Home Gaming Xbox One and Smart Match will help you skip the online lines

Xbox One and Smart Match will help you skip the online lines

2 min read
44

Lines

If there’s one part of gaming that I hate, it’s waiting. Hell, I get edgy just waiting for a cut-scene to finish. Dammit, I need action now! And when it comes to online gaming, lobbies are the limbo of that painful waiting experience. The Xbox One has a way of dealing with that horrible wait though. And it actually sounds kind of cool.

Over on the Xbox Wire, the new Smart Match mode was detailed. Smart Match basically starts the matchmaking process for you, leaving you to do whatever else on the console instead of sitting around and twiddling your thumbs. Check it:

Smart Match Frees Up Your Time

With Smart Match, you can do whatever you want while Xbox One finds your perfect match. This means that less popular multiplayer modes and maps that have traditionally taken a long time to find players suddenly become playable. Because Snap mode is a core feature of Xbox One that lets you do two things at once, you no longer have to wait in lobbies while Xbox Live is matchmaking for you. One friend can even set up matches for your whole party.

While Xbox Live is matchmaking, you’re untethered and free to do what you want, like watch TV or check out your favorite website or apps while waiting for your next game. If you’re playing digital games, you can even play one game while Smart Match prepares a second. This freedom to break out of waiting in lobbies and do whatever you want is what separates Xbox One from systems that don’t have a way to instantly switch between tasks.

Smart match

And from there, it actually gets better:

Smart Match Lets You Know When Your Game is Ready

After you or a party member inputs the criteria for your perfect game, do something more fun than waiting; it’s up to you. Play another game, find some new downloadable content, or jump on Reddit. Take yourself as many touch points away from the matchmaking process as you can and you still don’t need to worry about finding your way back. Once Xbox One is done finding your perfect match, it will prompt you with a simple toast—no matter where you are or what you’re doing—so you can jump straight into playing.

That’s a great idea I reckon, and indicative of the multi-tasking nature that gaming consoles are headed towards. And being matched with gamers my age and if possible, low enough skill level, instead of foul mouthed Scottish tweens who insist that everyone use a sniper rifle in Call of Duty? That sounds pretty cool to me.

Last Updated: July 31, 2013

44 Comments

  1. Still not worth 6K + …

    Reply

  2. I am John's smirking revenge

    July 31, 2013 at 10:53

    That’s a pretty cool feature. Seen this somewhere else before though…

    Reply

    • Spathi

      July 31, 2013 at 10:57

      It’s called “Alt-Tab”.

      Reply

      • I am John's smirking revenge

        July 31, 2013 at 10:58

        Exactly! LOL

        Reply

      • Admiral Chief Minion 47

        July 31, 2013 at 11:02

        WOOOOOOOOOOT

        Reply

      • Slade Boender

        July 31, 2013 at 11:05

        was thinking the exact same thing!

        Reply

      • JumpIf NotZero

        July 31, 2013 at 19:47

        Cool…. What PC games give you a notification your match is about to start though?

        Reply

    • Trevor Davies

      July 31, 2013 at 11:00

      I’m working so hard to NOT GO THERE.

      Reply

      • I am John's smirking revenge

        July 31, 2013 at 11:03

        Then you are stronger than most of us

        Reply

  3. Trevor Davies

    July 31, 2013 at 10:53

    Can smart match work for my dating life too?

    Reply

    • Sageville

      July 31, 2013 at 11:03

      Dood this isn’t the future…

      I don’t have my jetpack and flying car yet and certainly there isn’t enough processing power on the planet that could sort your dating life out.

      Yup, I went there.

      Reply

      • Trevor Davies

        July 31, 2013 at 11:05

        lol YOU SHUT UP! If my LG shirt wasn’t delayed I would already be married with 2.5 kids.

        Reply

        • Sageville

          July 31, 2013 at 11:07

          Yup, issue is totally shirt related.

          Reply

          • TiMsTeR1033

            July 31, 2013 at 11:54

            I got my t shirt 🙂

          • RinceJigglyboobhater

            July 31, 2013 at 12:30

            You shut up! GAVIN! WTF?!

        • RinceJigglyboobhater

          July 31, 2013 at 11:15

          Yes! You and me both! And we wouldn’t have to deal with the incessant Admiral boasting!

          Reply

          • TiMsTeR1033

            July 31, 2013 at 11:55

            *psst* you better change your name before people think your gay….. noone even remembers that article! LMAO!

          • Vampyre Squirrel

            July 31, 2013 at 12:07

            What article?

          • RinceJigglyboobhater

            July 31, 2013 at 12:30

            The people who count do!

      • Vampyre Squirrel

        July 31, 2013 at 11:46

        The burn is strong with this one today

        Reply

  4. Admiral Chief Minion 47

    July 31, 2013 at 11:02

    Dota matchmaking broke me

    Reply

    • Slade Boender

      July 31, 2013 at 11:07

      We are not going to get into that convo again. As great as valve is, D2 matchmaking has the equivalent performance state as 93% on the RSA municipalities

      Reply

  5. Ross Woofels Mason

    July 31, 2013 at 11:03

    This “Smart Matching” has been promised by developers and game companies since online gaming became big, but it never works. Mainly play fighters online, so when we can just watch the other matches.

    Either way about time consoles integrated this in this fashion so it’s cool, be interesting to see if this time it actually works.

    Reply

  6. Pieter Kruger

    July 31, 2013 at 11:10

    Great news indeed! I love reading articles about how the next gen is going to use new innovative ways to make for a better overall gaming experience! MS is stepping up, also exited about their unlimited online storage! Great new features, keep them coming! ????

    Reply

    • Spathi

      July 31, 2013 at 11:13

      Agreed. This is actually a feature that makes gaming better, even if it is indirectly.

      Reply

    • Hernandez Jonathan

      July 31, 2013 at 14:35

      Sorry but it’snot ggoing to end up like u think. Yeah it sounds okay for popular new titles like Cod but when you play an older tittle with less people playing it well it might get frustrating. As it is its already trying to get a match from only a few and that few might become even less with this system. Also some people like meeting others or playing others from other countries so this might be a turn off to them. Idk I’m just not sold on it and to be honest I don’t think I would use it very much anyhow, cuz I usually use that matchmaking time to check my phone, take a quick pass, get something drink, get a snack, etc.

      Reply

      • Pieter Kruger

        July 31, 2013 at 14:42

        Let’s hope it’s customizable in some way eg. ignore Language filter or Country filter etc. ????

        Reply

  7. RinceJigglyboobhater

    July 31, 2013 at 11:15

    Not a bad thing at all.

    Reply

  8. RinceJigglyboobhater

    July 31, 2013 at 11:16

    So can you then actually select ‘do not want Scottish twat who wants sniper rifle only’?

    Reply

    • Vampyre Squirrel

      July 31, 2013 at 11:46

      Or “No one under the age of 18, mentally, emotionally or physically”?

      Reply

      • Trevor Davies

        July 31, 2013 at 11:51

        Single player for life ;(

        Reply

        • TiMsTeR1033

          July 31, 2013 at 11:53

          so your sad about it?

          Reply

          • Trevor Davies

            July 31, 2013 at 12:03

            Now that you mention it, no. If it wasn’t for the stupid physical aging thing it would be awesome.

          • JumpIf NotZero

            July 31, 2013 at 19:45

            Sad winky… not sure what that means.

      • TiMsTeR1033

        July 31, 2013 at 11:52

        I hate the little bastards online! I really hope this feature makes it on ps4 aswell. I mean who wants to hear a crying little brate while about to capture a flag a halo! or as you disable a tank on BF3 hear some whineing little fucking noise! only to realise it was the idiot driving the tank!

        Reply

      • I am John's smirking revenge

        July 31, 2013 at 12:04

        That would be so great

        Reply

  9. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    July 31, 2013 at 12:24

    Smart Match… Smart glass? Running out of adjectives Microsoft? What’s next? Smart controller? Smart ass? Smart keyboard, Smart kinect?

    If you’re wondering what that scraping sound is, that’s Microsoft scraping the proverbial barrel.

    Reply

    • RinceJigglyboobhater

      July 31, 2013 at 12:31

      Wait for it… Wait for it… The whole issues SMARTS if you ask me! BOOM!

      Reply

    • FoxOneZA - X-Therminator

      July 31, 2013 at 15:05

      Smart Banana coming to a fruit basket near youuuu!

      Reply

  10. Mark Treloar

    July 31, 2013 at 14:15

    This is all great except when a mach needs a specific numbers of players to start and people keep joining and leaving because they don’t want to wait for the lobby to fill up.

    Reply

    • JumpIf NotZero

      July 31, 2013 at 19:44

      …. Are you serious? Do you not understand this is is a key point of this feature. Now instead of sitting in a 9 player lobby waiting for a 10th, you have 10 people who have a “waiting” flag, and the system combines you all up into a group and you are automatically placed in together.

      This feature is NOTHING BUT WIN and there are people here shitting on it!?

      Reply

      • Mark Treloar

        August 1, 2013 at 10:07

        Supposedly this is how COD’s matchmaking is supposed to work and its a massive fail

        Reply

  11. Dave

    July 31, 2013 at 16:48

    I was going to get a ps4 but this smart match changes everything. Yeah…looks as dumb in print as it sounds in my head.

    Reply

    • JumpIf NotZero

      July 31, 2013 at 19:42

      Yea! Lobbies are AWESOME! Stupid Xbox allowing me to do other things while I wait. Pfft.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Xbox Series X Restock Update Today: Track on Twitter, Walmart, Best Buy and More

New consoles are on the horizon, and while Sony and Microsoft have spoken plenty about wha…