The Windows Azure Toolkit for Social Games allows you to quickly get started building new social games in Windows Azure. The toolkit includes accelerators, libraries, developer tools, and samples that you can use in your own .NET or HTML5 game. The toolkit also enables unique capabilities for social...

Since Kinect launched in November 2010, enthusiasts have been exploring the potential of Kinect in a number of unexpected, nongaming scenarios. Today at MIX, Microsoft detailed some of the features in the Kinect for Windows Beta SDK from Microsoft Research coming in the spring, including the following...

Microsoft executives today showcased the next version of the Windows Phone operating system and other powerful next-generation applications that span phones, PCs and other devices. The free Windows Phone Developer Tools for the new Windows Phone OS will be available to developers in May. Microsoft...

Simon Said game on began life as a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) application that showed off touch user experience. Since then, it has become an advertising supported application for Windows Phone 7. David Kelley, User Experience Architect for Wirestone , explains how you can get AdCenter...

A new game development tutorial is now available on App Hub. Online. Plaintext Searchable Code. Lessons for Design, Art, and Programming. Everything You Need, Free. From the makers of the “XNA Game Studio Beginner’s Guide” DVD’s, the next evolution of Game Development training...

A common question we often hear from developers is: “What can Microsoft do to help me promote my app?” One of the great things about the Windows Phone Marketplace is our unique range of merchandizing opportunities. On any given day and in every single market, there are at least three different...

A small mobile app development shop of professional video game developers who create XNA games for Windows Phone 7 in their spare time. This video features their founder, Jason Weimann, talking about their Alpha Strike game, which these developers made virtually in one sitting. Video Link: XNA Game...

  Kenny Spade has updated his blog with 3 new parts to his game development tutorial for the Windows Phone. In part 7-9 of the TriangleShooter project, Kenny covers: Spawning More Enemies Adding Shooting Refactoring and Death Behavior The previous tutorials covered an introduction to XNA, using...

This is part 6 in a weekly series of blog post created by my office mate and Academic Evangelist @kennyspade. In this weeks tutorial, Kenny will be adding basic AI, and then showing how easily you can scale out more enemies in the Triangle Shooter Game. The previous tutorials covered an introduction...

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, will deliver our annual opening keynote at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas tonight at 6:30 PM Pacific Time. We invite you to watch the keynote via our webcast on the Microsoft News Center or on the Microsoft Facebook page . 2010 was a very exciting year...

If you have been working through the tutorial that my team mate Kenny Spade created. Kenny has just posted part 5, Breaking the Player and Enemy out into Classes (Triangle Shooter) .  If you’re new to this series please visit his blog and grab the project files here . If you missed the previous...

When it comes to game design for Windows Phone 7 , Microsoft turned to Plexipixel to design and develop a free game called Unite . The team that designed and developed the game using Silverlight shares the tips and lessons learned. See Game Design and Development in Silverlight for Windows Phone 7...

First payouts for Windows Phone 7 sales will be made in the 4th week of January 2011. You can now access up-to-date download and transaction reporting information for all of your Windows Phone 7 applications and games. Todd Brix made the announcements on the Windows Phone Developer Blog. Marketplace...

Knowing the competitive landscape of gaming, especially here in the Northwest, we want to invite you to a 2 hour session to learn about building your next game on Windows Azure.  Hear from a game developer just like you, Sneaky Games , who has successfully leveraged the cloud and Windows Azure to...

This last week, I served as one of the many judges who reviewed the submissions for Image Cup 2011 . The entries were amazing, with students from around the US solving worldwide problems. ISVs participate as mentors and get the added benefit by working closely with the highest quality college students...

Knowing the competitive landscape of gaming, especially here in the Northwest, we want to invite you to a two-hour session to learn about building your next game on Windows Azure. Hear from a game developer just like you, Sneaky Games, who has successfully leveraged the cloud and Windows Azure to build...

Kodu is a new visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone. The programming environment runs on the Xbox, allowing rapid design iteration using only a game controller for input. The Kodu Language and Grammar...

A new series of videos from MSDEV can help you get started with Windows Phone 7. New videos added today include: Windows Phone 7 in 7: Globalization and Localization Windows Phone 7 in 7: Building a Location-aware Application Windows Phone 7 in 7: Push Notifications Windows Phone 7 in...

Yesterday at gamescom 2010 Microsoft premiered the first wave of Xbox LIVE games launching on Windows Phone 7 this holiday. Here’s a preview of 17 games on Channel 9 Max & The Magic Marker Flight Control Game Chest Guitar Hero 5 Bubble Town 2 Bejeweled Live GeoDefense O.M.G. Toy Story Mania Ilomilo...

Professional Developer Conference 2010 (PDC10) registration is now open. PDC10 will be held October 28 – 29 at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond, WA where leading-edge developers and architects will gather to hear firsthand from Microsoft’s leaders about the next generation of Cloud...

Games are a big business opportunity for developers across personal computers, consoles and mobile devices.  The good news is that XNA Game Studio 4.0 is supported across multiple platforms. XNA Game Studio 4.0 is developed by Microsoft to help ease game development across Windows, Xbox360 and Windows...

A second draft preview ebook is now available from Microsoft Press of Charles Petzold’s upcoming Programming Windows Phone 7. The first preview ebook contained six chapters. This one contains eleven chapters (and 265 pages) and includes Basics, Silverlight, and XNA development topics. For...

Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC) has been the epicenter of Microsoft’s biggest platform announcements and will be in Redmond October 28-29. This year will be no exception. Leading-edge developers and architects will gather to hear firsthand from Microsoft’s leaders...

Microsoft today unveiled Kinect for Xbox 360, a controller-free gaming device that Microsoft is positioning as an entirely new way to experience entertainment in the living room. Previously code-named “Project Natal,” the Kinect label was released before the start of the Electronic Entertainment...

Eric Rudder, Microsoft's Senior Vice President of Technical Strategy, demoed a way to use the cross-platform capabilities of gaming on the Windows phone 7 Series platform at Tech-Ed Middle East. Rudder's demonstration uses a simple platform-scrolling title to showcase the Cloud-themed capabilities...