Fast Async: New Mango Feature For Multiplayer Not Stopping at Windows Phone
August 18, 2011 No CommentsRecently Microsoft announced new features coming to the games hub via the Mango update. One in particular, Fast Async was aimed at multiplayer games. The service was built to facilitate multiplayer on the platform.
Fast Async: A new Xbox LIVE service coming this fall that improves gameplay for multiplayer, turn-by-turn (or asynchronous) Windows Phone games.
Since this is a pretty vague description, geekwire sent Microsoft a few questions about the service. Here is what they got back:
How will Fast Async work and how does it compare to the current approach for turn-by-turn gaming in WP7? Similar to turn-by-turn async gaming, Fast Async, coming this fall with the Mango update will expand on this experience by enabling Xbox LIVE games to manage game data and sessions in a faster and more flexible way. It will also provide a way for games to find players across screens, without having to wait and watch the matching happen, and will prompt players with clear messaging, when it’s their turn to move.
Will Fast Async be implemented by default in all turn-by-turn games, via the OS, or will it only come in some turn-by-turn games, when developers implement it? Fast Async will only be included in Xbox LIVE titles if implemented by the game developer
When geekwire mentioned in their article about the ‘3 screen approuch’ this is what they got back:
matchmaking service with Fast Async “can be used from any Xbox LIVE platform, not just Windows Phones.”
Not sure if Fast Async is our solution to true multiplayer on a mobile yet – so we seem to still be very far from a Halo session on a a Windows Phone. the Fast Async service seems to be a solution to games like UNO where it is turn based. The big news here is that the new service will be for any Xbox Live platform so we shall soon be able to play game with Xbox 360 counterparts.
I am very excited for gaming on Mango, not only for the new games but maybe reviving some of the older games as well. This is something that games like Full House Poker and UNO desperatly need.
Source: Geekwire
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