With the release of Zune HD this week the promotional videos have started to appear and the one included above has a very telling piece of footage included of a game running on the device. That game is a racing title thought to be a port of the forthcoming Forza 3 on Xbox 360.

The footage included in the video is very small and grainy, but it does look to be from the well-respected Forza series. If it is then it shows Microsoft’s intent to push Zune HD as a serious gaming platform alongside the more standard media player it is expected to be. With Forza looking likely to appear now what other game IP does Microsoft have on the cards for the portable device?

As the following video shows, Microsoft already has Xbox 360 and Zune HD integration working and Microsoft Points will also be available to use on the device:

Read more at Gizmodo and Neowin

Matthew’s Opinion

Talk of games on the Zune HD has me wondering whether Microsoft has just decided to take on the iPhone with Zune, but just not yet. Zune HD isn’t a phone, but it is a media player and clearly a device Microsoft is going to push as a place to play games. Once it has the media and games marketplace established is it really a giant leap to think that Zune Phone will appear?

In a lot of ways that makes sense to me. The iPhone is leading the market right now and anyone trying to take it on has a big chance of failure regardless of who it is. But if you can establish a device on the media side of things first and get a real buzz behind it; then upgrading it to be a phone with a future model release could be a lot more successful.

What do you think? Is Zune HD just the start of Microsoft’s eventual move to produce a true iPhone competitor? Or is the company intent on keeping Zune separate from the mobile phone sector?