14 DAY TRIAL // Epic Games' Mark Rein has talked about second screen experiences, such as companion applications or the SmartGlass system, and revealed that he isn't convinced yet about the utility of such a mechanic, as developers still need to experiment until they turn it into a must-have feature.
Epic Games is set to debut quite a few projects in the following period, including Fortnite, its long-in-development survival game.
One thing that won't be included in the title will be a second screen experience, as Epic Vice President Mark Rein has dismissed the concept when talking with TheAListDaily.
"I think we've yet to see the real value of the second screen idea, if you're talking about SmartGlass and companion apps and things like that. But that doesn't mean that it won't be big one day. I don't really know what it is yet," Rein said about the feature.
The Epic executive has revealed that he uses SmartGlass only for simple things, such as browsing the store, instead of employing it during Madden NFL, for example, to choose strategies and plays.
"Where I really use SmartGlass is for choosing things from the menu and navigating the store instead of using the controller. It's great for watching a movie and then continuing it on my tablet when I walk away. There are lots of great uses and applications," he added.
"Where it fits into gaming, I don't know. I'm not sold on picking up my tablet to choose my play and then putting it back down and picking up my controller. It's kind of a wonky way to choose a play, so I don't know if that's how it's going to go or not."
Even so, Rein is confident that game developers will continue to work on such experiences and develop a great idea for it.
"Developers should try everything and have lots of fun with it, and sooner or later there will be a killer app for that sort of thing, too."
As of yet, Epic has yet to pin any release dates on its ongoing projects.