While the Microsoft Zune is a great music and video player, Microsoft isn't content to rest on the success of its flagship music device. The computer industry giant is hoping to compete with Sony and Nintendo for a share of the mobile gaming market by introducing new games for the Microsoft Zune.

The new software will be written in the XNA programing environment and will be extended to a newer version of XNA Studio. The first game that Microsoft presented at the Game Developer Conference in San Franscico was Zauri. Zauri can be played in multi-player mode by using the Microsoft Zune's wireless capabilities. Zauri players won't be stuck with canned video game music. Any song that is on the Microsoft Zune can be used as a soundtrack for the game.

Microsoft also hopes to offer portable versions of games that are successful on their extremely popular Xbox gaming console and to add the Zune functionality to the Xbox Live experience.

Apple's iPod has limited gaming capability with simple, old style games like Solitaire that come preloaded on the iPod, but Archos' Gmini devices have been capable of playing Morphun games for many years. Additional gaming capabilities on the Microsoft Zune would position it as a strong option for people looking for a complete portable entertainment device.