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Zune HD - Microsoft's Debut into Portable Gaming?
bakatrinh
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So it seems nowadays every company is releasing a portable device that can play games, browse web, watch movies, and listen to music. Nintendo's got their DSi, Sony got PSP, and Apple got iPhones
I have a feeling Microsoft's version will be the Zune HD. This new device is capable of rendering 720p videos and uses an OLED 480x272 screen. The same resolution as that of a PSP except with better picture quality.
My P4 3ghz with GeForce 8600GT can barely view 720p video without stuttering. Granted it's a really old machine but it can play games with graphics almost as good as a 360. I'm just saying a device like the Zune HD must have a pretty strong processor. Even if it's only 1.5x more powerful than a PSP, I'd say we can get some pretty good looking games on it.
I think it's a good way for Microsoft to sneak into the portable gaming market to compete with the PSP, DS, and iPhones. If they release some killer apps and design this device right, they can be a strong contender with the other companies.
How sweet would it be to hook up your Zune HD to the TV with HDMI for some 720p gaming. Or when you're buying a game on xbox live you get the option of uploading it to the Zune as well. The only problem is the control. It's only multitouch and accelerometer like the iPhone so developers would have to find creative ways to make games for it.
From the looks of it, Microsoft seem to be copying/following the same footstep as the iPhone. The Zune has the music/video marketplace and the announced app store just like the iPhone. Except Microsoft is a more gaming focused company than Apple, so we might see a bigger gaming libary on it.
I'm definitely buying the Zune if it turns out this way. I've been waiting for a multimedia device that let's me browse the web, listen to music, watch movies, and play games on. The PSP can already do this. But it's a little bit dated and it doesn't run on an internal harddrive. The iPhones is a little expensive and not as gaming focused as I like.
But it depends. There's a good chance Sony will announce the new PSP revision, and Apple will announce the next iteration of the iPhone at the upcoming E3. Hopefully there will be new information on the Zune HD as well. I have a feeling it's going to be battle of the handheld market this Fall.
I have a feeling Microsoft's version will be the Zune HD. This new device is capable of rendering 720p videos and uses an OLED 480x272 screen. The same resolution as that of a PSP except with better picture quality.
My P4 3ghz with GeForce 8600GT can barely view 720p video without stuttering. Granted it's a really old machine but it can play games with graphics almost as good as a 360. I'm just saying a device like the Zune HD must have a pretty strong processor. Even if it's only 1.5x more powerful than a PSP, I'd say we can get some pretty good looking games on it.
I think it's a good way for Microsoft to sneak into the portable gaming market to compete with the PSP, DS, and iPhones. If they release some killer apps and design this device right, they can be a strong contender with the other companies.
How sweet would it be to hook up your Zune HD to the TV with HDMI for some 720p gaming. Or when you're buying a game on xbox live you get the option of uploading it to the Zune as well. The only problem is the control. It's only multitouch and accelerometer like the iPhone so developers would have to find creative ways to make games for it.
From the looks of it, Microsoft seem to be copying/following the same footstep as the iPhone. The Zune has the music/video marketplace and the announced app store just like the iPhone. Except Microsoft is a more gaming focused company than Apple, so we might see a bigger gaming libary on it.
I'm definitely buying the Zune if it turns out this way. I've been waiting for a multimedia device that let's me browse the web, listen to music, watch movies, and play games on. The PSP can already do this. But it's a little bit dated and it doesn't run on an internal harddrive. The iPhones is a little expensive and not as gaming focused as I like.
But it depends. There's a good chance Sony will announce the new PSP revision, and Apple will announce the next iteration of the iPhone at the upcoming E3. Hopefully there will be new information on the Zune HD as well. I have a feeling it's going to be battle of the handheld market this Fall.
bakatrinh on
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Nah, that just means it has a better hardware h264 decoder chip (which the psp also has).
fwiw - the psp has a 333mhz chip and although I can't find the specific rating, it seems the original zune has a chip which is availiable in a 400-533mhz range, so even at the bottom end, the original zune 30 has a nearly 30% faster cpu. which will make little difference. it will be whatever the gpu is that will determine the graphics performance.
Like that one for the DS that was being worked on at one point?
Also it's meant to interact with Marketplace and stuff, which I'm hoping will bring some cool things.
honestly they dropped the ball up to this point on how well the zune and 360 could have been paired.
i should be able to sync music from my 360's hard drive to my zune, play my arcade games on my zune, and have a universal gamerscore/ medal system between my music and game playing.
it boggles my mind, because i love these two products a lot, but microsoft could have done so much more with it. hopefully this HD fixes this retardedly botched integration between microsoft's two biggest platforms (outside of windows)
I'd feel quite confident it'll do something along these lines. It's not going to be a product they've just thrown together in the last couple of months, and since the Zune launched there's been the NXE which allows them to make some pretty big on-the-fly changes to the system, as I understand it. They've also been hyping their E3 conference next Monday as having some big reveals. I doubt it's just going to be "you can use your Zune HD to turn on your 360!"
If it allows for that (and the Zune Pass of course), Zune HD will be a day one purchase.
Given that it's a multitouch screen and doesn't have dual analog and whatnot, I sincerely doubt they'll have full-blown XBLA compatibility. (This would make me pee my pants, though.) I could see a retooling of some of the more popular games, along with whatever they're going to call their version of the App Store supporting games on the Zune HD, but not much else in the way of gaming. Full music and video compatibility is pretty much a given, though.
Yeah, it won't have the XBLA compatability that was mentioned in the leaked stuff earlier, but I would be very surprised if it doesn't come under the XNA banner and allow people to make their own apps for it, as an extension of Community Games.
Wait, how does that even make any sense?
What part? It can output to a HDTV screen at 720p.
Oooh, right. I thought he meant displaying 720p on a 480 screen, which was weird, but then all sorts of marketing speak has been flying around about HD lately.
It depends on the type of game. Anything that can feasibly be done with only a touch screen would work great. Fieldrunners and Puzzle Quest control wonderfully.
It'd be neat if you could use the touch screen on the Zune HD to control XBLA games. If PopCap releases Plants vs Zombies as a launch title for this potential service, then I'm sold.
some have a simulated controller on the screen so you 'press' the buttons like you would a real game, but the response time was slow and unresponsive. it's a tricky thing to do.
for a portable device it'd be unwieldy to have an entire 360 pad plugged into it.
perhaps they could release a shell they plugs into the zune HD that gives it analog sticks and a few buttons. i would pay $20-30 to be able to play XBLA games on there.
they have a lot of customers in a lot of different areas and by bringing them together they could knock this shit out of the park.
i'm sure people big into games would rather have a portable xbox than an ipod.
I've been debating replacing my aging pda/mp3 players with a single device like the iPod touch. Happy to see they're attempting to introduce some competition.
It's a ridicolous good service, and I wish more would take notice so Apple would be forced to offer one too.
Still, Microsoft's got a tough fight ahead of them, considering how the first Zune was a sales flop. The stench of that failure might stick to the new one unless they do something awesome that really sets the market on fire.
I know they would, but how is that actually different from anyone else's setup? The free and open world of the Mac, for instance.
Macs are quirky and cool, Microsoft is a towering juggernaut that stifles industry innovation and is out to rule the world, man.
Or at least, that's got to be the perceptions in the EU where Google is quietly lobbying to have MS broken up into several companies. I hate retarded politicians so much.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/technology/companies/25google.html
I mean seriously, what the fuck. How can anyone with any shred of fucking intelligence not laugh Google right the fuck out of the room if they started talking about a monopoly.
I hate that shit. As a user, I like it when things are the same if they're good. I use a Windows Live ID to log into both Windows Live Messenger and Games for Windows Live, but they seem to use entirely seperate accounts despite using the same log in.
I guess it comes down to how well they sales pitch it to me next week during E3.
ITT I am a whore for technology
And then for it to be released worldwide, rather than US-only.
If anyone is thinking about the subscription, just try it for a month - it's easy to turn off. If you keep 10 songs you'll only be out a few bucks and you can just burn those tracks to disc or whatever.
Rhapsody and Napster do the same thing, sort of, but last I checked the Zune library blew them out of the water and the new Zune software is a lot more pleasant to use.
Also, I like that Microsoft has stuck to their word so far and upgraded the firmware on the Zune players. They added useful features too, like browsing the entire Zune library wirelessly on the device (including streaming!) and wireless syncing. You can do all that on the 1st gen Zune with just a software update.
That being said, if Apple makes a competitive subscription service I'll switch over immediately. Fuck Microsoft and its inability to integrate its own products with its own services.
"Nothing to see here officer, just a big ole' bag of beer and porn.."
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/27/zune-video-coming-to-europe-no-zune-included/
How can one company fail so hard so often?
Because that would suck. If it just means you can't buy music and put it on your 360, that's.. nothing at all.
Edit: wait, it looks like the player's not going to release in Europe yet either. Now that is a disappointment.
Sooo.... yeah, no biggie.
Yeah, would just be nice to have the player.
"It's not selling!"
No, because there are no Zunes to be sold!
I'll sign on for that. I always wanted to do something worthwhile and humanitarian with my life. Especially if it let me use my dual-citizenship and other passport.
"Officer, I already told you. I'm only visiting the United States to partake in your beer and porn. I thought you wanted me to leave when my visa expire."