June 20, 2012 at 3:18 PM ET
At its Windows Phone Summit Wednesday, Microsoft showed off its newmobile operating system and in doing so highlighted how Windows Phone 8 will bring some big improvements to mobile gaming.
One of the primary points Microsoft wanted the developers, tech pundits and, yes, gamers, to take away from its presentation was the importance ofgaming –- and how Windows Phone 8 will make it easier to bring PC games tomobile phones.
Microsoft execs announced that when Windows Phone 8 arrives in the fall it will include full C and C++ support, sharing a "commoncore" with the Windows 8 operating system for the PC. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBCUniversal.)
As our own Wilson Rothman explains,what this means is that "under the hood, the phone platform will lookenough like a Windows PC to share common file formats,networking, security protocols, IT management tools and apps." (Checkout Wilson's full coverage of the Windows Phone 8 event righthere.)
Windows Phone 8 also will support gaming middleware such as Havok Vision Engine, Autodesk Scaleform, Audiokinetic Wwise, and Firelight FMOD, as well as native DirectX-based game development.
All of this means that developers won't have to spend a bunch of time re-writing code and can, instead, quickly port PC games to Windows phones.
Havok’s Andrew Bowell took to the stage Wednesday to explain that Windows Phone 8 games developed using the Havok Technology Suite, will feature "immersive and real 3-D worlds, highly realistic characters and cinematic visuals." Check out Todd Kenreck's video showing off what this could mean below.
Microsoft is trying hard to woo more developers to itssmartphone platform –- and understandably so. When it comes to the amount ofapps available, Microsoft's current mobile operating system -- Windows Phone 7 –- is signficiantly behind the Android and iOS platforms.
But "amazing games are coming to Windows Phone 8," promises Microsoft's Kevin Gallo.
Winda Benedetti writes about video games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things on Twitter here @WindaBenedetti and you follow her on Google+. Meanwhile, be sure to check out the IN-GAME FACEBOOK PAGE to discuss the day's gaming news and reviews.
