Game Changer - How Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 Change the Gaming Landscape

Book excerpt: Good game design pulls the player into the world of the game, consuming the player's perception with each carefully considered detail. This immersion requires consistency, depth, and for many games, modality, but PC operating systems weren't necessarily designed to leave the player alone in the game. Now with Windows 8, the PC offers an environment in which games - and players - feel right at home, with full-screen apps, minimally intrusive notifications, and a host of other design features that support the goals and desires of the game designer. Learn how Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 provide a new paradigm for writing games, with interactive experiences central to their design and components and services that make game development as straightforward as it is on game-specific systems like the Xbox. See how the Windows 8 platform is open to games that can work on everything from Windows Phone 8 handsets to Windows 8 slates to mega-PC rigs, while minimizing engineering costs. Review a real-world example of how a game works on Windows 8 with all the bells and whistles, including 3D, audio, input through touch and tilt sensors, app store deployment, etc.