Live Anywhere

It's kind of a surprise when you think about it, considering the blitzkrieg Microsoft has mounted on the game industry over the past five years, but E3 2006 marked the first time that Windows kingpin Bill Gates showed up for the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Perhaps more surprising was what he had to say when he took the stage at Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference, which was nothing less than a bold vision of the future called Live Anywhere. The concept is simple, but the logistics are mind-boggling. Take the idea of Xbox Live--a unified, standardized interface for online-connected games--and bring it to the PC and to mobile phones. The profile you've already established on your Xbox(es) will persist through these other platforms in a number of significant, appreciable ways.

Microsoft Briefing

Imagine the possibilities of Live Anywhere combined with Halo 3!

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The demonstration of Live Anywhere given during the Microsoft press conference made us tingle all over. A person playing Forza Motorsport 2 on the Xbox 360 was able to send a car to their friend who was online using Windows Vista. The Vista user could create custom paint jobs for the car, then take that car over to their Windows Mobile-powered cell phone, where its stats could be tweaked. Other crazy features were touted, such as cross-platform online play in games like Shadowrun, but the coup de grace for the GameSpot staffers who have become hooked on Xbox 360 Achievement Points is the fact that you can now earn points for playing Windows Vista and Windows Mobile games. Kiss your free time goodbye! The Wii controller definitely has the potential to change the way that we physically interface with games, but Live Anywhere, as it was presented at the Microsoft press conference, has the potential to amplify the role that games play in our day-to-day lives.

Finalists

Eye of Judgment cards (PS3)
Formula One 06 Rear-view (PSP/PS3)
Radically changing up Madden's gameplay (Wii)