When Glass was just being promoted as a working prototype, gamers everywhere sat up to take notice. From acting as a Scouter to finding and attacking enemy portals, the potential of gaming through a Head’s Up Display captured the imagination of millions. However, as Glass Explorers began sharing how limited the initial Glass experience was, it seemed that our hope for the next generation of mobile gaming may have been premature.
Hope has been restored by two recent developments: the release of the first game for Glass, and rumors that the Niantic Project is working on a Glass powered port for Ingress.
Yesterday at Mobile Outlook 2013, app developers DSky9 previewed StarFinder, the first official game developed for Glass. The concept is a gamified version of Google Sky, challenging players to identify constellations within a specified period of time. (That sound you heard was thousands of gamers collectively saying “meh”). While not an impressive demonstration of the potential for Gaming on Glass (and PLEASE find some non-iPhone icons for your demo video, given that this is an Android device), it IS exciting news because it’s the first concrete evidence of developers creating games for Glass.
I know, I know, that was a terrible video, from the included graphics to the canned music. However, given their early mover status in the Glass Gaming field, these guys deserve some support, and hey, if they raise some capital, they can afford to hire a designer familiar with Android.
On a more exciting front, rumors are floating around the Plus sphere that Google’s walking game Ingress may be coming to Glass in an official port. While the Project Niantic crew has been suspiciously mum about Ingress for Glass, sources familiar with the team say we may not have long to wait before portal raids are accomplished hands-free. On Tuesday, Ron Amadeo of Android Police demonstrated that the Ingress App could run natively on Glass:
Knowing how committed the Resistance is to stave off the Enlightenment take over (with third-party Ingress resources popping up everywhere), it won’t be long before someone repackages the Ingress data into a third party app designed for Glass, despite the fact that it will likely violate Ingress TOS. We’re guessing the Niantic team won’t make Glass Explorers wait that long.
What games do you want to see on Glass? Leave your suggestions in the comments below.