"Games On Demand For Windows" Launches

If you missed last week's post re: announcement of Microsoft's "Games On Demand For Windows", then you missed finding out that Microsoft has entered the 21st century in style by officially creating a premiere digital distribution service.

Yesterday's launch of Games on Demand will now, not only, make the connection between PC game and player that much more expedient, but, will provide massive competition for Valve's "Steam" service, as the independent distributor has been the only one to service PC games digitally so far.

If you happen to find yourself using the service here on out, be careful that it is new, and as with all new software, its just past the beta stage and may have some glitches and unwanted bugs. Use the following link for assistance if need be.

Getting Hopeful About Zune

Here's something you rarely hear us (or anyone else) mention, Zune. Well, we're going to break that dry spell now and tell you that we've come upon an article via Ars Technica that actually calls the new batch of Zune HD games for the beleaguered MP3 player(/gaming handheld?) "fun". Fancy that.

According to the piece, the fun is actually an important aspect of the new 3D/HD products as the previous set of games boasted painfully slow loading times, simple 2D graphics, and a lacking in captivating plot-points/action. 

The more state-of-the-art concepts load a lot quicker (thanks to a firmware update), have sensually pleasing graphics (and we mean that in the way that they appeal to your senses), and actually have some "replay value".

In reviewing the newest releases, Ars actually called Checkers for Zune "beautiful", citing that its outdoor setting and simplicity made it surprisingly captivating, and even went so far as to pay the "Wii compliment" to Lucky Lanes Bowling, comparing the mobile app to the visual experience of playing on the console.

We really are hoping in our heart of hearts that this isn't the last we'll be mentioning of Zune gaming for a while. With iPhone/iPod Touch carving a new nieche for casual gamers in the market, if Microsoft really steps up the content of their gaming products they could genuinely reap the benefits of what Apple started.

The Geek Cheer Heard Round the World

Yes, yes, nerds all over the world are rejoicing as it seems a team at Carnegie Mellon University has developed a simulation for the Microsoft Surface, called "Surfaces", which put the infamously freaky and geeky Dungeons & Dragons into the aparatus to test the team's theory that table-top games can indeed be transliterated for the device.

Anyway, that's pretty cool considering D&D hasn't had an update, since, oh, the medieval era, and also quite cool because it was all done as a class project. Remember the time you brought the thing with the styrofoam and the metal poles into class and called it a "solar system"? This is way better.

And now for took geek out on the demo demo footage

Full article via Microsoft Surface Blog