Zune speculation is an armchair sport here in the tech sector of the Pacific Northwest (especially when we're all housebound because of a few inches of snow), and today Todd Bishop at TechFlash posted some interesting excerpts from the Zune team's job listings. Based on his post, it looks like the Zune Marketplace will begin to use the back-end from Musiwave, the European provider of music for mobile phones that Microsoft acquired a little more than a year ago--and if that doesn't point to a Zune service for mobile phones, nothing does--and will continue to feature DRM (couched in ever-so-reassuring phrases like "to let consumers enjoy music in new and interesting ways").

But here's something else: Zune is coming to Xbox. There's a job listing for a user experience designer to work on the Zune Device UI, Zune PC Client and--hang on a second--Zune Xbox.

Zune Xbox? Of course. Both Xbox Live and the Zune Marketplace use Microsoft's own pseudo-currency, Microsoft Points. Xbox Live already lets you download video content and stream movies-on-demand from Netflix (if you're a subscriber). You can plug any MP3 player into the Xbox 360 and listen to a mix of your music as you play. So why not take all these pieces to their logical conclusion and let you access the Zune Marketplace from Xbox Live.?Integration would be particularly useful for Zune Pass subscribers, giving them another device on which to use their unlimited monthly listens.

News-Source: http://www.cnet.com

David Edery, worldwide games portfolio planner for Xbox Live Arcade, has been giving out some advice to developers hoping to sell more titles based on their game demos offered over online networks such as Xbox Live and PSN.
In a recent blog post titled ‘How to Increase Trial, Improve Conversion Rate, and Sell More Games’, Edery writes, “I believe that many developers and publishers are making mistakes — on many platforms, not just XBLA — which if corrected could improve the sales of their games.” While he acknowledges that some of his advice sounds obvious, he notes that “it’s surprising how many developers don’t think about their game’s trial experience until the very last minute of the development process.”

Edery begins by stressing the value of PR and building a buzz around a game. “Having a free trial does not exempt a downloadable game from taking advantage of PR; not even in XBLA, where every game gets downloaded by a large number of people.” Lots more people could still be persuaded to download demos, he says, and secondly, “conversion rates are influenced by anticipation”.

He goes on to say that “a downloadable game’s trial is everything! If someone doesn’t enjoy your trial, then they probably won’t buy your game. It doesn’t matter if you licensed the three greatest IP of all time and fused them into the holy trinity of game design itself. If the trial stinks, most people won’t bother to lift the curtain on the full experience.”

Edery lists a number of what he views as common mistakes made by developers, including frustrating gamers with overly-difficult demos that don’t feature tutorials, demos that are too short or too long, and demos that don’t grab the attention of gamers within the first three minutes, as well as advice for countering such hiccups.

He concludes, “A downloadable game portal, be it XBLA, PSN Store, or anything else, is not simply an opportunity to sell the same gameplay with reduced scope (or polish) at reduced prices. You need to be offering something different — something that fills a specific need that $60 retail games generally do not. Otherwise, what’s the point.”

News-Source: Next-Gen

Toshiba working with Microsoft on multi-media hub Smarthouse, an Austrailian technology site, has reported that Microsoft is working on a new Xbox 360 console that will include a built-in HD DVD drive.

Microsoft currently sells an HD DVD player as an attachment for the Xbox 360, but it has not revealed sales figures for the peripheral. According to the article the new Xbox console will be positioned as an entertainment hub that includes gaming and extensive wireless networking capability as well as 1080p playback. There is also talk of including a dual HD TV tuner and EPG capability and a docking port for an MP3 player.

Toshiba owns the HD DVD patents, and recently entered into an agreement with Sony to jointly manufacture cell processing chips, despite the fact that Sony is the lead backer of the Blu-ray Disc format competing with HD DVD.

A senior Toshiba executive in Singapore told SmartHouse "An Xbox with a built in HD DVD drive is critical. They and we are working on it. It also has to be more than a gaming machine. Microsoft recognise [sic] this. A version of the device may also be sold under the Toshiba brand name."

"The PS3 has been extremely successful for Sony in getting Blu-ray off the ground and for Microsoft, the omission of a built in HD DVD player is set to hurt sales going forward as consumers are aware that the PS3 comes with a Blu-ray player," said Scott Browning, the marketing director of Australian electronics retailer JB HiFi.

According to the article, the new console will be released late in 2008 or at the January 2009 CES show in Las Vegas.

News-Source: GamesIndustry