Xbox Live games now on Zune
written by Jef on Wednesday, February 20 2008
It appears that with the
demonstration that Xbox Live XNA games are coming to the Zune!
These are the community developed games using the
XNA studio 3.0 tools, but I would venture to expect 1st party published games as well.
Cesar on the
Zune Insider blog was smart to point out that XNA is available to develop for the Zune device, but that no time frame is currently announced when games will be available.
So far some points known are:
- Touchpad based games - This could mean it's possibly limited to generation 2 Zunes.
- Wireless Mobile Games - Does this mean Head 2 Head multiplayer, or possibly mobile versions tied to Xbox Live over Wi-Fi?
- Integrated soundtrack to your collection - Similar to how you have a custom soundtrack on Xbox 360 games by overlaying your own music from your collection
From the Microsoft GDC
keynote blog:
11:02: Shows the shooter game Zauri built using XNA Game Studio on Windows, Xbox 360, and… the Zune! The Zune’s touch controller looks to be a natural for gaming. You can play Zune tunes in the background while you play, and the Zune’s wi-fi support will even allow multiplayer gaming.
Below are images of the demo game Zauri, which is a test game for Xbox, Zune, and also apparently mobile phones. It appears the Live anywhere is starting to take shape as the number of vehicles to play games is definitely growing. We just need some release details and time lines.