In a blog post yesterday, Big Bucket Software revealed that a forthcoming update to its retro iOS game The Incident will allow the iPad to output the game display to a television while also allowing an iPhone or iPod touch to serve as a game controller.
No seriously, this is totally real and totally awesome.
This is a beta of The Incident 1.3 running my TV. Here's how it works:
1. Plug your iPad into the TV
2. Pair your iPad with your iPhone or iPod Touch
3. Sit on your couch and play
And that's it. You never have to get up to touch the iPad. You do everything from the controller. It works great.
There are a couple of interesting aspects to this forthcoming release, with TV output capability being one of the key ones. While other applications have allowed users to connect their iPads to their televisions via 30-pin Dock to VGA or Component cables, The Incident's developers took the extra step of tweaking the artwork and user interface to properly display on the aspect ratio of a widescreen television, which differs from that of the iPad. The extra step offers users a more natural feeling console gaming experience on their televisions.
The second key feature is the iPhone controller mode, which is already available in Version 1.2 of The Incident. The developers have ensured that everything can be controlled by the iPhone, eliminating the need for any input on the iPad and allowing it to serve simply as a game console connected to the television while the user controls everything wirelessly from their couch using the paired iPhone.
When we decided that 1.3 was going to be all about TV output we knew it would have to feel exactly like a console. You should never need to diddle with the iPad for any reason. The controller would have to be able to control every aspect of the game; menus, gameplay, all of it. And in 1.3, it can.
There is no word yet on a release date for the TV-capable update to The Incident, but the developers have been moving very quickly with updates to the game and will likely be pressing forward to have it in the App Store as soon as possible.
