Read: Xbox.
Because it’s going to be less of a walled garden than Apple’s device, many are assuming that it’ll be better for gamers.
The machine itself packs a punch and it’s likely that all manner of control devices will be available rather than just the touch screen – something that still alienates a lot of gamers.
Epic’s Mark Rein seems confident anyway, tweeting that he “can’t wait to get some Unreal Engine games on those babies” and it’s not hard to see why. Tablet devices live or die on their software support, so this is a highly encouraging first start.
And whilst Windows phones haven’t exactly been inundated with gaming ‘apps’, they have attempted to mirror the Xbox experience with the titles that have been released, perhaps only hamstrung by the format and variation in devices.
Something that Surface combats immediately on both counts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzu3HM2CIo
For me though it’s that standard USB port and the chance to plug in an regular 360 controller – I’ve grown more fond of tablets over the years and gradually don’t use a PC for anything I don’t have too.
If Surface can echo some of the best Xbox games without me needing to switch on my TV then I’ll move away from that too.
And of course, this steers away from the Xbox platform a little – sure, Surface (or at least the Windows 8 version) is basically a PC, but it’s one that’s capable of going up against the iPad with, potentially, a huge array of Windows games.
This is hugely interesting. Tablets are becoming ever more popular and Apple’s stranglehold desperately needs some competition. Whether or not it’ll be Windows and Surface remains to be seen, but from here it looks like Microsoft are doing everything right.
Now we just need some pricing. And games.
hazelam
that actually looks cool.
the keyboard and ability to plug in a joypad, i just happen to have one spare that isn’t being used on an xbox just now, are definite plus points.
i’d love to get a tablet one day.
but like the Ipad, it looks like it’s firmly outside my price range right now, and for the foreseeable future.
still, if i win the lottery. ^_^
Tuffcub
Wasn’t Surface the name for the big table top PC from Microsoft?
sparkyscrum
It was.
MICKY17
Really like the sound of this. The keyboard cover and Xbox controller compatibility is a big plus. A little worried about the lack of a battery life announcement, and the Pro pricing seems very steep. Otherwise, definitely keeping my one on this.
Burgess_101
You could always spend £10 buy a wireless xbox pad adapter for PC and do it that way.
Burgess_101
Also it has a 42Wh if that means anything to you. It means watthour An electrical energy unit of measure equal to 1 watt of power supplied to, or taken from, an electric circuit steadily for 1 hour.
Bilbo_bobbins
Is this something that the Xbox will be like? But on a slightly different scale? I reckon it could be.
TSBonyman
The combination of Windows and a proper USB slot on a tablet is very interesting. If this is a more open system and they can reduce the cost of the Surface model they could give Apple a serious run for their money.
DJ Judas
Nothing in that to interest me really, they’re trying to shoehorn two different types of product together it seems.
I’d be a little more interested if the keyboard looked a little more like a keyboard and less like one I used to have on a toy cash register as a child.
Don’t get me wrong it’s done things right; it looks gorgeous, it has a USB port, it has a keyboard, but the internals just aren’t up to the job of being comparable to a half-decent laptop, let alone a PC or console. This wouldn’t matter if it was simply a tablet, but it seems people are lumping expectation of a gaming machine on this, and while there are tons of games I’m sure it could run excellently, people won’t accept that you can install the latest games on it, but they won’t play well, if at all.