Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio, Portable Video

J Allard, the mysterious, bedreadlocked, Lex Luthor-ish cat behind the Xbox, Zune and Zune 2 (amongst others) sat down for a Q and A with the New York Times and revealed some deep feelings — as well as future plans. Mainly, Mr. Allard talks about the hardships of dealing with record labels, the failure of the first Zune to penetrate the market, his hopes for the current generation of Redmond-anointed media players to kill, kill, kill, and the fact that a “Zune Phone” isn’t anywhere close right now (though doesn’t seem to be off the table). On the flip side, he hints at a future of merged Microsoft services, where you’ll be able to order up music, games, and videos on demand — all in one, centralized package. Says J, “Today we have Xbox live for $50 a year. We have Zune Pass at $15 a month. We don’t have a rationalized premium version yet. Fast forward a little bit, and you can image a menu like DirecTV. There is basic, there is enhanced, there is movie pack and NFL Sunday ticket.” Of course, right now it’s just a crazy tripped-out dream floating around the mind of J Allard… let’s hope it floats onto our screens soon.

Read - J Allard: Microsoft’s Plan to Be King of All Media
Read - J Allard: The Failures of the Zune and the Record Labels
Read - J Allard: Dancing Around the Cellphone Question

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