Windows Phone 7 Gaming and Xbox Live

Engadget is running a preview of Microsoft's attempt to bring Xbox Live to upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices. Launch titles will include Guitar Hero, Castlevania, and Halo: Waypoint, and many of the features from the console version of Xbox Live will make the transition intact. Quoting: "Live on WP7 will allow for full avatar integration (we're talking fully rendered, interactive avatars) along with customization (clothes, accessories, and more). The company has even crafted an avatar-centric version of familiar phone utilities like flashlight apps and levels, adding some whimsy to what would normally be pretty staid affairs. Additionally, messaging, friend lists / status, achievements, and leaderboards (with friend comparisons) are all here as well, making for a pretty complete mobile Xbox Live experience. And also just like the console, every game will have a try-before-you buy demo to check out before spending your hard-earned cash."

Profit

[Danieljury3]

So they've taken avatars which serve hardly any purpose, created large numbers of useless items for these useless avatars, charges money for these useless items and then integrated them into applications and platforms where they will continue to serve no purpose. In summery they are going to succeed in charging money for what is effectively nothing. Not surprising from any company these days.

WP7 Connect Program

[giuseppemag]

I have received a WP7 prototype device, being an XNA professional developer.

I have to admit I have always considered games on phones *much* beneath any interest from a self respecting developer.

The experience of developing for this platform though has completely changed my mind: it is powerful (I mean REALLY powerful, the kind of 3D scenes one does not expect to see on the phone) the dev tools are very good, the compatibility between Windows, XBox 360 and WP7 is exactly as compatibility should be. The standard phone functions work out of the box (the facebook/gmail contacts integration is pretty neat) and in general the experience feels pleasantly iPhonesque.

After seeing and testing the actual device I have quadrupled my company's development efforts for WP7: it might be a force to be reckoned with.

Maybe nobody cares, but here (http://cid-24c55844373f9e74.office.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public) are two videos of two of my games in action; the sudoku is unimpressive, but the 3D space battle is a completely different matter :)

Re:Profit

[Anonymous Coward]

Something has value if people are willing to pay for it. People are obviously buying into it. Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure if you created something that others considered dumb you wouldn't care and still market it if it was making you a few million dollars a year...

Re:WP7 Connect Program

[Wizard Drongo]

Yes, but iPhone is the big elephant in the room Microsoft are trying not to talk about.
I know for fact they've been offering "inducements" to major iPhone game-devs to come and make a similar game or an outright port for WP7, and just paying them upfront.

Microsoft can do that, because they want the games and don't mind taking the financial hit. But in the long-term, it's not a good strategy.
iPhone is very similar to the WP7 (naturally; MS are trying very hard to copy it after all), but in addition to an easy-to-use SDK (that costs only $99 to put actual paid-games on, free otherwise), respectable graphics (particularly on the iPhone4, that thing is amazingly powerful for a handheld device!), it also has one thing the WP7 doesn't, and if past experiences hold true probably will never have: millions of sold devices.
On the other hand, there are coming close to 500,000 released apps for the iPhone, a literally staggering amount of apps. Probably more apps than exist for Windows, although that's just speculation. Now, a lot of those apps are crapware, like fart-apps and light-apps. But there are a lot of very good titles in there, so making your mark can be hard.
But if you hit it big, you're in there. No such thing exists on WP7 yet since it's not even shipped. So where's the inducement to go WP7 instead of iPhone? Aside from Microsoft bribing you with a large wad of upfront?

Re:History repeats itself

[cptdondo]

You have obviously never used the TRS Model 100.

One day laptops may again aspire to 6 weeks runtime (yes, that's 6 weeks!) on a single set of AA batteries.

That was perfection in its day.

One day we'll have little hand held thingies that just.. make.. phone calls.