SmartGlass not 'popular' or 'responsive' enough for Rayman Legends

Rayman creator Michel Ancel explains why the Xbox 360 version of Legends doesn't support SmartGlass, and why the resistive Wii U GamePad screen posed its own challenges.

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Rayman Legends is one of the best examples of how compelling multi-screen gaming can be. Originally a Wii U exclusive, the Ubisoft platformer takes advantage of the GamePad in clever and engrossing ways.

However, with the move to multi-platform development, wouldn't it be possible to recreate the same multi-screen gameplay on Xbox 360 with SmartGlass? Series creator Michel Ancel told us no. "It's not as responsive as we need to," Ancel explained, adding: "it's not very popular today."

Microsoft made SmartGlass a focal point of its E3 presentation this year, showing off how it works in Dead Rising 3.

While the GamePad does offer the responsiveness that Ancel and his team needs, he admits that there were still significant hurdles to overcome with Nintendo's tablet as well. Notably, the GamePad's resistive screen responds better to a stylus than a finger. And Ancel has a clear preference: "to me, it's not very natural to play with the stylus."

Ancel wanted to ensure that Legends would play well with a finger, not a stylus. "I think most of the kids now are more comfortable with tablets, they use their fingers," Ancel said. So, "we did some special developments to interpolate what the player is doing."

The end result? "It's more accessible than most of the other Wii U games," Ancel argued. We agree.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 17, 2013 10:00 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, SmartGlass not 'popular' or 'responsive' enough for Rayman Legends.

    Rayman creator Michel Ancel explains why the Xbox 360 version of Legends doesn't support SmartGlass, and why the resistive Wii U GamePad screen posed its own challenges.

    • reply
      July 17, 2013 10:59 AM

      Doesn't smarglass have to pass through the cloud? That would certainly explain any amount of lag. Different story for the Wii U which is on a private local network (between the console and the controller). Unless smartglass worked strictly on the local wifi network, I don't think this that would be a fair comparison. Just 2 different types of connected controllers.

      • reply
        July 17, 2013 8:11 PM

        I think smartglass might work locally, but the Wii U connection to the gamepad is faster than your general wifi connection. Nintendo did a lot of work to cut down on latency time with their controller, so much so that you can press the jump button, and the signal goes to the Wii U, gets processed, and video of Mario jumping is sent back before you've released you're finger from the button.

      • reply
        July 17, 2013 8:13 PM

        smartglass most certainly does not connect via the cloud rather than local connections... that would be kinda dumb

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