Getting started - here are some initial concepts for you to react to

Could u put some classic arcade games that you could put on the Zune that only used the center buttons? That would be cool. I don't know what u would need to do to pull it off, but they might be worth a try.

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Alex Morrow

 Mr Weather B wrote:

Throwing out another idea, how about some kind of listening challenge, partly to introduce Zune listeners to new music? Like listen to 10 pieces of world music, classical, jazz, etc. in the next week. Minimal integration with the Zune software could enable tracking, like add your challenge songs to a playlist with some defined title like "Challenge1" and your profile could have a separate tracking list for the challenge by simply monitoring what was played from that playlist and whether it fits the requirement of the challenge.

Definitely love this idea!  Finding new music can be a difficult thing and this would be a fun way to do that.  Maybe get some MS points for completing the challenge.  The number of songs might have to be tweaked for non-zune pass members, but maybe getting points would offset that?  I suppose the challenge could have a recommended playlist or 2 maybe as well.  Afterword, the list you used to complete the challenge could be available on your card or something for others to browse through.  I'm kind of thinking Pandora here even though this is more about buying music.

 Mr Weather B wrote:

I feel like there is an element still needed to make this really viral, and it's right on the tip of my tongue, but it hasn't hit me yet and I wanted to throw the idea out to the group.

As for the viral piece, a couple of ideas to throw out there.  I know we can get music from other people's zunes if we are in physical proximity, but what if we could get a song from someone through the site?  I see this scenario: We're looking for world music for the challenge, so I start browsing through the genre/artists and see that a user is the top listener of Shamus-Ud-Doha Bader-Ud-Doja.  I send a message to them and I'm able to get their "favorite" song that matches the challenge(obviously making something complicated simple :) ).  Maybe it will only play a few times, but at least I can hear the music and complete the challenge.  I've heard new music AND made contact with someone who could potentially become a friend.  Maybe that person supplying the song gets some kind of credit for challenge assistance.

Another idea for viral could be "group" challenges.  Same idea with lists of songs, but maybe you get 5 songs and a friend gets 5 songs.  You both get credit for completing the challenge, but the burden of getting the songs is less.  I've gotten most of my XBox live friends by playing the same game so maybe you could see others who are involved in a certain challenge and befriend them.

Mike

 Chris Vogters wrote:

As you know we can name our zune.  Why not be able to create a character that represents are zune in the zune software.  This would add a rpg game element to zune.  You could be able to level up, upgrade armor/weapons, and be able to battle friends who have a zune.  Another idea could be that the more music you have on your zune the higher level you could become.  Or you could attach armor or weapons to the music that is downloaded.  You could have armor sets kinda like World of Warcraft.  Again just throwing ideas out there.  Basically I would like to see some kind of RPG element in zune :)

 

i like this a lot.  check my post in the Update for Feb 25th chain.

Quest rewards FTW! Woot! and by the way your suggestions pwns~!

this is a good idea

 Chris Vogters wrote:

As you know we can name our zune.  Why not be able to create a character that represents are zune in the zune software.  This would add a rpg game element to zune.  You could be able to level up, upgrade armor/weapons, and be able to battle friends who have a zune.  Another idea could be that the more music you have on your zune the higher level you could become.  Or you could attach armor or weapons to the music that is downloaded.  You could have armor sets kinda like World of Warcraft.  Again just throwing ideas out there.  Basically I would like to see some kind of RPG element in zune :)

 

I like the idea of a Zune powered by steam.

As you know we can name our zune.  Why not be able to create a character that represents are zune in the zune software.  This would add a rpg game element to zune.  You could be able to level up, upgrade armor/weapons, and be able to battle friends who have a zune.  Another idea could be that the more music you have on your zune the higher level you could become.  Or you could attach armor or weapons to the music that is downloaded.  You could have armor sets kinda like World of Warcraft.  Again just throwing ideas out there.  Basically I would like to see some kind of RPG element in zune :)

Pacman would be nice. you only need a direction pad and the zune is able to do that. Maybe look into more games that the xbox live marketplace has to integrate the 2 systems..simple things that need a d-pad and one button (the center of the d-pad)

 

The trivia is cool and I like things that are viral.

 glitch177k wrote:

How bout a "rate this song" game. You must have access to what songs we do and don't have, right? If so, you could put up a random song that is NOT in our library based on similar songs we rated highly. Then have us rate them randomly and show us what other people rated that song. This gives us exposure to possible new music we'd like and increases the chance that a lesser known band becomes known. Now if you'd just switch to a normal currency for the zune store I might actually buy something from there....

I like this idea.  Assuming, of course, that suggestions could be generated accurately based on play lists.  I know that there are web-radio stations that allow you to put in your favorites and it will guess other things that might interest you, so it should be doable. 

This isn't as social as some of the other ideas, except for the access to what other people rated the song clip.  But it may be a more achievable goal than some of the other ideas, too, and one that may have a tangible impact on our own music catalogs and perhaps even the Zune store's bottom line.  Hmmm...  a win/win?

How about a "Remix" game? For example, a song is cut randomly into five clips of several short seconds and placed in out of order. (Possibly even played backwards.) It's up to the user to figure out what that song is.

How bout a "rate this song" game. You must have access to what songs we do and don't have, right? If so, you could put up a random song that is NOT in our library based on similar songs we rated highly. Then have us rate them randomly and show us what other people rated that song. This gives us exposure to possible new music we'd like and increases the chance that a lesser known band becomes known. Now if you'd just switch to a normal currency for the zune store I might actually buy something from there....

Certainly, it could be taken as far as those adorable little pocket creatures. But I kind of conceive of it as a way of generating some more socializing/sharing of music.  And of course, it would be totally contingent upon how much "back ground" resources were available, etc.

The whole idea, I guess, though would be to pick your favorite song for the month.  Since the "genetically enhanced" songs would be completely random, you would have just a good a chance of picking one of the uber-pets as anyone else.

So, say I am a HUGE Hanson fan...just can't get enough of the MMM-Bop song. (Trust me, this is a hypothetical) and say, you are a huge Crash Test Dummies fan, and you love that MMMMMmmmmMMMM thing they do.

Now. Somewhere in the background, the "game gods" have decided for the month of MMMMay, these Pet Sounds (could have gone with the Beach Boys for this as well, I guess) will be the genetically enhanced songs that produce a superb union.

You and I happen to decide to share our "pets."  We WIN! Our prize? An exclusive pet icon that we can put on our Zunetags (XBox Live as well).  You get to keep that tag forever.

If you wanted to, you could extend the "mating" a bit more, vis a vis the scavenger hunt scenario...our MMMM-Bop/ MMMmmmMMM union produced a new "pet" for each of us.  It's not really a song anymore...but, I find some else to share with...a big Cyndi Lauper fan...my MMM-Bop+yourMMMMMmmmm+her She-Bop now produces a super-huge-wonderfully brash even cooler than before super-breed MMMM-Bop-mmmMMM-SheBop pet icon.

Which is also why you don't want people changing their pet songs too often during the 28 day cycle.  Once word gets out that a couple of these combinations "unlocks" your forum "icon," "coin," "badge" or whatever, you don't want everyone to be able claim best of breed for that month.

Also: the behind the scenes breeding officials, asthey are known, could "tip" the potential pet owners off as to "themes" they are looking for if they wanted to narrow the "gene" pool a bit. October: Halloween...Cranberries--Zombie+Eels--My Beloved Monster+Monster Magnet--Spacelord+etc. etc.=that month's unlockable superpet breeders' award. Each person can only start with one pet, so they would be forced to network a bit to find another person whose pet might fit the right formula.

So...uh, yeah...it's like Tamagotchi. 

 

 

What happened to the idea of giving out a free dowload as a gift?  Did that get boo's and hisses?

 

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There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another. Frank Zappa