You read that headline right, a new app from Microsoft will allow gamers to share elements of their PC library with their Xbox One consoles. The new app is the next step in the strategy of Redmond giant to take advantage of the growing popularity of streaming to push games to new platforms.
Streaming of films and TV shows has been a thing for years now, and has exploded in popularity with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video leading the charge. And now, gaming companies are jumping on board. With Sony and Steam already offering their own versions of game streaming, like Steam’s Big Picture mode which allows PC gamers to share games with their much larger TVs as a display, Microsoft wants to get in on some of that PC gaming stream pie.
An app that takes advantage of the Miracast technology to create a screen mirroring setup though a peer-to-peer WiFi intranet. This system allows PC gamers to share any compatible title directly to their Xbox One consoles and play it there. However, we should note that it will not allow some video streaming to take advantage of Wireless Display’s features. Copyrighted content will remain proprietary to their associated platforms.
And with the upcoming release of the new Disc-less Xbox console in this current generation, it looks like this technology might get a lot more appealing. As gamers continue to adjust to the digital age, we may well see more new ideas revolving around sharing games. Although there are some concerns about latency, readability issues and power usage that are all valid issues with this system. It will be interesting to see how this idea improves over time.
What games do you think we could see use this new screen mirroring app? What concerns do you have about the usability? Do you think these ideas could help bridge the gap between console and PC gamers? Let us know in the comments down below.
