LG is expanding the number of games available to consumers through its smart TV platform, including a variation of Electronic Arts’ popular game title "The Sims."
The Korean electronics maker currently sells about two-dozen TVs it labels as “smart,” in screen sizes of 42 to 84 inches. These smart TVs connect to the Internet and allow the streaming of photos and video from the Internet or your computer as well as running apps and games.
LG has been offering apps on its TVs in a variety of genres including entertainment, news, and education for quite awhile. In July 2012 the company began adding games.
While "The Sims" is the most recognizable title, LG will also make available Disney’s "Where’s My Water," as well as Gamevil’s "Air Penguin" and The Binary Mill’s "Mini Motor Racing" by April of this year. These titles were hand selected based on their popularity among consumers, the company says. [See also: 7 Revolutionary Mobile Games ]
Some of the newly announced games will take advantage of special features offered in LG’s smart TVs to enhance gameplay. For example, "Mini Motor Racing" uses FPR 3D technology. This allows two different players, using special glasses to see their respective characters in full-screen mode versus the side-by-side dual-screen layouts common in multiplayer games.
" The Sims " will make use of a special smartphone app designed to work as a remote controller, as an alternative to the motion sensing “Magic Remote” bundled with LG’s smart TVs.
LG is not the only company that is making a push in smart televisions. Samsung is also bringing games to its own sets -- although it doesn’t always work as advertised -- and Vizio has been offering a variety of apps on its own HDTVs for several years.