Our favourite gaming apps
The second screen experience. It’s been tackled a lot of different ways – extra missions through SmartGlass in Dead Rising 3, playing Mario Kart on the Wii U controller without even needing the TV on, or moving loot to and from the vault in Destiny using your smart phone. Here are some of our favourites (excluding the Xbox App, of course!)
Destiny Item Manager (Chrome Web extension)
There are a number of apps and browser extensions that do the job of loot housekeeping, and do it well – in fact it’s taken a while for the official Bungie version to get close. Destiny Item Manager – a great little chrome extension – is one of the best that has fantastic developer support and is regularly updated.
The Division Skill Calculator (Website)
The Division’s not even out yet and there are already some promising second screen experiences in development – this is one of our favourites. Beautifully presented, it allows budding Agents to plan out their upgrade path. Based on information that was available to players during the recent closed Beta, we really hope developer Miodec keeps working on it. Even better if Ubisoft chucked some support his way to help. (Or maybe they have one of their own in the wings?). Great stuff.
The Halo Channel (Windows 10 App)
If you are any kind of fan of Halo, you’ll find something on interest on The Halo Channel. If you are a rabid super-fan (like me) you’ll find everything here interesting. Basically, a TV channel devoted to all things Halo, from the excellent Vidoc series “The Sprint” to coverage of the competitive Halo Work Championships, this is well worth a look. Also available as an Xbox One app, too.
Commander Mode (Smartglass)
A commander mode app gives the player a birds-eye top down view of a multiplayer match that they wouldn’t normally see, and is great if you have a buddy, offspring or coerced partner in the couch next to you. Two great examples are Boss Mode for Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare, and Commander Mode for Battlefield 4 (sadly, Commander Mode for BF4 is no longer available through Smartglass, though can still be accessed through the main game). In PvZ:GW Boss mode lets you or your companion drop health packs and call in artillery strikes. Brilliant fun.
Overdog (Xbox One App)
Sometimes we play online just to hang out – and online multiplayer means we can hang out with people from all over the world. But they could be squeaking twelve year olds or Donald Trump supporters (or maybe that’s your demographic?) so how do we know that the randoms with whom we’ve been matched are worth talking to? Overdog, that’s how. Overdog works by capturing all your interests – gaming and non-gaming – then matching you up with other Overdog users who have similar interests. It works a treat – you can download it right now from the App section of the Xbox Store on your console.
There you have it – five of (we think) the best second-screen gaming experiences around. Disagree? Got your own favourite? Or think second-screen is a number one waste of time? Let us know in the comments!
