Xboy's revenge: Zune to play games by July 2008
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Jan 9th 2007 at 12:10PM }
In the continuing effort to sling a rock straight into the iPod's forehead, Microsoft has revealed plans to bring games to their Zune series of portable music players. How Zune? According to a Bloomberg.com report, you can expect pleasant beeps and boops to emanate from the player by July 2008. You might recall that Apple also recently embraced gaming on their somewhat popular iPod range.No specific games have been mentioned yet, though recent CES developments might give you a fairly strong clue. Expect arcade games like Geometry Wars and Uno to make the jump, complete with wireless play and Live Anywhere integration. Popular franchises (hello Halo) may give Microsoft more traction in their struggle against the iPod, at least where portable games are concerned. As New York analyst Michael Gartenburg puts it, "It's not like the music enthusiasts have been flocking to Zune, and they need to really answer Apple in terms of feature parity."
With the battle between audio players now spilling into the gaming arena, winners and losers become more and more difficult to spot in the cloud of dust. Can music lovers be swayed by other diversions? And what do the PSP and DS have to say in the matter?
See also: All things Xboy
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
LongshotX @ Jan 10th 2007 1:49PM
How would Halo work on that?
alex @ Jan 9th 2007 12:32PM
my prediction is that the zune will download and play XBLA games for free (with a previous purchase of the game on the 360) and play them cross platform with the 360 and vista.
so you might be in a uno game with someone playing a zune another person playing on vista PC and you playing your 360.
stiq of joy @ Jan 9th 2007 12:56PM
July 2008? Thats a year and a half away, by then there might be a psp with giant hard drive and small size.
Hinkmania @ Jan 9th 2007 12:52PM
I had a video iPod but I bought a zune to check it out. I kept the one I preferred which turned out to be the zune.
Karen @ Jan 9th 2007 1:04PM
It doesn't mater the new iPod was just announced...
koan @ Jan 9th 2007 1:20PM
...aye... doesn't matter. new touchscreen iphone announced. runs mini-osx. it's a no-brainer that there's gonna be games stuck on it. either apple will do it or the loyal legions of apple fanboys will hack it 'till it works. touchscreen gaming. done.
ill trooper @ Jan 9th 2007 1:20PM
2008? What's a Zune?
Oobgarm @ Jan 9th 2007 1:21PM
I don't forsee this as having a devestating impact on the current market, as these devices (Zune, ipod, etc.) are designed for music playing, video watching, and picture browsing. Playing games with such an interface is difficult. You might get an occasional game that works well, but outside of standbys like Snake or Bejewled, or clones thereof. Most of the people who frequent Joystiq or are into gaming as their primary hobby might check out a game or two strictly for novelty's sake, but I don't see this as going anywhere other than with a few casual folks downloading a game here or there, much like cellphone gaming.
Andrew Fong @ Jan 9th 2007 2:19PM
How the heck would you play Geometry Wars on a Zune? You need at least two joystiqs; I only see a kind of like a d-pad wheel on there.
The iPhone on the other hand ...
waxc3 @ Jan 9th 2007 2:27PM
i love my zune. bought it to music and it plays it well.
but as a gamer i will keep my gaming seperate for now.
the hardware is not ready for it.
if i need a game on the go, i am taking my ds with me. my psp is just for home use.
Josh @ Jan 9th 2007 3:07PM
How about making the zune better before leaping to video games? How about a real wi-fi, so I can buy music anywhere?
A, E! I O U.... Y? @ Jan 9th 2007 2:34PM
1. This would work if you could play Geometry wars,
2. You can't play Geometry Wars,
3. Therefore this will not work.
QED
ahatter @ Jan 9th 2007 9:21PM
"July 2008? Thats a year and a half away, by then there might be a psp with giant hard drive and small size."
you are probably right. but by the time july 2008 comes around and if this really is MS grand plan then they will have a more game friendly zune.
Steve @ Jan 9th 2007 3:40PM
I have a Zune, but it fell on the floor. I contacted a moving company for assistance in having the thing hoisted up off the floor, but they said that they're going to have to bring in their commercial moving equipment to move it. Once it's up I'm going to need to get the cracks on the floor repaired.
My apologies for any damage caused by the earthquakes, tsunamis, and shifting of the earth's axis that resulted from my dropping of my Zune.
Unique @ Jan 9th 2007 3:43PM
I really hope that they wont have another upgraded Zune model for the game playing by 2008, i really want to keep my model just have little games that will work on it like uno, tetris, pac-man etc, its really not a gaming system so a Halo on Zune is unneeded, im a gadget freak but i think il refuse to upgrade to a beefier zune that plays games. also id like to see wireless play, and i would like wifi access through hotspots for Live anywhere that would be amazing, anybody agree?
koan @ Jan 9th 2007 5:14PM
...then again... the thing's got wifi, right? ...what if ms just came out with a smallish, wifi-enabled controller and a firmware update for the zune that would make them compatible? it's got a nice processor on it, right? just a tiny controller... think apple remote... set the zune on its side or somethin' and there you go...
pspman3 @ Jan 9th 2007 4:59PM
woot!!! I get to play Uno on my iPod nock-off I wonder how many Microsoft points it will cost me hmm... mabe they can put halo on it phsyke remember the Gizmondo? It was Microsofts handheld gaming device (at least sort of, it was Tiger Inc's actually)Remember all those roumers of Halo in devolpement for it ? Then the Gizmondo just turned out to be a stock pump and dump scam LOL 20$ Halo will NEVER come on the Zune! If it does it will be 2D forget Zune im gonna get an iPhone :)
Moogle @ Jan 9th 2007 6:51PM
If they had thought of the ingenious idea of inverting a laser mouse for the control scheme, letting you slide your finger over it like a small mouse, this would have been a great idea. Unfortunately a cell phone company got there first and probably patent-mined the heck out of it.
As it is, the Zune seems about as terrible as a gaming platform as most cellphones. Cellphone games just suck. Control is everything.
The touch and tilt mechanisms of the iPhone promise to be interesting, but still somewhat non-standard. It has the potential for some great game design, whereas anything for Zune will be a hack around the interface.
Michael @ Jan 9th 2007 7:04PM
Games or not - now that iPhone is out of the bag - Zune looks even more like a joke that it really is: Microsoft's pathetic attempt at taking a swing at iPod. Maybe Zune 360 will do better...
Michael
Jeramy @ Jan 9th 2007 11:20PM
ya dudes, uh, as coll as i agree the iphone is, i think it's shooting for a completely different demographic. granted, similar features, but a $400 difference is going to hit a different crowd. (don't care if the price difference isn't exactly that).
&ya, they'll have a new model out by then, assumedly. hell, bigger ones by summer i would venture, so what makes you think in an additional year there won't be a "gaming" zune. but idk, whatever.