Archives Posts

Scooped on the Zune Touch features in 3.1 firmware

November 21st, 2008 by Alfred @ Zune MAX

I got scooped on a story because I’m too lazy to write. I installed the Zune 3.1 updates yesterday and ran through the navigation before I played each of the new games. I like the new games for Zune, the graphics are much nicer than previous games. As I was running through I noticed a button on a game for Zune that said Touch. I knew right away they had built this in for a future Zune touch device and I should write something about it here on Zune MAX.

Instead I went on and wrote some other junk on another website and missed an opportunity to be the first to write on something. So this guy RyJones sent a video to Gizmodo and they posted it this morning.

I wonder if we can expect a Zune Touch screen device some time soon or may we see Games for Zune on some other manufacturers touch device?

Written by Alfred @ Zune MAX - Check out my Zune Card in the Zune forums now!

Tags: games for zune, Zune, zune 3.0, zune games

Is the Xbox Portable Just a Pipe Dream?

August 16th, 2008 by Alfred @ Zune MAX

I must agree its been a long time coming but we should consider that maybe Microsoft is looking for more than just a portable game player. Maybe they have plans for a line of portable devices and they are slowly building up to it?

Maybe we’ll see it by Zune 4?

Feature: Is the Xbox Portable Just a Pipe Dream?

For all intents and purposes, the Microsoft Xbox 360 is still doing very well in the marketplace. People are still more than happy to enjoy games like Halo 3 and Rock Band on the Xbox 360, so it’s clear that Microsoft has a formidable game-playing following. Why is it, then, that Microsoft has yet to grace us with any sort of portable gaming ambitions? Where is the Xbox Portable?

Written by Alfred @ Zune MAX - Check out my Zune Card in the Zune forums now!

Tags: zune games, zune mp3

Zune hits 2 million and grabs 4% market share

May 15th, 2008 by Alfred @ Zune MAX

Zune has sold over 2 million units and grabbed a whopping 4% market share in it’s 2nd year of production. Zune hit the 1 million mark back in 07/07. That was one million in just under the first year and this 2nd million comes in at about 1 1/2 years after the release date of the first player. They made the jump from 1 to 2 faster so it looks like Zune may be gaining steam. It was expected that Zune would be a late bloomer and Microsoft stated in the very beginning the had a 3 to 5 year plan for this.

I would think they are mildly pleased with hitting 4% market share in that time. Many folks had Zune doomed from the start and most thought it would never make it this far. I knew Microsoft was planning for a long battle and it looks like their efforts may be paying off. They have not had the best of luck with Zune and they have even been their own worst enemy at times but Microsoft has the hammer approach to marketing and they’ll just keep pounding away until the get it right. We’re gonna love zune and they’ll keep shoving stuff at it until we do!

I’m really digging the new games on Zune and I have beeen letting the kids use it more since we put them on it as well. I think Microsoft should work on porting as many free games for Zune as they can find and start adding some fan favorites into the Zune MarketPlace alongside Podcasts and Videos for a full service media market place. If I could find more Zune games to download I’d have more fun I think.

Zune Eats Creative’s Meager Lunch, Grabbing 4 Percent of MP3 Player Market | Listening Post from Wired.com

Microsoft’s Zune picked up a percentage point in the MP3 player market, bringing its share to a whopping four percent, with two million units sold. Microsoft has said from the start that it will stick with the Zune for as long as it takes for the player to gain traction, and it looks like that’s starting to happen.

Apple’s share of the MP3 player market share dropped a single point to 71 percent, according to the NPD Group’s study, but its lead is still monstrous. The bigger loser between Q1 2007 and Q1 2008 was Creative, which saw its share halved to two percent.

Written by Alfred @ Zune MAX - Check out my Zune Card in the Zune forums now!

Tags: games for zune, MP3, Zune, zune games

Connecting your Xbox and XNA Game Studio

May 9th, 2008 by Alfred @ Zune MAX

I’m considering the XNA pacakge so I can install games on my Xbox. I looked into how hard it is and then I realized it’s a pay only feature. It’s $100 for homebrew games on my Xbox and thats a bit much this week. I gotta find out how many games there are and how easy it is to install them. Wheres the best Xbox XNA games place?

Connecting to Your Xbox 360 Console with XNA Game Studio 2.0

This guide assumes you have already installed a supported version of Visual Studio tools and XNA Game Studio. These products must be installed before connecting to an Xbox 360 console. For information about installing these products, see Setup and System Requirements.

* Step 1: Sign In to Xbox LIVE
* Step 2: Download XNA Game Studio Connect
* Step 3: Connect Your Xbox 360 Console and Windows-Based Computer
* Step 4: Create and Deploy an Xbox 360 Project
* What’s Next?

Step 1: Sign In to Xbox LIVE

Turn on your Xbox 360 console and sign in to Xbox LIVE. You will need at least a Silver Xbox LIVE membership, an XNA Creators Club membership, and a hard drive for your Xbox 360 console to be able to develop games for Xbox 360 using XNA Game Studio. While you are in XNA Game Studio Connect or playing an XNA Game Studio game, you must remain connected to Xbox LIVE.
Step 2: Download XNA Game Studio Connect

XNA Game Studio Connect must be downloaded from Xbox LIVE Marketplace and installed on the Xbox 360 console. XNA Game Studio Connect is listed on Xbox LIVE Marketplace next to the XNA Creators Club Subscription, which may be found by selecting Game Store, More…, Genres, and then Other.
Step 3: Connect Your Xbox 360 Console and Windows-Based Computer

When you develop games for Xbox 360, you develop them on your Windows-based computer, then transfer them over your local network to your Xbox 360 console. This requires that your Windows-based computer and Xbox 360 console share the same subnet. Most home networking layouts support this configuration. If your console and computer share a router or hub, it is likely that they share the same subnet.

With your computer and console on the same subnet, follow these steps to set up a connection between your computer and your console.

Technorati Tags: zune, xna, zune xna, zune games

Written by Alfred @ Zune MAX - Check out my Zune Card in the Zune forums now!

Tags: zune games

Are Zune and XNA the future of mobile gaming from Microsoft

March 9th, 2008 by Alfred @ Zune MAX

Found another great article on Gamasutra about Xbox Live and XNA but the most interesting quote in the entire article was the one below:
Gamasutra - Connecting Communities, Redefining Xbox Live: Chris Satchell On XNA

It’s interesting. There’s always been the theory that Microsoft was going to do the “X Boy,” but there’s never been any real credibility to that theory, as far as I’m aware. Coupling XNA with Zune is an interesting way to still get into the handheld games space with an existing device and not have it be a potential problem or liability.CS: It is interesting, because Zune was never designed for gaming. I don’t know about you, but I love the way this control input feels, especially…

I’m excited about what can be done with XNA on Zune and I think game development is going to be awesome for Zune. I wrote about the XNA platform when it first came out and I knew then that XNA was a great fit not only for Xbox but for Zune as well and recent announcements have confirmed what I already knew. Microsoft mobile games development will be under the Zune platform more so than Xbox. There is no Xboy coming Zune!

Written by Alfred @ Zune MAX - Check out my Zune Card in the Zune forums now!

Tags: XNA, Zune, Zune Game Player, zune games, Zune XNA

XNA Game Studio 3.0 and Zune = Zune XNA

March 7th, 2008 by Alfred @ Zune MAX

I realized that I never posted a link to the announcement last month about XNA development on Zune. It’s been a long time coming but we’ll have games for Zune that are designed and developed by members of the Zune community. If anyone is as hyped about developing a game as I am then please contact me so we can get to work on building some games for Zune game players.
XNA Team Blog : Announcing: XNA Game Studio 3.0 and Zune

Announcing: XNA Game Studio 3.0 and ZuneDavid “LetsKillDave” Weller

XNA Evangelist

We could have rested on our laurels by just announcing the new Xbox LIVE community games and XNA Creators Club Online features, but we’re a driven bunch of people here, and we’re passionate about gaming, so let’s lob another amazing treat out there.

The XNA Community Games Platform team is delighted to offer you a sneak peek at our first major feature for XNA Game Studio 3.0: The ability to build games for the Zune platform! This will let you write one game and deploy it to all three platforms that XNA Game Studio 3.0 will support: the Xbox 360, Windows, and now the Zune. While the Zune lacks the 3D graphics horsepower to drive high-end games like you can on the Xbox 360, we’ve taken extreme steps in making sure that you will have the broadest access to the XNA Framework APIs possible, allowing you to create fun Zune games while still letting you integrate carefully with the overall Zune media experience. That means that XNA Game Studio 3.0 integration includes discoverability/access to the user’s music – allowing the user to customize background soundtracks or create real-time visualizations at their discretion. In addition, the XNA Community Games Platform team has announced the ability to have multiple Zunes wirelessly engage in an ad-hoc gaming experience (think of the possibilities!).

Our current planning is to offer a preview release of XNA Game Studio 3.0 in the Spring 2008 timeframe, with a final release scheduled for the holiday 2008 season. We look forward to your feedback and seeing what kind of amazing games you can create for the Zune!

Read more about this at http://creators.xna.com/whatsnew.aspx