Sponsored: Microsoft Debuts XNA Microsite On Gamasutra

Author: by Staff

Microsoft has debuted a new XNA-themed Gamasutra microsite with the first in a series of game development-related articles, featuring Chris Satchell and Frank Savage discussing the newly launched XNA Game Studio 2.0. The microsite will feature monthly updates "to give the development community a better view into the projects Microsoft is working on", and this month's sponsored Gamasutra feature gives you an insider's look into the new features of XNA Game Studio 2.0. As Microsoft's Savage explains in the introduction to his part of this initial feature: "A little over two years ago, the .NET Compact Framework (NetCF) team demoed an implementation of the NetCF running a 3D game on an Xbox 360 console. They also showed that same game with the same code recompiled and running on a Windows PC. It was on this day that XNA Game Studio was conceived. Last year, we released the first version, XNA Game Studio Express, a product that gave hobbyist and student developers the opportunity to run their own games on both Windows and Xbox 360. Since that first release, over 750,000 users have downloaded XNA Game Studio Express. We’ve seen hundreds of games created and submitted to the Dream-Build-Play competition, witnessed hobbyists become new stars in the game development world, and watched as hundreds of colleges and universities adopted XNA Game Studio Express as a better way to teach game development. Never satisfied to stand on past success, the XNA Community Game Platform team is proud to announce the release of XNA Game Studio 2.0! This article will talk in-depth about the feature set for this new version." The full Gamasutra sponsored feature on the subject also includes an introduction from Microsoft's Chris Satchell and addition detail on the new specifics of this latest version of XNA Game Studio.