Backbone One, my iPhone gamepad review, just got the best tie-up for a gaming accessory. As it launches today on iOS, it will be bundled with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and the xCloud gaming streaming service.Backbone will be included in the deal along with Xbox Game Pass. This new packaging includes the Designed for Xbox stamp. A Backbone + iPhone combination is the closest thing to a portable Xbox.Backbone cleverly used iOS' accessory APIs to provide super-slick functionality for its cross game dashboard. It has been constantly updating the dashboard to show you more games, expose you to new ones, and allow you to use its clipping tools to share great plays with your friends. It is one of my favorite gaming apps on iOS. And it has the potential to make the largest gaming community in the world cross-universe.The Capture Button is available on Backbone One and allows you to share the link as a link. You can also move between iOS and Xbox games using the same interface with the new Xbox Game Pass feed. A big shoutout is also made for Xbox Remote Play. This feature, which is still very underutilized but actually quite useful on current-gen consoles, deserves a lot of attention.An AppClip is used to show an AR version of Backbone running xCloud on the packaging in a retail store.With its clever and creative integrations, and solid instincts, the Backbone team continues impressing. Although the game controller experience of the Backbone team is impressive (some former Xbox 360 controller team members worked with Backbone), the software aspect is the best. Backbone is the future of mobile gaming. It unifies gaming experiences across AAA iOS games like Warzone, Minecraft, Xbox, Playstation Remote Play, and now native xCloud. This is something that Apple and other players have not been able to do.xCloud games can be accessed via the web, but they are presented in Backbones very well-designed dashboard. It feels great to play Destiny 2 on Backbone.With a Backbone installed, the experience of downloading, installing and playing a game is much better than Apple Arcade. This is because the team is more interested in curation. You can also download apps directly from the App Store using a very clever linking mechanism if you see them being shared on your feed. This is how internet-native players search for and play new games. A continuously linked world of games and streams makes it easy to see, follow, and play without ever having to manually search.It's making me long for a day when I can download games and play them without having to buy them. This would be an excellent way to attract new players.Microsoft has a tie-up that allows anyone who buys Backbone today for $99 online or at Microsoft Stores to get 3 months of Game Pass Ultimate. This is the best deal for new customers, considering the price of GPU is only $45 This is bound to be a big boost for Backbone, a young gaming startup.
