Zune HD 3D Gaming capabilities show up in Promo Video

The Zune HD launches tomorrow to what should be a great reception. According to early previews and information on the internals for the new Microsoft Media Player the Zune HD is looking pretty formidable.

The question is; will it be able to make a dent in the iPod/iPod Touch's massive market share? Well, MS is facing two problems; the first is the most important. MS has almost no idea how to market the Zune HD. Their marketing department is terrible. When you compare them to the highly polished Apple team it is almost comical. The second problem is one that is easier to tackle.

To compete at all the Zune HD must, hands down, outperform the iPod Touch. I am not talking about simple video playback; I am talking about in all respects. So far the Zune has probably the most powerful SoC out, the nVidia Tegra. This gives the Zune HD an advantage over the touch in terms of RAW CPU and GPU power. But having a great CPU/GPU is not enough.

The OS must do and have things that the Touch does not/cannot. As of right now the Zune has a few checks in this column. HD Radio, (rumored) Flash Support, 720p(+) playback, remote control (with Dock), and now it may be that the Zune HD has the upper hand in gaming. Check out this promotional video showing it playing Forza 3.

Maybe if the MS Marketing team can get their heads out the Zune HD might actually have a fighting chance.