Microsoft delivers new Zune HD games; Twitter and Facebook still to come
Summary: On the heels of providing a new firmware update to the Zune HD that provided support for forthcoming games, Microsoft is rolling out those games starting on November 11. Facebook and Twitter integration apps are still to come -- no word as to when.
On the heels of providing a new firmware update to the Zune HD that provided support for forthcoming games, Microsoft is rolling out those games starting on November 11.
The firmware update, version 4.3, enabled 3-D gaming on the new Zune HD. The new six games that are available for download from the Zune HD Marketplace today for free (but ad-supported -- there's an ad at start-up) are:
Audiosurf Tilt: Audiosurf creates a rollercoaster ride from any song.
Checkers: A classic checkers game that can be played against a computer or a buddy.
Lucky Lanes Bowling: Bowl in different game modes: exhibition, blackjack, golf -- either against the computer or up to four friends.
Piano: Play your own tune, or play along with music.
Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition: A racing game using multi touch controls and the built in accelerometer.
Vans Sk8: Pool Service: "Put these Vans skaters to the test with all the tricks in their bag and achieve hero status once you unlock their pro model skateboards."
A spokesperson sent me the following update, as well:
"As we’ve said in the past, we will be delivering additional applications for Zune HD including Facebook and Twitter in the future."
I bought a Zune HD a month or so ago and have been showing it off to some disbelieving Apple die-hards. "Are you sure this is a Microsoft product?" is often the reaction I've gotten. Being able to change the music I've got on it whenever the mood strikes (thanks to a $15 per month ZunePass subscription) has been a great way to sample lots of new content. If this device had been available a couple of years ago, when I was searching for any MP3 player as long as it wasn't an Apple one, I'd have snapped it up long ago...
But, as I've noted before, Microsoft isn't planning to put a ton of resources into developing apps for its dedicated Zune HD players. Microsoft officials have said the not-so-long-term plan for Zune is to turn it into a service. There will be "at least one more" player release coming, but after that, it sounds like Microsoft is planning to integrate the Zune music and video services into its Windows Mobile, Xbox and possibly other third-party platforms. (The new Xbox Live services including Zune video went into public beta on October 21. The go-live launch date is still to be announced. is November 17.)
Microsoft officials still won't give a firm yes or no answer as to when or if the company will make the Zune HD available internationally. (I ask periodically but still can't get an answer.)
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RE: Microsoft delivers new Zune HD games; Twitter and Facebook still to com
yeah, that's a pretty lame collection of games LOL! nt.
So you've played these games?
What do you expect from a jealous troll?
can't you sample tonnes of music for free on radio?
listen
to very specific song.. or just sample for free
via
internet downloads.. why pay $15 a month for
that
when i can get it for free? i listen to lots
of
stuff be only once in a while do i feel like i
want
to lay down cash for an album or a song.
i guess the subscription thing is good for some
but
not for me. i also guess that subscription is
not
what most people want either when you compare
iTunes
sales with sales from subscription services.. i
know
you get to keep $10 (i think of songs each
month) of
songs but if you're not really interested in
that
each month it's kind of a waste.
it basically comes down to your buying habits,
but as
i said before.. the market has basically spoken
with
their money and subscription music has been
voted off
the island.. i think it WAY past the time that
MS
gives subscription a rest..
let me also add that the new Zune player is a
beautiful device but it's major flaw will never
get fixed and that is that it's not connected
to the iTunes music store meaning it just will
not get traction..
Yes on Zune you can listen to HD radio
ok.. so what? i was commenting on the subscription model...
simply stating that the market has voted for
music purchases over subscription.. that's plain
to see.. i don't understand why MS keeps pushing
this failed model... apple's likely happy about
seeing MS flush it's money down the toilet
though.. it must cost a lot to maintain this
service.. all the heavy DRM, fixing DRM when
(i.e. not if) it gets cracked etc, etc..
Try it and then get back to us
The problem with the radio is that you only get to listen to what the networks play to you and, in case you've not noticed, most radio networks are paid (often handsomely) to play tracks from specific artists/labels.
I was dubious of the value of the subscription model too ... until I tried it. I used to buy 2-3 CD's per month on average. Now, I just subscribe to Zune and enjoy FAR more music for FAR less money than I used to spend to buy 2-3 CD's per month, many of which contained few tracks I enjoyed.
Again, don't knock it until you've tried it - the Zune Pass absolutely rocks.
NO! look, i buy a few albums a year... subscription won't work for me..
music to listen to.. there are only a few
albums/songs a year that i buy.. that are
worthy of me buying.. all that crap that is out
there i'm not going to pay... for just listen
to it on radio (mostly internet radio).. you're
going to get sick of it in a week anyway.
i just don't have the time or the inclination
to go DISCOVERING all this "great" indie music
out there.. don't care. have you listened to
internet radio? you can find channels that
play EXACTLY what you want to hear.. between
the music that i already own and internet
radio, plus audio and video podcast, plus
broadcast radio.. i don't have time to be
managing what i download on a monthly basis...
why?? just listen to radio to the genre that
i'm interested in and the odd time i discover
something that i like.
no interest whatsoever in trying
subscription... it doesn't meet my needs and
listening habits and would be a complete waste
of money for me... i simply wouldn't get my
moneys worth out of it i don't have the time or
inclination to utilize it... those who do.. all
the power to you, but i simply wouldn't get
value out of it.. and if sales are any
indication this is likely the case for most
other people as well..
A buck 50 a song???
There was a time when I spent lots of money on music. To the tune of
2 CDs/week or so. But those days are long past. So I have 100's and
100's of CDs each ripped to MP3/MP4 playable through a wide range
of devices. I currently add CDs (or album downloads through
Amazon/iTMS) slowly in the order of 1 / month or less.
It can literally take over a year to sample all the music I currently have
and an "unlimited" subscription is not very appealing.
Oddly, most of my friends are in the ame position. 20+ years of
buying CDs and they have built up HUGE collections of music with a
very ride variety. Subscription services make since for "pups" that
don't have much in the line of a personal store but much less for
many/most.
At the end of the day, however, subscription services have simply
failed in the market place.
PS: I already used my 1 week free on Rhapsody to try the whole
"subscription" thing. It was OK but not worth $14.99/month. Perhaps
$5.00/month but never $180/year.
Can you please explain further?
Yes, like a pickup truck is good for some but not me.
[i]i think it WAY past the time that MS
gives subscription a rest..[/i]
So above, you admitted that some people [b]did[/b] like subscription models and now you are saying that you wish those people should suffer because they aren't in the majority? Just because I don't want a pickup truck and because most people don't buy pickup trucks, using your logic, all car companies should stop selling pickup trucks? Can you confirm that you want the minority to lose what they like because they aren't in the majority? Thanks.
[i]it's major flaw will never
get fixed and that is that it's not connected
to the iTunes music store[/i]
In another thread we were talking about whether or not Apple had a monopoly in the PMP market and I claimed that they did because they had created some major barriers to entry, a sure sign of a monopoly. Thank you for confirming this for all of us here. By not allowing others to have access to the store that has a 95% marketshare, they are keeping other PMPs from ever gaining traction. You said that, not me. It was, as you said, [i]a major flaw[/i].
There [b]is[/b] a precedent here. The EU [b]forced[/b] MS to allow other OSs to connect to their proprietary AD servers because that inability was a barrier to entry in the desktop OS market. The parallel is [b]perfect[/b]. Hopefully the EU will [b]force[/b] Apple to open up iTMS to others since it is unlikely that Apple will willingly fix that major flaw you mentioned on their own. That will increase competition and, unless you think competition is a bad thing, you have to admit that this will be better for us all.
MS can take my advice or not... i just thought they were in business..
than sinking more money into a business model
that has failed in the market place.. no skin
off my nose though if they want to continue to
flushing money down the toilet.
i agree.. it would suck for people that do like
that model..
i think you need to look up monopoly in the
dictionary... monopolies are based on one
company having a significantly large market
share such that their share IS essentially the
market.. does apple has a monopoly? i don't
know.. i don't really think so, they basically
have what 75-80% in PMPs (a guess).. still 25%
of the market is occupied by others so doesn't
sound like a monopoly to me.. at least yet! MS
is ~95% world wide in computer OS.. definitely
and rule a monoply in US and EU courts.. and
also convicted of using illegal practices to
maintain and expand that monopoly to other
products..
apple needs to be ruled a monopoly 1st before
it can be sanctioned for illegally using a
monopoly.. i think you have the cart before the
horse.. much of the behavior that you are
talking about are not illegal for companies
that are not monopolies.. e.g. should Gillette
be made to have Schick razor blades fit their
razors? or should MS be made to make PS3 games
work on XBox360s? don't think so!
The market hasn't had a chance to speak...
If Apple were to offer a music subscription service comparable to ZunePass, you bet your ass people would jump on it.
Did you know ZunePass content can be used on 3 devices and 3 computers? That's the buffet special: All you can eat for 3 family members for $15/month. On top of that, each family member gets to keep roughly 4 albums (DRM-free MP3@320) per year.
Finally, if it were time to give up subscription services, do you think Apple would be working out deals with TV content providers to offer a subscription-based TV offering?
I think my point is made.
subscription for movies: yes... music: no...
over and over again... but tend to watch movies
or TV shows ones.. maybe twice..
this is why subscriptions make all kinds of
sense for movies but not that much sense for
music...
there is a difference in the way people consume
music and movies... apple seems to have FINALLY
clued into this.. but MS seems to have not..
there model is just wrong for music... sure
there will be some people that want to consume
music that way but that's just not most
people... people don't want to rent music they
want to own it.. there are just too many
options to sample music that paying to sample
is just stupid... and people realize this..
I disagree
Parents will wise up to the fact that if they want to avoid having their kids trying to torrent/P2P gigabytes of music, they can simply pay the reasonable monthly fee to get them legal access to all the music their kids want.
No future
Plenty of future
And you are not going to "loose" all your music. You get 10 free songs a month so in 2 yeras that's like 24 albums that you keep forever and ever and can move them to any other MP3 player.
You don't buy lock'ed down tunes. If you buy tunes (@99 cents) they are DRM free and you can keep them for ever and ever as well.
The tunes that are locked down are the ones you rented and decided not to keep.
To recap the subscription model.
You pay $15 a month, for that you get to:
1. Use 3 computers to rent all the music you want.
2. Put all this rented music on 3 devices.
3. Keep 10 songs DRM free for ever.
4. Buy songs you like DRM free for $0.99
My setup works like this:
1. I have a media PC by the TV that can stream music endlessly.
2. I have a laptop on which I can rent unlimited amounts of music and put it on my Zune.
3. My wife has a laptop on which she can rent unlimited music and put it on her Zune.
4. We keep 10 songs a month that we like.
The deal is so good that I don't even care about buying songs anymore. When I find a band, e.g. Audioslave, I just download all thier albums, then I go to related and find similar artists that I have never heard about and downloads all thier albums, and then I go to related and find similar artists and ... It's just endless.
I was sitting in the garden the other day with my wife and a mojito listening to music in a battery powered Bose stand, when we suddently felt like listening to some Bob Marley. I log on to the marketplace through wifi and starts streaming Bob Marley - never had to get my ass out off the chair or put the drink down.
This is so different to the way I used to do things, I too used to sit infront of something that looked like an excel spreadsheet and "manage" my music into folders and playlists. Don't do that anymore. This thing is like what Tivo was to the TV, once you try it there is no way back.
RE: Microsoft delivers new Zune HD games; Twitter and Facebook still to com
Ferrari Edition should prove popular (why not port that to WM
or iPhone as well as Zune)
zune service in china next year..!