Games! Games! Games!

The inevitable next step was hinted at yesterday, as Gamasutra summarizes well. The iPod is now offering casual games, and more than a few of those titles will look familiar to Xbox Live Arcade afficionados: Pac-Man, Bejeweled, Zune, and Texas Hold ‘Em. While it’s not a competitor on the true handheld gaming arena dominated by the Nintendo DS, this sort of casual gaming is where a lot of indistry attention is being focused. Assuming the hardware’s capable enough, I can’t imagine the Boys From Redmond not leveraging their Arcade assets onto the Zune. I think it’s only a matter of time before the Zune becomes a portable extension of your Xbox 360, allowing you to buy and play Arcade games with a completely integrated Gamertag.