More Proof of Zune Gaming

[Damion Chaplin]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070311/zune-games-jobs/' target='_blank'>http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070311/zune-games-jobs/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>&quot;Earlier this year, Peter Moore confirmed to Bloomberg Microsoft&rsquo;s plans to add video gaming capabilities to the Zune by July 2008. Today, I found several Microsoft Careers job postings which provides more proof of Microsoft&rsquo;s intentions to make the Zune a casual-gaming platform as well.&nbsp; As the posting for &ldquo;Software Development Engineer in Test&rdquo; posted on the January 4th 2007 states, &quot;Zune needs you! Do you love music, movies, gaming? Are you passionate about delivering cool consumer experiences that span the entertainment space? Do you like the idea of being on a start-up team? Come join the Zune effort and help build the next generation of portable digital entertainment. Be a part of this start up team which will reshape the way people engage with their games, music, and videos. Have fun every day on this fast paced, ultra creative team and help Microsoft go big in this space!&quot;&quot;</em></p><p><img alt="" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2007/zunegames.jpg" /></p><p>OK, so our current Zunes sure won't do much more gaming than solitaire, but obviously Microsoft is serious about making the Zune a full-flavored entertainment device.&nbsp; If you're a portable game developer, you could sure do worse than working for Microsoft.&nbsp; So, are you excited about gaming on your Zune, or annoyed that your current Zune won't do much more than minesweeper?</p><p>Yes, it's a slow news day.&nbsp; ;-)</p>

[Adam Krebs]

I was quite aware when I plopped down my $225 that I wasn't going to be fragging demon spawn with this thing. A lot of people are upset with Microsoft for not doing more with this product then they have. While I would love to see more from my Zune by way of wireless scenarios, customization, and others, I'm perfectly happy with its three basic features: music, movies, and pictures. The sharing is a novelty now, but it's damn fun to pass around pictures and songs, and to finally have a viable competitor to the iPod. In my opinion, iPod games are terrible, and not worth their money. This is not to say I wouldn't like to see things like Pong, PacMan or Tetris (think how gorgeous Tetris would be with the bigger screen!), but I fully realize that the location of the D pad is awkward for any sort of long-term gaming, just as my cell phone is terrible for anything more than side scrollers and nostalgic games. Let the platform develop, but don't get ahead of what's possible or a good idea. Small groups of "enthusiasts" always seem to destroy these good ideas (see: Linux).

[bleeman]

Frankly, I'd just as soon see them leave the gaming off of the Zune. That's what I have my Playstation Portable for. I'd rather see podcasting support, Integration with Windows Media Player so I could remove the Zune software (Not that it's bad, I'd just like one less application to maintain), and the ability to sync over WiFi, so that I don't have to dock the unit when I'm within range of my network with my host PC on it. I'd also like to have the ability to delete off the Zune itself. I like listening to different Podcasts, but when I'm done I like to delete them and it would be nice to do it as I wrap up and not after getting back home and docking with my PC.

[jeff119]

:cool: i think basic games such as solitaire, tetris, and minesweeper would be good on the zune. there are times when i am out that i would like to play solitaire but cannot. one thing that they could fix is the lack of music while looking at pictures. i have a philips gogear hdd6330/17 and you can listen to music while looking at pictures, and that would be an awesome feature. another feature that i'm not sure of the difficulty to implement is being able to watch ove the air broadcast on the zune.

black zune with toughskin case

[scarritt]

I think it'd be good for RPGs. Hell, Square-Enix could port yet another version of Final Fantasy I & II to the Zune. ^_^