Shortly after the launch of NBA 2K15, the publisher announced a robust companion app to supplement players' experiences with the basketball sim. The app allows you to view your teams, track stats, input codes, and even includes a standalone card collection game. It's impressive, and perhaps shows a road more developers should be going down.
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A companion app seems like a gimmick at first, and you could forgive most gamers for ignoring them. NBA 2K15's shows the value they can have, however, and it's not the only game that is enhanced by the presence of a well-made app.
Destiny's companion app might not have a standalone mode within it, but anyone diving in for the first time will no doubt be impressed. You can see everything about your characters, things that are not even displayed in the game. This includes a wealth of lore data collected through Grimoire Cards during gameplay, but the information can only be see online or in the app. While it's partly Bungie's failing to incorporate the lore and stories into the game (which are much-needed given the flimsy narrative), it's definitely satisfying to flip through it on your phone.
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It may have been a conscious decision to leave the lore out of the game to make the app more useful, which would be disappointing, but the potential in other games is there. Sports games in particular can benefit from the management features offered in apps, but there's a wealth of possibilities for strategy games and RPGs, and I imagine fans could find a use for an app for any genre. Here's to hoping we see more of these apps-the seemingly gimmicky service could turn out to be a really useful tool to gamers in the future.