The Windows Phone 7 Series X-Factor

Over a number of different posts that we have written during the past month, we have focused on several different aspects of Windows Phone 7 series, but we have not spent much time on what may be the X-factor, gaming. During the Windows Phone 7 Series announcement we learned that it will have some level of integration with X-Box, but we did not get much detail about what the integration would actually entail.

At TechEd Middle East Microsoft showed how the integration will work. As you will see in the following video, you will be able to play a game on a PC, pause the game, and pick up where you left off on your Windows Phone, and then from there pick up on the X-Box.

As you can see, the same game is playable on each device, but also takes advantage of the different features of each device. For example, when the game is played on a PC you use a keyboard, but the Windows Phone version uses the accelerometer in the device. Perhaps even more important is level of integration in the programming. Developers create one project in Visual Studio to develop for all three devices, rather than having to write separate programs for each platform.

I think the simplicity for developing games, or any program for that matter, is important for growing the Windows Phone 7 platform. By what I see in the video, it appears as though Microsoft has thought this out very well. If done right, gaming and integration with X-Box could be key differentiator between Windows Phone 7 and its competitors.

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