Although it is a fairly simple game, there is quite a lot going on behind the scenes and also quite a bit that we don't show in the video. The fact that we wrote in C# made it possible to port in a short space of time but we also had to design for that up front. Even with forethought we still had quite a bit of work to do to make it happen although if we do this again it will be quite simple. It was certainly quite a bit more complicated than "fixing up mismatches in the .Net assemblies".
The main point we wanted to get across is to the developer community. That, given the right choice of tools and some up-front planning, it is possible to make apps for at least the iPhone and Zune HD without a lot of additional porting costs.
We talk a little bit more about the port here:
http://zunerama.com/forum/index.php?topic=14559.0
Yes, the screen on the Zune HD is great, oh if only it were bigger :)
Hold on now... the original app was done using MonoTouch - which is the .Net platform for the iPhone. That means that most of the code was already IN .Net before the 'port'.
Zune development is in .Net as well.
That means most of the work is really just fixing up any mismatches in the .Net assemblies.
@Victor Zarza: I got a change to mess with the new Zune HD at Worst Buy yesterday and the screen is really something to behold. I LOVE the iTouch screen, but this has it beat. Well, in color quality that is. The iTouch screen is still bigger. But damn the Zune screen looks almost surreal.
I think that the Zune HD is amazing but I have 1 question, why if the Tegra chip is so powerful, why does it take 15 secs for the calculator app to open. Look at this video, see how the app on the old iPhone 3G launches instantly and look how long does it take to launch on the state of the art (Tegra) in the Zune HD, WTF. @Microsoft, ya got the best device I have seen from ya in years, please don't f*ck it up, please.
@snitch: It doesnt really work like that. The tegra chip is a graphics chip used for rendering video and games. Loading an app from internal storage INTO ram is most likely where the bottleneck is here, NOT the processor/GPU.
This doesn't mean porting apps is easy. That is a simple game. Simple games are extremely easy to port over. Port a complex game and we will be more impressed.
@Christopher Cox: THIS. Not to diminish the accomplishment, but this game looks like it's mostly a bunch of graphics resources controlled by some pretty simple logic.
@ZombieRace: I actually own an HTC Touch HD, and what does XBL and Zune Marketplace have to do with Microsoft Marketplace for Mobile....MS is developing the Zune HD as a gaming/music device, has little to nothing to do with Windows Mobile/Windows Phone maybe you should take a look @ this [pocketnow.com]
Yay, I can't wait. I feel a little guilty spending $200 on a PmP especially when you can get that new Sansa Clip+ so cheap, but it's sooooo pretty! I can't stop thinking about it especially since I broke my my Zune 30 at t he gym. Waaahhhh
@Chroma3000: You're not the only one. You think they would listen to us Mac folk - we asked for Office for Mac and they gave it to us (granted, it wasn't good until 2008-2009), give me my Zune support D:
Sure Mac OS only represents 10% of the computer world, but Microsoft should just have a R+D Mac/Zune team of ten people to port it over to us.
I'd buy one on day one, thanks to the generosity that Microsoft gives certain retail employees. (look up ExpertZone)
@Chroma3000: I've been saying this for forever. I'm running Win7 in Parallels just so I can use my Zune Pass. I've been dying for Microsoft to release Zune on the Mac or for Apple to do streaming (yeah, right...but one can dream).
Then I started thinking that maybe we won't be getting Zune on the Mac due to the DRM using .wmv files... Not sure how much is going on under the hood there. Perhaps it wouldn't be so easy to use a Zune Pass on something other than Microsoft's OS? The earlier PlaysForSure software (Rhapsody, Napster, et. al.) never had a Mac version...
Sure they could probably do it if they really wanted to, just saying that perhaps this is a barrier to that becoming reality. I'd jump on it in a heartbeat if it did, though...
@benztech55amg: Yes, I was under the impression that the Zune software/ecosystem not being ported to OS X wasn't so much an issue with Microsoft being unwilling to develop it so much as it was an issue with Apple making the concessions necessary to play Microsoft's flavor of DRM media on their OS. And I'm sure Apple is just fine with not doing anything that would let Zune interface with OS X.
@inspiredEpic: Here we go again... they're not gonna support Mac until Zune becomes a force to be reckoned with (or until Mac gets waaayyy more than 10% marketshare). Until then, it just doesn't make sense. I have nothing against Macs, it's just that it supports my Left-handed Mouse theorem... 10% of the world is left-handed, but it doesn't make financial sense for Logitech to build a mouse for left-handers.
Lest we all forget that they pared down the Zune team less than a year ago... I'm sure they definitely don't have any bodies to throw at porting it, let alone 10!
@triggerx: Yet, that previous 10% (US only) is FAR more likely to drop tons of cash on a pretty looking PMP, than the average other consumer. I think they would get a larger than expected bump by throwing down a port.
Actually, the 8Mbps requirement on 1080p streaming makes me feel like they are actually giving you something better than the overly compressed crap that most HD streaming uses - so that is good news. And, frankly, 8Mbps might be a steep requirement, but this is finally a significant example of why someone would need a much faster connection.
What I am not clear on is what the difference is between Facebook for Xbox from standard Facebook? Is this just a way of avoiding putting a web browser on the Xbox, or is there some advantage to applications like that?
@OMG! Ponies!: Glad to see I am not the only person left on the internet not praying to the idol that is Facebook. And can I opt out of the Twitter thing as well??
@OMG! Ponies!: I'll never understand why there's so much hate for something you don't ever have to use...or if you DO use it, you can use it as much or as little as you like. Does the word itself inspire some kind of fear? Because the word itself is the only thing you'll ever have forced exposure to. The rest is 99% avoidable, at least as much as any product being advertised anywhere.
It would be like me whining every time I see an ad for tube socks. Sure, I hate tube socks. So I don't wear them. And I let those who enjoy them continue to do so, keeping my destructive elitist attitude to myself.
Clearly, many do use it. Clearly, many do enjoy it. Is it wrong for MS to OFFER a product simply because some people don't want it?
@djthekidd: I'm with you too. I've been hoping Facebook and Twitter die from day one. (and Myspace for that matter but it appears that's already happened)
@OMG! Ponies!: I get it. Ignore the point of what I said, cover it up with humor.
I'm just trying to understand. You don't like Facebook, and I get that...no problem there, your prerogative. I'm not saying it's great, or that it's good for humanity in any way. There's a lot of crap on there. Most of it being pushed to you by people on your own friends list, but that's not the point.
The point is, no one is forcing you into it. Why should it be obliterated when it is obviously so widely used? All that would serve is to take enjoyment away from those who do use it, while not improving the lives of non-users in any way whatsoever. No one wins by removing it, save for the false validation it would give to the elitist 'I hate everything that's popular group'.
@Bongoes: You are right. A place to socialize with friends who you normally would not keep in contact with is a HORRIBLE waste of the internet. Actually, any kind of social internet service should die. I am so fucking PISSED at all the great music I have found using last.fm and pandora. How dare social media make it so that I can find new art I like without leaving the keyboard. It's appalling, really. The internet should ONLY be used for corporate email.
@rodro: Hey now, I think you misunderstand. I wrote that poorly.
I just want to know so I can make a decision. I mean, with Blossom, does anyone know if her nose has gotten even bigger over the years? A big nose may take her down a few notches in this contest.
Um, who was the wise guy who ordered the rack of orange candles? It so clashes with the aesthetics.
Here's hoping Microsoft has something exciting to announce that will not be forgotten a few days later when certain un-named companies release their shtuff.
09/20/09
09/19/09
Although it is a fairly simple game, there is quite a lot going on behind the scenes and also quite a bit that we don't show in the video. The fact that we wrote in C# made it possible to port in a short space of time but we also had to design for that up front. Even with forethought we still had quite a bit of work to do to make it happen although if we do this again it will be quite simple. It was certainly quite a bit more complicated than "fixing up mismatches in the .Net assemblies".
The main point we wanted to get across is to the developer community. That, given the right choice of tools and some up-front planning, it is possible to make apps for at least the iPhone and Zune HD without a lot of additional porting costs.
We talk a little bit more about the port here:
http://zunerama.com/forum/index.php?topic=14559.0
Yes, the screen on the Zune HD is great, oh if only it were bigger :)
09/19/09
Zune development is in .Net as well.
That means most of the work is really just fixing up any mismatches in the .Net assemblies.
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
Now shoo, don't you have 75,000 amazing apps to play with or something?
09/19/09
09/19/09
(Wait how did I approve this comment? O_O)
09/19/09
If you are familiar with the direction Microsoft is clearly taking their platforms, you'd see they are going platform INTEGRATION.
Why the hell do you think they've been moving towards single sign on for Zune, XBL, Hotmail, etc for years?
To think Microsoft would have three entirely independent Marketplace environments is daft.
09/03/09
09/03/09
Honestly, I would buy a Zune HD in a heartbeat if they had Mac support.
09/03/09
Sure Mac OS only represents 10% of the computer world, but Microsoft should just have a R+D Mac/Zune team of ten people to port it over to us.
I'd buy one on day one, thanks to the generosity that Microsoft gives certain retail employees. (look up ExpertZone)
09/03/09
Then I started thinking that maybe we won't be getting Zune on the Mac due to the DRM using .wmv files... Not sure how much is going on under the hood there. Perhaps it wouldn't be so easy to use a Zune Pass on something other than Microsoft's OS? The earlier PlaysForSure software (Rhapsody, Napster, et. al.) never had a Mac version...
Sure they could probably do it if they really wanted to, just saying that perhaps this is a barrier to that becoming reality. I'd jump on it in a heartbeat if it did, though...
09/03/09
09/03/09
Lest we all forget that they pared down the Zune team less than a year ago... I'm sure they definitely don't have any bodies to throw at porting it, let alone 10!
09/04/09
06/01/09
06/01/09
What I am not clear on is what the difference is between Facebook for Xbox from standard Facebook? Is this just a way of avoiding putting a web browser on the Xbox, or is there some advantage to applications like that?
06/01/09
06/01/09
06/01/09
06/01/09
06/01/09
It would be like me whining every time I see an ad for tube socks. Sure, I hate tube socks. So I don't wear them. And I let those who enjoy them continue to do so, keeping my destructive elitist attitude to myself.
Clearly, many do use it. Clearly, many do enjoy it. Is it wrong for MS to OFFER a product simply because some people don't want it?
06/01/09
"I Want To Bang Stephanie Tanner" and "I Want To Bang Blossom".
As you can see, Marc Zuckerberg has much to be proud of.
06/01/09
06/01/09
06/01/09
I'm just trying to understand. You don't like Facebook, and I get that...no problem there, your prerogative. I'm not saying it's great, or that it's good for humanity in any way. There's a lot of crap on there. Most of it being pushed to you by people on your own friends list, but that's not the point.
The point is, no one is forcing you into it. Why should it be obliterated when it is obviously so widely used? All that would serve is to take enjoyment away from those who do use it, while not improving the lives of non-users in any way whatsoever. No one wins by removing it, save for the false validation it would give to the elitist 'I hate everything that's popular group'.
06/01/09
06/01/09
06/01/09
06/01/09
I just want to know so I can make a decision. I mean, with Blossom, does anyone know if her nose has gotten even bigger over the years? A big nose may take her down a few notches in this contest.
06/01/09
06/01/09
06/01/09
Here's hoping Microsoft has something exciting to announce that will not be forgotten a few days later when certain un-named companies release their shtuff.