Features

Five reasons why pocket gamers should be excited about Windows Phone 7 Series

Why Microsoft's new platform has the potential to become the ultimate mobile gaming system

Five reasons why pocket gamers should be excited about Windows Phone 7 Series
|

Microsoft’s unveiling of its new Windows Phone 7 Series OS at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has been greeted with a whole heap of enthusiasm.

Admittedly, it’s been cautious or qualified enthusiasm from many quarters, but given the disaster of previous WinMo releases the fact that there’s been any kind of goodwill at all is a sign of the immense potential of Microsoft’s new mobile platform.

But what about from a pure games perspective? Are we at Pocket Gamer as excited by the prospect of Windows Phone 7 Series as the general tech press? In a word: yes. Here’s why.

Xbox Live integration

Only the most blinkered of PS3 fanboys would argue that Xbox Live wasn’t the best, most complete online gaming experience on the market with the most thriving community.

With the iPhone so fragmented in this regard (OpenFeint, Plus+ and Scoreloop are just a few of the online offerings) we’re looking forward to having a solid, fully featured online community at our fingertips.

Plus, you’ll be able to earn points towards your Xbox Live account, adding extended value and impetus to your mobile gaming. Any frequent Xbox 360 gamer will know the mysterious allure of adding to your Gamer Score through achieving game milestones.

We also hope that this will mean we’ll be able to play some of the less hardware-intensive Xbox Live Arcade titles on our Windows phones at some point. If we could play such existing titles as N+, Lumines Live and Peggle on our Windows Phones, we’d be very happy indeed.

Microsoft’s strict hardware guidelines

Microsoft has confirmed that, while it won’t be entering the mobile hardware business itself, it will be running an incredibly tight ship when it comes to third party device requirements.

All devices will have to include a multi-touch capacitive screen running at a fixed aspect ratio, with Qualcomm’s meaty Snapdragon processor powering each device.

This means that there should be none of the hardware fragmentation that has troubled Google’s Android platform, not to mention our old friend Java. The result should be a far more consistent and better optimised gaming experience in the iPhone mould.

Microsoft's quality control

We know about the hardware restrictions, but Microsoft has promised to be just as tough when it comes to the software. “It's not about whether you have 6,000 different arcade puzzle games in a specific category... it's about how good they are," is the official line.

Microsoft is clearly unimpressed by the ‘everything including the kitchen sink’ approach to games development as found on the iPhone.

While we’re big fans of the Apple platform, there’s no denying the difficulty in navigating through the thousands of third rate me-too toiletware in order to find the good stuff.

Microsoft’s statement that "[developers] don't want to sell games for one dollar" suggests that quality over quantity will be the name of the game with Windows Phone 7, which is an approach we (not to mention developers) would whole heartedly support.

Zune HD integration

We’ve caught glimpses of what the US-only Zune HD is capable of as a gaming device, with an impressive version of Project Gotham Racing causing chins to hit floors late last year.

With Oded Ran’s assertion that Windows Phone 7 represents (among other things) Microsoft bringing the Zune HD to other territories (especially the UK), and given the hefty tech specs being bandied around for WP7 handsets, we’re looking forward to some stunningly realised console-standard experiences in addition to the casual gems that have been promised.

Microsoft’s gaming IP

With a strong, stable, and highly capable system in the works and Xbox Live compatibility a major feature, we can start fantasising about some of the unique gaming intellectual properties Microsoft could conceivably bring to bear on WP7.

Imagine playing an enhanced mobile versions of Rare’s ace N64 shooter Perfect Dark. Imagine playing… gulp… Halo on your phone.

Okay, so Microsoft’s Oded Ran also said that the WP7 offering wouldn’t be looking to offer "Halo 3 on a Windows Phone." But he didn’t say anything about Halos 1 and 2, did he?

It’s purely speculative, of course, and any such move would likely be a long way off. But the mere possibility of these gaming titans coming to a phone near you is quite enough to get us excited about Microsoft’s reinvigorated mobile OS.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.