Microsoft came up with the Zune to battle it out with the iPod for supremacy in the DAP arena, and while it is yet to make headway in this regard, the Gates team is showing off a new aspect to their player which might make it more appealing to a different set of buyers. This video by Gizmodo is a preview of what we can expect in the continuing evolution of the Zune.

There’s no denying that one of the more outstanding features the Zune has over the iPod is the built-in Wi-fi, and it seems that they’re taking advantage of it to the hilt. The Zune XNA games allows up to 8 players to compete via an ad-hoc wireless set-up which takes gaming on the Zune to a whole new level. The player itself doesn’t come with 3D accelerated hardware, but 3D-enhacning software can be provided. The official announcement can be found at the XNA Team Blog. However, don’t expect it to compete with the likes of the PSP because quite frankly, the Zune still isn’t a gaming console. It is, at the end of the day, a portable media player with extended gaming capabilities which, in the context of things, doesn’t hurt at all especially if it helps boost sales.

This is just a demo of the things to come from the Zune. It isn’t commercially available yet, but if you want to try it out for yourself right now, head on over to the Zune Boards for the instructions in doing so (not advised for newbies). The question on my mind now is, with this new feature on Microsoft’s player, will the Zune be able to take a bigger bite out of Apple’s share of the market or will this all end up in vain? Only time will tell…