Microsoft Demos Cross-Platform Gaming

It was bound to happen soon. Just last week, Microsoft showed the world that cross-platform gaming is possible and that it’s not far off. Wherever you are, whatever devise you’re using, you can play the same game with your progress constantly saved. With some restrictions, of course.

At TechEd Middle East, Microsoft’s Eric Rudder demonstrated this new approach by playing a custom-made Indiana Jones game on his Windows PC, his Windows 7 smartphone, and his Xbox 360. As you can see from the video above, each device knew where the other left off making for perfect and instant continuity between each platform.

Naturally, the quality of the game is restricted by the lowest common denominator device; in other words, the smartphone determines that the game must be a 2D side scroller. This approach also requires that the consumer have all Microsoft products to play, but I guess that’s not too much of a problem considering that many Xbox owners likely already have Windows computer.

The future of cross-platform gaming is certainly intriguing for those who can’t put a game down but don’t want to be tied to any particular device. The next step is having developers produce games that incorporate this functionality. Fortunately, Microsoft also demonstrated that development for such games can be done rather simply with 90% of the programming shared between all platforms and the rest device-specific. Theoretically, this would mean that developers may only need one team to produce a game for three very different platforms.

[Engadget via Neowin]