Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has a wide product portfolio including OS for PCs, servers, phones; computing environments; productivity and business solution applications; desktop management tools; software development tools; video games and advertising. On the other hand Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) is completely engaged in animated feature films, TV series and live entertainment. Both these giants come together on a new venture. Julia Boorstin talked on Nightly Business Report about this new venture.
She said that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) are combining forces to bring the dragons into the world around us through their new game. This uses precise location based technology, four square maps and weather channel to bring the things and weather conditions around the kids at that point in time into the game. This gives a real life feeling for the kids who plays this game.
Pete Mauro, Microsoft producer, Innovation and App Development explained more about this new game.
“When you get in the car and you start moving down the street, your car is represented by a car; the actual streets and buildings around you are all transformed. So if you drive by a restaurant, it will turn into a Viking eatery and if it’s a popular place you will see a lot of Vikings milling about and we are getting that data from four square,” Mauro said about the game.
Boorstin added that the game also provides parents with an option to plug in the destination. When the destination is reached the game automatically ends and makes sure that it does not continue outside the car. She said that this game is available for free in Microsoft devices and no official date is announced on when it will be available on Apple and Android devices. Through this, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is trying to showcase their entertainment tools and Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) are trying to promote their characters.
She said that the game also has another phase to it, in which kids can turn off the location detector and the game lets them to go to 16 different cities and explore.
Mauro said that they are looking to add new things to the game to add new experiences to kids. He talked about various options like built the game into the car or built it at home and let the kids explore the world through it virtually.
Boorstin said that there are some concerns about location tracking. But she said the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) have already given the word to parents that location tracking data will not be retained by them. But Boorstin feels that all the location tracking data will be valuable information for targeted ads down the line, which could be big revenue for the company, but a frustration for the parents.
Disclosure: None
