We're yet to see real value of second screen play, argues Epic's Rein

Epic Games vice-president Mark Rein has commented on the state of second-screen play found on Wii U and Xbox SmartGlass. He reckons the method's killer app will come eventually, but it's not quite there yet.

Speaking with Alist Daily, Rein mused, “I think we’ve yet to see the real value of the second screen idea, if you’re talking about [Xbox] 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"

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 to play, so I don't know if that's how it's going to go or not. 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.”

Notable examples of second-screen console play coming in 2014 include Watch Dogs' superb multiplayer mode - which I sampled and wrote about here - and The Division's drone strike function. You can also use it in GTA 5's iChop mini-game and Battlefield 4's Commander Mode, to name a few.

What's your take on second screen play so far?

Via MCV.