Iwata on SmartGlass: Microsoft sees value in approach, “only a small facet” of Wii U

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has commented directly on Microsoft's SmartGlass and the company's attention to Wii U latency.

[GribbleGrunger]

I can see Sony fans having to post up videos of Vita/PS3 tech in the coming years. this is going to be Kinect V PSeye all over again. Nintendo might want to avoid the obvious and concentrate on Smartglass, but i'm afraid the Vita/PS3 combo can't be ignored forever.

this was just knocked up for E3 to show how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

remember these were just knocked up for the demo in a morning.

[cstyle]

Smart glass is more of a next gen thing for MS. The next xbox may prove to be more useful for this than than the 360. MS just may have this technology inside their next controller.

[jmac53]

Definitely, this is pretty much a beta test for the next generation console.

[Machioto]

Sony did something similar to this with the ps move for lbp 2,where it supplemented the ds controller and has it own portion in lbp2.

@ pop vita has been in the states and Europe for a little over 3 months,so vita barely had enough time to show is true potential.

[BrutallyBlunt]

So people here actually think the Vita/PS3 combo offers the same latency as the Wii U? SmartGlass is also not going to be utilized in very many games on the XBOX360. Next generation it will be but it's too early to tell how the latency will be.

[PopRocks359]

Depends on how many people actually bother to use the Vita/PS3 combo. Given that not every PS3 owner is guaranteed to own a Vita (and that Vita is not selling very quickly right now) I doubt many developers want to invest in it without encouragement from Sony.

SmartGlass poses more of a threat, but given its rather laughable functionality demonstration at E3, I'd say it's not particularly threatening toward anything, let alone the Wii U.

[nukeitall]

I don't think SmartGlass will be a selling point for console other than a nice helpful addition, but more for the Windows everywhere concept. For that, it is great and I truly believe it will be very useful if MS continues to expand it. Everybody is likely to have access to multiple tablet, smart phone and computers. Access on multiple devices on different platforms and seamless syncing in the cloud would be great as evident by MS ability to seamlessly sync your achievements.

Nintendo is clearly focused on gaming, and I think it will be a nice addition, but not ground breaking. This isn't some alien and innovative design that provides great changes to how we play. It is for the most part an addition, but the strength of Nintendo's strategy is every body will have one. Developers will target it if, enough Wii U's are sold. It's a viable strategy, but remains to be seen if successful.

Sony's strategy is the worst, because it requires additional hardware purchase in addition to the PS3. How many of you will drop $250 for a PS Vita that hasn't done it already? For that price, you are probably almost buying a Wii U.

It's the fans supporting it right now, and there aren't many judging by sales. Customer impact is minimal, but it certainly is the closest to Wii U functionality.

This isn't rocket science or some superbly innovative idea. This is just an extension of the dual screen Nintendo DS . It is all about execution, execution and more execution!

@GribbleGrunger:

Nobody denies that PS Vita has it's own value, but do you really think cross play (or that consumer even think about PS4) is of any importance? To push people to buy a costly PS Vita now?

Do you really think this cross play will garner any significant support from third party?

Only Nintendo's implementation has a potential for major impact. MS implementation is geared towards Windows everywhere, not specifically for gaming and is almost irrelevant to gaming. Sony's well is so limited and so many hoops to jump through, nobody is likely to care.

[GribbleGrunger]

i'll say it again because it doesn't seem to be sinking in: there will be 70 million PS3 owners by the time the Wiuu releases and for them all they'll have to do is buy a Vita. when you buy a Vita, you are NOT just buying an extra controller, you are buying the top of the range handheld that has its own internal graphics chip and CPU. you are also able to take that Vita/controller out of the house. those 70 Million PS3 owners won't just be buying a controller to enable Wiiu like experiences, they will be buying a next gen handheld that will also hook up to the PS4 when it releases.

this CANNOT be ignored.

smartglass will enable menus, but little else. Vita will enable menus, alternative ways of playing, and with the PS3, a way of continuing games that you start on your PS3 and end on the Vita. the Vita/PS3 combo is by far the most compelling choice

what WILL sell the Wiiu is first party games and i'm sure there will be plenty of them to please Nintendo fans. that's what matters, not the gimmick of an extra screen, which is NOT going to be compulsory in a lot of games. it can't be compulsory because Nintendo have a traditional controller too. so to have a choice with the Vita is EXACTLY the same as having a choice with the Wiiu

[BrutallyBlunt]

@GribbleGrunger

It doesn't matter how many Vita's are out there, it all comes down to software support. We have seen firsthand how the Playstation Move failed to grasp the market Nintendo led with. The Move was a better device but could never fulfill its potential because the software wasn't there and neither were the consumers.

The Wiiu will have this function for all Wiiu owners. So it is a huge stretch to think PS3 owners will buy a Vita to counter what the Wiiu can do. They had that option with the Playstation Move and the software support and Move hardware sales didn't come. The same will happen with Vita. Not only that but many games that allow cross-platform play also require two licenses. Wiiu games only need to be purchased once.

As for Smartglass it too will rely on support. The XBOX360 will get very little of it. SmartGlass is going to be defined on the next XBOX. It's also too early to say how it will interact with games. It could act as a controller just like the iPad and how you play games on it. Vita has real controls and sticks but that's why we have dualshock controllers but yes, Vita could act like the Wiiu gamerpad more effectively that SmartGlass devices. However the Wiiu gamerpad will have less latency as it was designed from the start to work with the Wiiu.

[nukeitall]

GribbleGrunger:

What is your point? You will have to have a PS3 AND PS Vita for this to happen? That is two devices, plus potentially having to buy two of the same game on different platforms!

Heck, remote play made more sense than this. At least there is only game, but so hasn't even implemented the promised KZ3 remote play after almost a year.

On top of that, third party developers really have to care about cross play to implement this feature assuming they are making a PS Vita game in the first place.

That is a lot of hoops to jump through from many parties!

This might be cool for those that own a PS Vita with first party games, but for the rest of us it will be ignored. I suspect this will be like Sony's push for 3D, a fad that is all, but ignored next year.

[eagle21]

DumbGlass will be hyped by many and rarely used like kinect.

[cstyle]

Just like the PS move and Home was hyped and rarely used.

[BlackTar187]

Home has a bunch of people need you need to look it up.
I think 1 game in home alone has 1 million users or something. So just cuz you don't use it and i don't doesn't mean others don't . Since you can't put a # on it like sales you really are just guessing.

[DigitalRaptor]

PS Move has not only shifted over 10 million units, but there are tons of games that use the device. It's a strange misconception that the Move gets barely any support. Well over 30 games that support it and that number is steadily increasing.

PS Home not only has tons of content including games, but has improved significantly too especially most recently. The latest report was that that there are 17 million active users in Home and that news was little over a year ago.

[GamingPerson]

Didn't you see what Bethesda did? Kinect is the most awsome microphone! Only $150.00

It also has a camera I think.

[Grimhammer00]

Wiigarbo & stainglass look lame.

[from the beach]

Might not be the only 'Nintendo approach' other platform holders adopt next gen!

[Wikkid666]

Even though the idea was first used by Sega

[from the beach]

All great things trace back to Sega!

[Wikkid666]

The Dreamcast was awesome

[stuntman_mike]

I wish sega would go back into the console making business. :(

[OC_MurphysLaw]

At this point it is impossible to tell how good or bad smart glass tech will be. It seems like it will largely be dependent on developers to include...and in saying that will most likely be included or excluded by 3rd party devs based on how easy it is to implement. If its simple enough and offers options of value in the eyes of devs...it will get used. If its cumbersome to implement and limited I doubt it will get much love from the 3rd party devs.

Beyond true game control applications (if possible)...I think this tech will undoubtedly be just for surfing the web or the dashboard. And no, I don't see that being enough to make it relevant.