After a long back and forth history, Microsoft has finally announced that it will be bringing Xbox Live to mobile phones this Christmas season. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, details were revealed regarding Microsofts new OS for mobile devices, and explicitly mentioned compatibility with exisitng Microsoft services like Xbox Live games and Zune music.
The new OS functions in what are being called "live tiles" which are constantly connected to the internet to provide an at a glance feed for social networking sites, emails, messages, and apparently now, Xbox Live games. While the service will of course not support the feature to play all Xbox Live games, it will allow players to review their Xbox Live profile, and perhaps engage in some mobile specific Xbox Live Arcade downloads. Beyond that, not much is currently known about the extent to which this new OS will satiate the mobile-gamer’s appetite.
Is this Microsoft’s answer to the major advent of App Gaming, or just a tease at what could be some solid mobile gaming? Apparently, we’ll find out around Christmas this year.
