Even asWindows 8andspecial treatshave taken center stage over the past several press cycles, the Windows Phone team continues to plug along, releasing news of the forthcoming mobile operating system update at a leisurely pace.
Today at Gamescom in Germany,Microsoft outlinedfour new features that will come in Mango, and detailed 14 LIVE games that are forthcoming as well. Previously, we had written a post entitled “All the coming WP7 Games Hub updates detailed,” in which we thought that we had covered all the games-related Mango news. We were simply wrong.
From the company’s blog post on the matter, here are the four upcoming features:
We are not going to give you a description of each of the new games that Microsoft promised today, you can read about themhere, but we will tell you their names:Beards & Beaks: Cave Area; Bug Village; Burn the Rope; Chickens Can’t Fly; Collapse!; Gravity Guy; Farm Frenzy 2; Fight Game Rivals; IonballEX; Kinectimals Mobile; Mush; Orbital; TextTwist 2; Toy Soldiers Boot Camp.
We don’t cover every new Mango revelation, as some are too small to warrant a full post, but as these games are LIVE integrated, they matter more. Why? Because a core demographic of people who Microsoft is hoping to convert to Windows Phone are Xbox 360 owners. This means that changes that tie Windows Phone and Xbox, usually via the LIVE conduit, are doubly important, as they not only improve the mobile line, they also add to its commercial viability.
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Heading into the crucial holiday sales cycle, it is important to consider not simply the quality, or lack thereof (viewpoint depending), of Windows Phone, but also its chances for selling enough units to earn a seat at the ‘big boys’ mobile table, as the true measure of its success.
Final fact: According to Microsoft PR, some 70% of Windows Phone 7 handset owners have downloaded a LIVE game, showing how cross pollinated the two groups are.
Story byAlex Wilhelm
Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex on Twitter, and on Facebook. You can reach Alex via email at alex@thenextweb(show all)Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex onTwitter,and onFacebook.You can reach Alex via email atalex@thenextweb.com
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