Zune 3.1 adds like minded listener feature, games

Microsoft this afternoon launched an uncharacteristic mid-cycle Zune software update that adds new features in addition to usual fixes. The 3.1 upgrade now has a significant visual overhaul for the Zune Social feature and should be easier to navigate. It also adds a "like minded listeners" feature that shows users other Zune Social members that tend to play similar music. Three new Zune games, Checkers, Sudoku and Space Battle, will also be loaded on to Zune hardware with its next sync.

Study finds video games increase heart rate

Research recently published by the Swedish Research Council (and reported by Science Daily via Wired) into the effects of violent video games on teens has found that playing violent games affected subject heart rate variability not only during gameplay (no surprise there) but also when they were sleeping that night.

A group of boys aged between 12 and 15 were asked to play two different games in the evening, one focused on violence, while the other had no violent features. Heart rates were monitored both throughout the gameplay, then during the rest evening and finally while they slept.

Games for Windows Live redesigned

Quietly, ever so quietly, Microsoft has released a revamp of the entire Games for Windows Live service on PC and begun hinting at future expansions and enhancements to the service.

The update, which was rolled out yesterday, does away with the ill-advised and clunky Xbox 360 interface and replaces it with something more suited for mouse and keyboard control. The new interface for the service now pops down out of the top of the screen and include a more streamlined and much faster loading set of menus.