This is pretty crazy! As of today, Microsoft has made it possible to use the Surface Duo like a Nintendo DS, taking advantage of Xbox Cloud Gaming via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to play over 50 games with touch controls.
The Verge's Tom Warren has shared a look at how it works in the Twitter video below:
As you can see, this means that instead of the touch controls taking up space on the main screen, they're pushed to the bottom screen so you can navigate them much more easily, albeit with only a curated set of titles.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer also commented on the new feature earlier today, stating that he's proud of the teams involved in creating it, and Xbox will continue to "provide gamers the best experience based on where they want to play."
"I’m proud of all the teams that came together to deliver this new feature. It’s important that we provide gamers the best experience based on where they want to play, and we will continue to do so as we move ahead with cloud gaming."
What do you make of this? Have you got a Surface Duo to test it with? Let us know down below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments (22)
Really hope they fix some of the issues with V2 of this phone. I was very interested in purchasing it but was put off by some of the coverage. This is an awesome feature though, hope more cloud games get touch controls in the future!
Just like a DS... Except for the lack of physical controls and buttons. I'd take a real controller clamped to a normal phone over this setup any day.
Look at how laggy it is when he boots up Sea of Thieves. Yikes! That's about how well it runs for me too, and unfortunately it's simply unplayable like that. My internet is not the best, but it's decent enough - I have 5G cell service as well. Maybe a few games like Slay the Spire would be fine, but Cyber Shadow? Forget about it.
Pretty cool concept. Handheld market is still a huge market that is being devoured by phones. Hopefully the upgrades to the servers helps with stability and makes this feasible for the consumer looking for it.
Surface Duo 2 is rumoured to release this year. It'll be a more interesting choice.
I feel like I’m the only one with playable xCloud experiences...
Anyway this would be nice if it went to Galaxy Z-Fold /Z-Flip.
Ok, that's pretty cool, and I'm sure everyone with a Surface Duo will appreciate it. Estimates indicate that Surface Duo has sold at least twice as well as Xbox One in Japan
@mousieone What VERY little I've played of xCloud has been pretty flawless for me. But I'm in the extreme minority of those with good enough service I think and just a few years back I didn't even have good enough service to bother owning an X1. Cloud gaming is a fringe market until most people have fiber access. At the current rate of deployment, I think that places it sometime between the fifth Mars colony, and the extinction of the human race.
@uptownsoul
The vast majority of gamers game on smartphones. Think this through, please.
@mousieone You aren't at all, its been virtually flawless for us for years. Though admittedly I live in what is essentially one of the optimal places in the world for it. Really is indistinguishable from playing on actual hardware from my experience at this point.
Been doing with with my LG V60 5G Dual Screen since last year.
@InterceptorAlpha does it already work with all dbl screen phones automatically or did you have tweak something ?
@uptownsoul Citation needed for that one. From my anecdotal experience: every gamer has LG, Razer, or One Plus phones. Only people I even know with Samsung are my mom and dad. Both with S20+s.
@mousieone I couldn't say. Mine actually has a dedicated app that let's you make controls and map them.
@NEStalgia @redd214 Yeah I’ve used it near places that are kind of meant for it. Library etc but yeah as long as I’m in a place that’s meant for it the service has been good as far as the game goes. Now the app is a bit different.
@InterceptorAlpha figured as much.
@uptownsoul you forget the cost of smartphones that most people are carrying around? You know how much an iPhone costs? An S20?
Allow me the option to download the game to my phone
@PhhhCough
I think you are missing the actual point of Cloud gaming...
@uptownsoul ah yes, once you have a smartphone, that's the one you have for life. Maybe someday they'll do upgrades or something
@InterceptorAlpha I use an s20 for gamepass and it works amazing
@blinx01 i understand cloud gaming, perfectly well, but streaming services, like netflix hulu amazon, which were strictly streaming from a service before, allow for downloading shows now. So I dont see why an option for it is bad.
@PhhhCough
Downloading a video file to play on your phone is completely different to downloading a native Xbox One game to your phone.
@uptownsoul I know they have, sarcasm doesn't convey well in text I suppose. I just disagree with your point
Tap here to load 22 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...