Comments on: Zune Games and Rebooting Devices

By: mira bingo

mira bingo — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:31:25 +0000

nice blog, i really like it.

By: Logan

Logan — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:11:22 +0000

For what annoys me most about the reboots: First of all, when developing an app and the Zune restarts, my computer sees it as it being removed. When it starts back up, the Zune software opens up. It is a bit annoying to see this every time I test my app. Second, like Marshall, I developed a flashlight application and I find it very annoying to load up this little app and have to wait for a restart every time I want to get back to what I was doing. Third, I believe a lot of people see it as making their app look not clean or professional. The app seems messy and incomplete having to restart after using it. Finally, when people download your app they blame you for the restart and demand a fix. It gets old to explain to them that it is Microsoft's fault, not yours.

Please remove the restart after exiting homebrew apps!

By: Marshall W

Marshall W — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:12:10 +0000

I think that is this going to be one of the reasons why the Zune HD will not have the developer community of the iPod Touch. One of the reasons the Apple App Store is so damn popular is the stupid little apps. I just programmed a stupid little flashlight app for my Zune. Do you know how much it sucks to reboot everytime I want to quickly load up this app for a second and be done with it? Too much.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:38:43 +0000

In response to the question, "What annoys you most about the Zune reboots," for me it is the fact that it registers on my computer as the removal and subsequent adding of new hardware - which also causes the Zune application to launch on my desktop.

When developing in Visual Studio (with XNA 3.1 + Zune HD extensions), I prefer to have my Zune HD displaying the menu so I can easily test my apps. With the Zune software running, I cannot do that as the screen displays a "Connected" message, so I have to go through the hassle of having to close it each time (in addition to the extra time delay as the Zune reboots).

Given that this is on the HD, how possible would it be for the firmware to simply re-enable the features that it disabled when launching the app, rather than resort to a complete reboot?

By: RSA13

RSA13 — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:42:43 +0000

I think that MS should make a marketplace for the XNA games fot the zune, so now they will not restart… like the indie games marketplace for the xbox 360….

By: George Birbilis

George Birbilis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:53:04 +0000

Regarding the rebooting after unsigned games exiting, it's very annoying - it should somehow add some startup link at the machine to go to games page again after reboot and reselect the game that just exited.

That way apart from the reboot delay and the music playback stopping it would behave same as the official games.

In face it could also put some startup code to resume radio or song playback from where it was (same radio station or same song from same point in time).

That way only the reboot delay would be there (which could be speeded up if Zune could store its memory state [including registers if any] right after a reboot so that it can quickly revert to it). That of course depends on the machine's design (including its security / memory protection architecture).

By: George Birbilis

George Birbilis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:45:09 +0000

> If the device reboots as soon as you run the game, it sounds like the game is crashing, the game

>encounters and error and then quits which causes the device to reboot. You should try to see if

>there is a new version of the game or contact the author of the game to see if he can help you fix the

>issue.

Actually ALL games built with earlier XNA versions just reboot when you launch them if you have updated Zune with latest XNA.This also looks quite bad, but since XNA has been in development and those games not being official third-party products, it's understandable (although end-users who found those games on the web and liked them just hate Zune for breaking their games). To fix you have to find latest version of game compiled with newest XNA Studio (3.1), or find its source code and re-compile it yourself

By: Michael Klucher

Michael Klucher — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:25:59 +0000

Layne: If the device reboots as soon as you run the game, it sounds like the game is crashing, the game encounters and error and then quits which causes the device to reboot. You should try to see if there is a new version of the game or contact the author of the game to see if he can help you fix the issue.

By: Layne

Layne — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:31:35 +0000

I have question, and I’m not sure it pertains to this article, but, How come my Zune turns off when ever I try to play ZuneHero v.1 on my Zune?

By: Dav_i

Dav_i — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:53:43 +0000

I agree with HUKI365.

The interruption of music is inexcusable for a music player.

"...we still think it’s important that the developer experience remain separate from consumer experiences, like the inbox games included with the Zune."

This is a crazy way to think about things. If Microsoft really believed in this attitude, then Windows would be a waste of time! The whole beauty of electronics is that you can change it to conform to your needs. One should not have to change for the device.

Microsoft are not losing out on revenue by letting other developers create games. If anything, it would attract people to the device.

Pointless ideals = bad business plan.