, made up of thousands of small parts that work together to form the character's body. In the game, there are frequent moments wherein the main character destroys yellow power gems. When this happens, the sound of the gem imbuing Knack with power can be heard over the speaker on the con- troller. The effect instantly connects the players to the game screen in a more immersive way, making them feel like their world is part of the game world. On the motion-control front, Microsoft's new Kinect pushes the voice and motion-control concept forward with increased speed and capability. It now comes with a 1080p camera (Xbox 360 was only VGA) and processes 2 gb of data per second to track what it sees. It can immediately identify someone through biometric scanning methods, such as voice and face recognition, so that it can greet a person when he or she walks into the room. …And More In terms of media support at a base level, both the new consoles continue where the old ones left off: The myriad of apps that support different media types are still present. While a person can still watch NetFlix, Hulu Plus, and other ser- vices via the console, the big idea on the Xbox One is how it integrates with a person's TV watching. When set up correctly, the Xbox One can control all the components (TV, cable box, receiver) by using the Kinect sensor to send out IR blasts. It also has a guide that displays channel content, just like your cable box. So, what does this bring the console user? Perhaps for a gamer, these features are simply icing on the cake. But what this connected media approach will deliver is increased user engagement. Why? Immediate access begets more engage- ment. When developers offer immediate access to content and games, users wind up engaging this content even more. Both consoles have removed some of the waiting factors that tend to reduce user engagement. Of course, what better way to enhance this access than with your smartphone or tablet? Ever since last year, the term "second screen" has been in the vernacular to mean using a smartphone or tablet to view enhanced content that supplements a primary device, like a game console or smart TV. You could watch a movie or play a game and, while doing so, gander at trivia, admire stats, or so- cially interact with others over shared interests. Now, the new consoles bring this concept to the market fully formed. Both platforms offer apps for Android, iOS, and Windows devices that allow users to connect with their consoles in unique ways. But one of the most impactful examples of this concept can ■ THE ENTIRE GAME world in Resogun , from Housemarque, is made of voxels.