The Future of Second-Screen Experiences

Do not underestimate alternative experiences.

The future of second-screen experiences is, despite their popularity and preference, not leaderboards, friends lists, maps, and weapon selection – but as we approach the next generation of consoles, one thing is absolutely clear: second screen experiences are the future.
Until recently, few developers succeeded in creating usable, interesting tablet tasks that mean something in a gameplay context. Nintendo bet its future on Wii U’s second screen, Ubisoft appears to have a mandate for all of its software, and EA’s clearly committed to the concept. Developers displayed an enormous leap in confidence at E3 2013, and justifiably so. This is the year we the landscape change. Your smart phones and tablets aren’t just support tools for AAA games: They’re part of the development DNA.

Ubisoft employs tablets in drastically different ways for each of its titles. ZombiU forced players to take their eyes off the television to rummage through your bag in real time. Rayman Legends will let a second player remove obstacles for another (something the Vita version conveniently consolidates for solo players, but that’s beside the point). Wii U was a decent experiment. Next-gen consoles show what second-screens are really capable of.

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Engaging in something that’s already happening means much more than a separated, independent experience.

For Splinter Cell Blacklist, there’s a standalone stealth game starring a remote-controlled gadget. Playing the, Splinter Cell Blacklist Spider-Bot iOS game earns players money to spend on items in the main game. This isn’t a new concept, but it’s an experiment that differs in function from Ubisoft’s other apps, but embodies the same core idea behind what a second-screen experience should be: Your tablet or phone is the gateway into its games while away from home.
Watching the city streets, helping friends in need, and hacking into helicopters with the Watch Dogs app give you the means to stay involved in its world. Creating cars in The Crew’s garage app lets you build something that’s ready the second you sit on the couch to start your next race. Flying a drone through the entirety of The Division’s New York City offers a massive space to support next-gen console players in real-time.
That’s the key: Real-time. Engaging in something that’s already happening means much more than a separated, independent experience, especially as next-gen games lean toward constant connectivity. Players can contribute to something that helps their friends, hurts their competition, and has an effect on their personal progression.

Electronic Arts approaches Battlefield 4 and Need for Speed Rivals with a similar mentality. Ordering allies to various control points and advantageous positions using Commander Mode on a tablet makes an enormous amount of sense. It’s a committed, alternative role in a competitive shooter, and mucking around menus with thumbsticks – while manageable – isn’t alluring in the same way as a futuristic touch interface. Likewise, controlling a police chopper in Rivals gives you the cops-and-robbers sensation that made Hot Pursuit one of the most memorable racing games in history.
This is major stuff – consequential engagement, interaction that means something not only to you, but to various others playing in these universes. Playing with your tablet can be as significant as playing with a controller, even if you’re not directly controlling things in the same, direct fashion. Anything less is unacceptable.
Xbox One’s SmartGlass functionality struggles with this balance in particular. As an all-access portal to Xbox Live, it’s a brilliant little app, but as something that talks to games, it’s a little hit or miss.
The second-screen experience in Ryse showcases Crytek’s concentrated obliviousness to what makes a tablet useful. Scanning Achievements, searching for multiplayer matches, and scrubbing up and down leaderboards does nothing to benefit the game. Supplementary features are all well and good, and there’s never anything wrong with more options, but siding against player interaction is a severe miscalculation. Games already struggle with engagement vs. exclusion with scripted events and cutscenes, but putting a controller down and using another device to not interact with the game at hand is a waste.
This is why Dead Rising 3 is brilliant.

The touch-interface of its mobile app is literally a cell phone, the same one protagonist Nick Ramos would use to look up maps  and, uh, call in air strikes. You’ll flip through a thoughtful phone interface and take phone calls (which you won’t receive if you don’t sync SmartGlass with Dead Rising). When you pick up your phone to play Dead Rising, you do not stop role-playing as Ramos. SmartGlass straight-up puts the universe in your hand, and brings Dead Rising 3 to life in a way most other games don’t.
That’s the future of second-screen experiences – and it doesn’t sound that bad, does it?
Many went into E3 skeptical about SmartGlass and the way next-gen games integrated additional screens. Would they take players out of the experience? What do they add? What’s the point?
Looking ahead, there’s a lot to genuinely look forward to. Certain titles offer alternative ways to play the games we love and are excited for. Considering we’re still in the infancy of second-screens, we’re already off to a stronger, more promising start than motion controllers and video game cameras.
That counts for something. That’s exciting.