Microsoft Zune Love on the Interwebs!
You know they are coming, you’ve seen the videos, some of us have actually played with them, and now everyone can. (with a bit of work)
For info on how to do this, head over to Zune Boards.
On February 20th Chris showed some excitement when he shared with us the news about XNA and the possibility of playing games on our Zune players. So today I want to share with you a the presentation from the GDC available in HD thanks to GameTrailers. Watch the demonstration and see for yourself how well the Zune performs as a simplified gaming device.
[Excerpt from XBox360 Fanboy]
During yesterday’s GDC keynote, Microsoft announced that later this year, XNA development would be opening up to the Zune allowing XNA developers to create XBLA style games for Zune devices. The games can then be shared from the Zune itself to any Windows PC and also to a 360. So, Mr. Allard ends up being correct about Zune - 360 connectivity, but totally dropped the ball on Zune gaming. Why fight it Allard, why fight? Also, those cool cats over at Ars Technica are reporting that the Zune will allow for multiplayer gaming via the device’s built-in wireless capability. Zune XNA development should be rolling out sometime by the end of the year alongside the new XNA / Xbox Live community features.
Watch: Game Trailers HD Video Link
This sounds really cool, but don’t expect your Zune to have games right away. What this announcement is saying is that this Game Studio will no be able to develop games for the Zune. More details later, but it does open the door for some exciting ideas for the future for Zune.
Here’s an important point of clarification: The announcements at GDC are about the new XNA Game Studio tools, which will support game development on Zune in the future. These added XNA capabilities are the first step toward offering developers the opportunity to design games that could be played on Zune devices, but Zune is a wireless music and video player first and foremost. - Cesar (Zuneinsider)
In addition, Engadget has grabbed some photos from their demo at this conference…
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