The initial release of the new Zune HD included 8 free games. Zune have since released another six free 3D games for the HD - making it even more inviting to get the Zune HD.

The games include - 1) PGR: Ferrari Edition, 2) Lucky Lane Bowling, 3) Vans Sk8: Pool Service, 4) Piano, 5)Checkers and 6)Audiosurf: Tilt.

Again, not all of these games are all that interesting. But we liked PGR: Ferrari Edition. Take at look at this demo to see why! And then get the Zune HD added to the Christmas list of whoever is gonna buy you something real special for Christmas!

The Wowzune team reckon that this game is a big step up from checkers, Sudoku, etc.

A bit different, but one we also liked was the Piano game App for Zune:

FYI, accoording to one user ( davidgobl):

the colors are to indicate each octave in the key of C , those 2 circles are a representation of the pedals you would find on a real piano, the sustain pedals, i just got my zune today, ITS WICKED !!!

If you are interested to know a bit more about these free games before you download them (or decide to buy the new Zune HD in order to get them!) Mydigitallife have done a nice review of all six new games.

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The Zune HD has only been released a week and already a game developer has demoed a new game for it! The smart guys over at Foundation42 used a game they are already developing for the iPhone and developed a Zune HD App version. It looks pretty cool - check out the video they made. Be patient they show it on several platforms - Zune HD is the second one!

Now the problem is that Microsoft apparently have not set up a way for game developers to make their games available on the Zune HD. So getting this game is not gonna be so easy!

We can see it works fine on the Zune HD- and looks to be a way better game than the ones we reviewed in our last post. And we don’t have to watch an ad before we play it!

It will be interesting to see how game developers work their way around the current limitation. These are a very ingenious bunch of people and we are betting that they will work out a way to develop  games for the Zune HD - and for us to be able to download  them!!

This is a great start fellas - bring it on!

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Well, readers of this blog know that we are not tech geeks but just Zune lovers that spend our time finding quality free Zune downloads - Muisc, Movies, TV Shows, eBooks, and games, for our readers. So, when we take a look at the new Zune HD, we are really only interested in it as a user - and not a tech geek. There are plently of tech reviews out there on the web, anyway!

As a user, three things in particular capture our interest, now that the Zune HD has been released (other than the features already discussed in a previous post).

First - we love the cool colors! The pic says it all!

Second - We love that free games that have been included. The 8 free games are: Chess,  Goo Splat, Hexic, Sudoku, Space Battle 3, Shell Game, Of the Future, and Texas Hold ‘Em. You can have a look at some of them in the following Video. They are not that exciting, to be honest. Nothing like the free games that were released for theiPhone last Septemebr, that’s for sure:

Third observation - we don’t like the ads that we have to watch while the game loads. Its not that they are a big pain. Its just that we don’t like being taken advantage of. It kind of feels like the free game are just bait being used by advertisers. Much as we object to the aggressive way Apple operates, at least their free games (and there are hundreds of them) don’t have ads!!

Finally, we reckon the price is great. We get a lot for our money, and the promise is that there are a lot of great Zune apps to come. We will keep you posted.

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Although Wowzune has previewed Zune games, our specialty is exploring all the ways we can get and watch free Zune movies, free Zune TV shows and free Zune music. All the same, we are all keen about Zune games as well - especially free ones!

There are sites that specialize in providing Zune games (see below). Before we refer you to them, however, some background info will help. First up, you need to be aware of what is involved in downloading games to Zune. Its fairly straight forward, but its not something everyone will want to try.

Go to one of the sites (see list below) that have a list of Zune games (most a free but some are not, so do check). Download the game you want to your computer. Then its just three easy steps to play the game:

1) connect your Zune to your computer. Log into your Zune software and

2) select “Settings”,  then “Device”, then “Device Update”

3) Click on “Install Games” and select the games you have downloaded.

Once the installation is complete you will be able to play the games you downloaded for your Zune.

You can find a stack of free Zune games already organized and ready to download from Zuneclan otherwise, you can browse through bigger sites like Zune Rama and Zune Boards.

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Join the Zune people around the world - Just for the fun of it! Put it out there….. All you need is a fun icon and a moment or two and you’re on!

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Still doing Christmas shopping? Caught at home in the snow storms and can’t get your last minute Christmas shopping done?

Well, WowZune can help - because we have gone and got ourselves a store! Yep, just click on the top tab that says “WowZune Store” or just click the image below and you can quickly order yourself a Black Zune - or any other sort for that matter! (And then just do what I am doing - give them a printed out picture of the Zune inside a great card. That’s still a way better gift than you will now get from the local store!)

And - as you can see - we have some great buys, including Zune Accessories.

So, Merry Merry Christmas from us at WowZune!

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You can get Zune games easily, and even for free. You just have to know how!

Is it just us, or do the folks over at Microsoft not have a clue about how to set up a marketplace? Well yes, we think they do (after all, its hard to not know about iTunes!) So there has to be some other explanation for their appallingly badly designed marketplace. And we think we've rumbled it.

They seem to be following the "I'm a doofus" marketing strategy (where the slick operator pretends to be a bumbling, likable clod - the opposite the the kind of pushy salesman we all despise (eg how Apple has behaved in 2008) - but IS in reality the shark we all despise) - otherwise known as "the hustler" maneuver.

How else to explain how a leading internet company could provide such a shamefully poor online marketplace!  

And its not just the Zune marketplace! Microsoft came up with the great idea to provide a Community Game platform so that developers can get their games tested, reviewed and in front of Xbox (and to a lesses extent) Zune gamers faster and more cheaply. But….

Whilst the Community Game site no doubt is easy for game developers to follow, the same cannot be said for the average Zuner who might be interested in getting a game. Explanations like:

To download a Community Game, navigate to the Games Marketplace channel and enter the Xbox Live Marketplace. Once inside the Marketplace, navigate to the Community Games channel, and select your preferred method for browsing available titles.

Notice they do not provide any links for us to make it easy to get there! And then there the instruction they provide so that we can start programming games for our Zune, which they start with an encouraging:

All you need is the XNA Game Studio 3.0 CTP and any model of the Zune media device

And follow with Three pages of instructions!! All of this is a ploy to show us that we can have games, to get us to the game marketplace and to buy buy BUY,  - because the alternative look so forbidding.

Well, we can do better - as Wowzune has written about elsewhere! But if you would like to try getting some free games for yourself, here is a great video tutorial on how to go about it:

And the follow up tutorial is also worth watching:

If you decide to have a go at this method, do let us all know how you go with it. 

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There is a lot of hype right now about the latest Xbox game Gears of War 2. And, because Zune is a member of the Microsoft family of gizmos, its been roped into the fan fare. With the release of Gears of War 2, a special-edition Zune 120 has been released which comes  laser-etched with the "Crimson Omen" and comes with the soundtrack, concept art, etc.

The hype around the Xbox game has fermented a variety of interesting giveaways - perhaps the best of which is the one on offer from Paul Thurrott from Supersite.

 Paul is offering this Special Edition Zune as a prize:

"To win, you'll need to compete with or against me in a Gears of War 2 multiplayer match online (My Gamertag is Paul Thurrott)"

So if you fancy yourself as a player - this may be your lucky day. If you are quick, you will have a 1/50 chance of winning this great prize. To find out the details of the contest, just visit Supersite. 

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