Audiosurf, PGR and other games added to Zune HD with latest update

by Griffin McElroy on Nov 11th 2009 10:50AM

Okay, so the Zune HD didn't get off to the greatest start as a portable gaming platform, but we're willing to let bygones be bygones should the device's most recent patch be as amazing as it sounds on paper. A recent press release has announced that firmware update 4.3 adds six free games to the Zune Marketplace: PGR: Ferrari Edition, Lucky Lane Bowling, Vans Sk8: Pool Service, Piano, Checkers and Audiosurf: Tilt.

The press release does explain that, yes, you'll have to watch a short ad when you start these free games up. So what? It's Audiosurf on a mobile device, and it lets you make rollercoaster tracks out of your own songs. If we had to watch The Adventures of Pluto Nash start-to-finish every time we loaded the game, we'd still be thrilled.

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Tags: audiosurf, media-device, microsoft, music, pgr, zune, zune-hd

Reader Comments (32)

I would be thrilled at first, but the more I had to watch the ads, the less patient I would be.

i know on Zune 80 all it does is show a short add for lips and then it's just an image and only stays up there as long as a normal splash screen. dont know if this will be like that or not but if so, it's definately bearable for what you're getting.

I'm still waiting for them to release a Zune Indie Arcade. So I can release my games on there. Anyways, here's a free Zune game I just released.

Slaam! Mobile
http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/download-completed-games/46647-slaam-mobile-fin.html

I rarely notice the ads. I click on the game and expect it to take a moment to load, so I tend to look somewhere else for a moment. When I look back down, the game has loaded.

Granted, on the Zune, that "moment" is longer than I'd like it to be. Why the heck is that anyway? It's pretty snappy when processing everything else; why can't it load my games quickly and then hop back to the home screen without everything going blank for a couple of seconds?

I'm curious, do the ads show up even when offline? If so, that would mean they're stored. If they're stored, that would mean they can be deleted ;p

Free ad-supported games = win.

I was tempted before my birthday to pick up the Zune HD, but then I decided to hold off until something like this became more solid. I did the free trial of the Zune software and REALLY enjoyed the subscription-based music.

Still don't know, but at least I'm back on the fence.

buy it. i own a Zune 120 and a Zune HD. i was a huge music pirate until i discovered Zune Pass. $15 a month is well worth it if you download as much music as i do. Audiosurf is quite epic (not as sweet as the full PC version but still sweet) and PGR was a pleasant surprise.

if you make the most of your Zune Pass you will not be disappointed by any means.

"If we had to watch The Adventures of Pluto Nash start-to-finish every time we loaded the game, we'd still be thrilled."

That's a damn lie and you know it!

I'd rather watch Meet Dave. At least that was funny.

No sane person would ever do such a thing. Ever.

I really like my Zune with the Zune Pass... I have been fighting the urge to get a Zune HD for a few months now, but damn if I am not required to now. I knew they were doing audiosurf at some point but being Free and included with the firmware is beyond epic...

Stop making me like you Microsoft....

I'm slapping these on my Zune HD pronto!

Not bad, my brother loves Audiosurf on Steam and is thinking of going to the dark side and getting an Ipod Touch to replace his dying 30gb Zune. Maybe I can convince him to get the Zune HD.

Tell him no. The Touch is crap.
Unless he doesn't care about audio fidelity, or about Apple pushing you to upgrade before the thing is even 2 years old, or about substandard batteries.

Or about the worst application know to man as iTunes.

"Tell him no. The Touch is crap."

Now hold on the Touch is far from crap. Sure it's not the PMP that the Zune HD is but it does have it's merits. It has a monstrous number of very useful applications (yes 60,000 are shite but there are hundreds of honest to god good apps), and a great hacking community.

If your brother is all about the music, tell him to get a Zune HD and don't look back. However if he wants a do it all device iPod Touch maybe the way to go.

I am glad I held off on getting the Zune HD. Now I don't know if I ever will. I remember reading a review on Amazon that said how the Oled screen is hard to see outside and that turned me off pretty bad. That and the battery life is the same.

Now they are barely supporting the apps part of Zunehd. I will just have to stick with my 120gb zune.

The marketplace is the best music download option that I've tried though. and the subscription is good too. Although I don't think they do 10 free credits a month anymore because I haven't seen my credits get refreshed since I used them.

Just spend my monthly 10 yesterday....

Yes, if you're in direct sunlight, the screen is impossible to see. However, avoiding direct sunlight has never been a problem for me :)

I just ran through these new apps, and they're all really slick. Well, the piano app is worthless to me, but the bowling game is fun with a wiimote like swing control option. And Audiosurf was amazing my first time!

Wait. People still go outside?

What's this "outside" thing? Is that like when you go upstairs to get another bag of Cheetos?

theres nothing different from the oled in direct sunlight compared to other screens, its the fact that the overlay on top of the screen is shiny as hell. but i see it just as good as any other screen in direct sunlight.

ill give you an example of the battery life. for one day i listened to an hour podcast going to work, an hour worth of music at work two hours of dave chappelle standup video at home and by the end the battery was nowhere near red bar.

they are not barely supporting the apps part of the zune, they are just getting started. it is not their first priority though.

as for the 10 credits per month, it still works you have to call MS if that was happening, maybe its an isolated issue.

What kills the Zune HD's battery life is wireless.

THIS IS WIN

i really need a zune HD, is audiosurf on the zune compatible with any song?

If it plays in your Zune then yes.

Yes, it does work with any song. Also, here's some screenshots:

http://www.audio-surf.com/AudiosurfTilt/images/ring1.jpg
http://www.audio-surf.com/AudiosurfTilt/images/moon1.jpg
http://www.audio-surf.com/AudiosurfTilt/images/arch1.jpg

Check out this guy's videos of a bunch of the new games playing on his ZuneHD.

I thought it was pretty sweet. Also, the advertisements aren't as bad as the first batch of "games" that were available at launch. Just a static image ad for the Zune Pass. It isn't even up there for very long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcpgU_I-H-w

They cycle between zune pass, Car image, and a car video. The car video sucks.

Oh, well that's unfortunate... but still... it's a free game. Looks a lot more polished than a lot of the iPhone crapware they want money for.

I really want them to bring this to Canada.

Awesome, Audiosurf will be on my green Zune HD shortly. :D

This is really great, but unfortunately I'm still getting the SYNC Error (C1010007) -- an error that has blocked users from syncing video and video podcasts, and it's now blocked me from syncing more than one game. I'd love it if you guys could explore how widespread this error is. The Zune forum is full of gripes, but little concrete information.

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Audiosurf, PGR and other games added to Zune HD with latest update

Reader Comments (32)

Posted: Nov 11th 2009 10:56AM mr nimblewick said

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