A lot of people had differing emotions when reading the
Zune HD launch announcement yesterday: joy that the system would indeed sport a selection of apps and games, all free; dismay that those apps would be developed almost exclusively by Microsoft. Today you can turn that frown upside down, sweetheart, as it seems that exclusivity won't last long. An update to the XNA Game Studio development environment has already been released, enabling coders to target the Zune HD. The new version, 3.1, adds libraries for handling the system's accelerometer and multitouch screen, both put to use by developer Elton Muuga to create a simple drawing app, shown in video form after the break. It makes lines on a screen with finger touches and, like a ridiculously expensive Etch A Sketch, erases with a shake. It's not much, but impressive given the thing's only been available for a day now, and while we're still unsure how apps like this will find their way into the Zune's app store, we're sure all will be answered soon enough.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - XNA Game Studio 3.1
Read - First Zune HD Multi-Touch Drawing App
posted September 16th 2009 7:54AM
Cute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bObe0YeLYoc
These apps are slooooooooow.
Microsoft better step it up.
No, what's cute is ... they made the new version of the software 3.1
That guy is a genuine finger-painting Picasso. That app should prove about as useful as a Fart app. If the Zune Marketplace can manage 74,999 more apps like this, they should catch up to the App Store in a week. Way to tax that Tegra processor.
App-lack, App-laaaaaaack.
This is great news for Zune HD early-adopters. There are some great XNA-made games coming out of indie devs. Can't wait til my ZHD reaches me across the Atlantic.
Thanks MS - Developers, developers, developers, developers,
One of the great things is that people who've already made games with the earlier version of XNA should find it relatively easy to repurpose some of those games for the ZuneHD.
BTW, I expected XNA to be updated to target the ZuneHD (and what will surely be the Windows Mobile 7 platform), but didn't expect it for a couple of months once MS figured out how their unified Marketplac was going to work.
"The 'settings' menu also allows Zune users to tailor the device for US, European, or Japanese radio frequencies." (Ars Technica's Zune HD Review)
I know you probably want it right now, but the fact that Zune HD has European and Japanese radio settings might imply that it will soon be sold there. Or that they expect their users to be jet-setters :)
Instantly, I feel an impulse buy coming.
Over this? I'll wait till I see what it's gaming capabilities are. Someone mentioned that they saw a demo of Burnout or something running on this. If that's true, and the game is available to download, then I'll get it.
It's Project Gotham Racing
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/brierdudley/2009866507_zune15.html
@WindowsFTW:
Dear self-proclaimed Windows fanboy,
You don't count market share for things a company doesn't make anymore--that would be called 'installed base'.
"How is Windows 3.1's market share for you?" sounds so ridiculous doesn't it?
Also, comparing the iPhone to established companies and platforms who sell more than one phone model at different price points is so very logical.
How's Zune's 1% market share compared to iPods, SanDisks, Sonys, and Samsungs? Yes no matter how great you think the Zune is, it still has 1% market share, whether it is better than the iPod or not.
So next time when you bash someone for mentioning market share, don't respond with more insensible stats of market share.
Thanks
I'd wager and say these apps aren't ever going to make it to the app store. It's still the same old XNA portable framework used in the older Zunes, so no 3D and no way to take advantage of Tegra. This is really just something for hobbyists too play around with, probably quickly designed to give us something to play with, not a fully fledged SDK or anything.
Wether full fledge SDK or not, who with right mind would invest time and money for
the MP3 player with 1.2% marketshare? Certainly, it wouldn't be me. :)
You know XNA is used for indie Xbox Live Arcade games right?
Yeah, and you know this is the PORTABLE Xna Framework, not the same XNA framework as on Xbox 360 & PC. It's similar in that is uses the same principals, but it is highly stripped down, and no proper 3D and such. Like I said, and like Microsoft says, this is the SAME framework as seen on previous Zunes, just with added touch & accelerometer API's. Dunno why I got voted down xD
It's just been released. How do you know the market share?
Because your post didnt put MS on a pedestal for releasing the first touch screen PMP in the world, that you can make apps for. If you dont bash apple or suck MS off in your posts on engadget, the drones with 15 accounts rank you down like the bunch of 4chan punk asses that they are.
I always enjoy it when Apple fanboys bring up marketshare.
Sure, Donald, I'll play that game :)
How's that 0.000001% marketshare working out for you guys in Apple console-land (Pippin)?
How's that 0.001% marketshare working out for you guys in the media center market (Apple TV)?
How's that 0.01% marketshare working out for you guys in the office productivity market?
How's that 0.1% marketshare working out for you guys in the server market?
How's that 7.1% marketshare working out for you guys in PC/OS land (Mac/OSX)
How's that 10.1% marketshare working out for you guys in the smartphone sector (iPhone: yes, WinMo, RIM, and Symbian all have larger marketshares, STILL)
Face it, once people wise up to the fact that iPods are not their only options in the MP3 market, and that much better units can be had for their dollar, then Apple will go back to being that same pathetic company a decade ago that was accepting handouts from MS.
"Because your post didnt put MS on a pedestal for releasing the first touch screen PMP in the world, that you can make apps for. If you dont bash apple or suck MS off in your posts on engadget, the drones with 15 accounts rank you down like the bunch of 4chan punk asses that they are."
I'm sorry, perhaps you fail to tell the difference between a post with some insight and some smarmy douche trying to flame bait.
"I'm sorry, perhaps you fail to tell the difference between a post with some insight and some smarmy douche trying to flame bait."
Actually I was posting wih some insight, I was trying to make sure people who don't have any idea about XNA realise that this shouldn't be compared to the Apple SDK for iPhone, as it's not a fully fledged framework, and not get the wrong idea thinking that we'll end up getting these awesomely powerful 3D apps out of it, then get pissed off the flame the Zune when they realise they can't and blame it on Microsoft being stupid. Because you know it's going to happen, and it doesn't help when news sources don't point these things out >_
I'm sorry, Jason, I was actually responding to the post below yours. I guess it did look a bit confusing.
@ Jason: Is there any reason why you think that MS WON'T add 3D support for ZuneHD in XNA? This is still XNA 3.1. I'm willing to bet you $100 US that MS will release a more robust ZuneHD version that will support 3D as well as the multitouch & accelerometer.
Seriously, the device has been out for a day. I didn't expect to see XNA get an update of any sort for a couple of months.
You sound like the guy on the airplane from the Louis CK/Conan bit...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXStPqhLmIk
@WindowsFTW
That'll likely happen like a week after Steve Jobs dies. He's the only thing holding Apple together.
@ WindowsFTW : Thank you. Your post was extremely refreshing to read since any Microsoft related post is instantly targeted by Apple fans.
*thinks for a moment* Pippin .. hahahaha
You can keep your crappy marketshare, baby. It's profits that matter. Sitting on a grand of Apple shares and watching the stock move up. You can keep the 70% Microsoft desktop market share cause it don't mean spit to investors. Apple will only need about 15%-20% desktop market share and 35% smartphone market share to pass Microsoft's market cap. Apple is sitting pretty.
@WindowsFTW
Ohhhhhh!
Ouch!
LOL love it!
As much as I love the Zune HD, you have to admit that it wouldn't have been born if it weren't for Apple--at least not this soon. I want other companies to scare Microsoft so they too will be forced to innovate more frequently in every space they are involved.
Off subject: Is anyone else loving the online music streaming as I am? Thank you Zune team! I've been waiting for this feature.
@Typical Engadget Tech-Nerd "Sitting on a grand of Apple shares"
Hahaha, BIG investment *yawn*
Competition, even from Microsoft of all companies, is good!
Anybody look at apple's stock price lately?
Anybody look at microsoft's?
xD
This is fantastic!! .NET is a great platform and combined with the XNA framework we should see some very powerful games/apps coming down the line.
I'm downloading the extension as I type this. I'm very excited.
Ah, no this is the XNA PORTABLE Framework... the same same framework used on previous Zune's which doesn't support proper 3D, or even AA'ing rotated sprites. It's definitely not something that can match XNA seen on 360 or PC.
Actually, I see no mention of "Portable" anywhere on the release page. I'm pretty certain the framework isn't nearly as limited as it was in the early Zunes.
Seriously? You guys are gonna vote down anyone who says anything negative? In this case he's right. Just check the comments following the post on the XNA forum this was announced on. All this added was Zune HD support, and multitouch/accelerometer controls. No 3D API's, let alone shaders and such. He's not trolling, he's not flaming anyone, he's just telling the truth.
Well... it's a start!
How well were the apps when the iPod Touch came out? I can't imagine it was any better than this.
When Apple opened the SDK..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i-YCMj9L-g
Well they were pretty darn good.
"How well were the apps when the iPod Touch came out? I can't imagine it was any better than this."
Unfortunately, Zune HD is competing with today's Touch, not the Touch of two years ago. MS needs to get a proper SDK now. I think the Zune has a very small window of opportunity to cut into the iPod marketshare. The problem is MS moves too slow to take advantage of it.
They were exactly like this.
Any early, jailbroken iPhone 2G adopter will tell you that the first apps that were entertaining were the ones that gave you a 10 color palette and different brush sizes. Those people know what I'm talking about... Look at where we are now: our own app store adding more and more packages everyday with better and better functionality. I see the Zune HD with all its capable of doing becoming the next platform for the dev community.
Now if someone could just find a way to use line-in recording, I will go buy mine.
Dear Santa,
Can I have one of these and a Sprint Hero for Christmas?
thanks for spreading more FUD. The XNA framework for the original zune was powerful enough to make small 2D sprite based applications. I was able to port a tetris clone in a day.
The framework IS powerful, extensible, and easy to code in. Just because they have not released the API's for use with the ZUNE compile tag is probably because they are still finalizing the code behind it. I'd give it about 6 months and they will fully release all the APIs.
The exciting part, is that moving existing code bases over from the original zune to the new zune will be easy. It also means that you don't need to learn a new language or framework in order to do the coding. In fact, any one who has prior .NET experience can make use of it.
Still, if MS wants to eat into the iPod Touch's marketshare, they need to release a full-fledged SDK that takes advantage of all the hardware in it and get their Marketplace sorted out post-haste. I hope they do, because the competition can only make everyone else better, but each day they wait means there's less and less available for them to grab.
yeah, this just updats what we had before with XNA for Zune, im guessing they really didnt have the framework ready yet.
a future, proper SDK update should give us real control over the Tegra, once they have everything else in place
Is there a way to develop productivity apps for the Zune HD? And can you sideload the apps?
This is sufficient for making productivity apps, but it would be difficult and the end result is going to be ugly on all levels. Not that this will stop me from trying.
**this was supposed to be in reply to Jason Dash above...
Thanks for the clarification
I never said it wasn't powerful, I was just saying it's the same as on previous Zunes, nothing else xD.... and I still don't see Microsoft making an app store for these types of XNA games. They've always said that XNA for Zune would be for hobbyists, and if they really wanted us to take advantage of the Zune HD's power, they wouldn't be giving us XNA to use (because I think most developers agree that it does impact performance). Again, this is most likely just for hobbyists to just continue making fun little apps for their Zunes.
And frankly, being powerful enough for 2D games isn't saying much :P
now make this a phone!