Tom's MSDN Belux Corner : XNA

Session Videos of XNA Game Studio 2.0 European Tour in Belgium

tommer — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:03:16 GMT

Last week Dave Mitchell and Charles Cox from the XNA product team at Microsoft Corp were in Belgium for their XNA Game Studio 2.0 European Tour. We have recorded the sessions, and you can now see them on our MSDN Chopsticks website. MSDN Chopsticks uses Silverlight technology to play the recordings.

You can watch them here:

The Ongoing Democratization of Game Development
Hear Dave Mitchell from the Microsoft XNA product team as he shares Microsoft's plans to democratize game development beyond the initial XNA Game Studio Express offering. As the video game industry is reaching a critical juncture in its growth as a mainstream entertainment form, consumers are becoming an increasingly important partner in the creation of innovative, fun game play experiences which compliment commercially released titles. This keynote will share the next installment of the XNA vision to further democratize game development by the community.

Building a Game in 60 Minutes with XNA Game Studio 2.0
Watch how Charles Cox puts XNA Game Studio 2.0 to the test and build a fully-realized casual game running on an Xbox 360 in just sixty minutes. Whether you are a seasoned games coder or a programmer thinking of moving into game development, this demo-packed session will give you plenty of food for thought and the information to get you started.

Diving in to XNA Game Studio 2.0 and the XNA Framework
XNA Game Studio 2.0 is the highly anticipated new release of a revolutionary game development tool that gives hobbyist, academic and indie game programmers a chance to develop and share their own games on Windows and Xbox 360. This demo-heavy session will take a closer look at what is new in 2.0 including the newly-added networking libraries based on Xbox Live, support for Visual Studio 2005 Standard, Professional and Team System, new multiplayer starter kits, samples and more.

Holistic View at the Future and Student Call To Action
The presentation starts with a holistic view at the future and the impact of changing paradigms in the IT industry. After that, several initiatives and contests for students are announced: Imagine Cup 2008, XNA Game Development contest, XNA-BUG (Belgian User Group)...

Introducing the Benelux Game Initiative (BGIn)
BGIn is an independent nonprofit organization committed to the stimulation and development of a stable and vibrant Benelux games industry with a focus on business, education and community. During this presentation you’ll get an introduction to the organization and their link to the games industry.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,MSDN Belux,XNA,event,Silverlight,game,game development,Dave Mitchell,Charles Cox

Some Pictures of the Belgian XNA Game Studio Event

tommer — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:59:32 GMT

On 29 November, Dave Michell and Charles Cox visited Belgium as part of the XNA Game Studio European Tour. Here are some pictures, along with some facts.

Dave Mitchell and Charles Cox were the 2 Microsoft Corp speakers on the event.
Tommy Goffin of BGin and Stefan Baier of Streamline Studios gave an overview of the gaming industry in our region.

With around 600 attendees, spread over 2 rooms, you could say there was quite some interest in XNA Game Studio.

During the breaks, the attendees could try out several Xbox 360 games on the 17 consoles that were placed all over Utopolis.

Photos by Tania Mertens

During the event, we also announced the creation of the XNA-BUG (XNA Belgian User Group). One of their first activities will be organizing the XNA Game Development Contest. More info will be announced soon.

Technorati tags: XNA Game Studio, Dave Mitchell, Charles Cox, BGin, MSDN Belux

Few Seats Left for XNA Game Studio Event in Belgium on 29 November

tommer — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 20:05:33 GMT

Only a few seats are left for the XNA Game Studio event on 29 November in Utopolis, Mechelen. Register here. And thanks to Walter, I can share some more details about the event below.

Are you interested in learning how to build great video games for either Microsoft® Windows® or the Xbox 360™ console? Would you like to be one of the first to see the all new version of Microsoft XNA Game Studio before it releases later this year? Want to discover just how easy it is to build a game with XNA Game Studio in just 60 minutes and get to grips with the XNA Framework and the disciplines of games development?

Then the XNA Game Studio European Tour 2007 is a not to be missed event, visiting seven different countries and bringing together top speakers from the Microsoft XNA product group in the US, local Microsoft speakers as well as experts from the games industry.

Microsoft XNA Game Studio is the revolutionary tool that makes it easy to develop video games for Windows and Xbox 360. So whether you’re an experienced games developer or a total newbie, sign up for the XNA Game Studio European Tour to build the games of your dreams.

Agenda

Welcome
Keynote: The Ongoing Democratization of Game Development, Dave Mitchell, Microsoft Corp (US)
Games Industry Overview, Tommy Boffin & Hector Fernandez BGin & Streamline Studios
Diving in to XNA Games Studio 2.0, XNA Framework and the disciplines of game development, Dave Mitchell, Microsoft Corp (US)
Putting XNA to the test: Building a game in 60 minutes, Charles Cox, MS Corp (US)
Closing & Wrap Up, Luc Van de Velde, Director DPE, Microsoft Belgium & Luxembourg

Keynote: The Ongoing Democratization of Game Development, Dave Mitchell, Director, Microsoft XNA, Microsoft Corporation
Join Dave Mitchell from the Microsoft XNA organization as he shares Microsoft’s plans to democratize game development beyond the initial XNA Game Studio Express offering. As the video game industry is reaching a critical juncture in its growth as a mainstream entertainment form, consumers are becoming an increasingly important partner in the creation of innovative, fun gameplay experiences which compliment commercially released titles. This keynote will share the next instalment of the XNA vision to further democratize game development by the community.

Diving in to XNA Game Studio 2.0 and the XNA Framework, Dave Mitchell, Director, & Charles Cox, Developer Educator, Microsoft XNA, Microsoft Corporation
XNA Game Studio 2.0 is the highly anticipated new release of a revolutionary game development tool that gives hobbyist, academic and indie game programmers a chance to develop and share their own games on Windows and Xbox 360. This demo-heavy session will take a closer look at what is new in 2.0 including the newly-added networking libraries based on Xbox LIVE, support for Visual Studio 2005 Standard, Professional and Team editions, new multiplayer starter kits, samples and more.

Building a Game in 60 Minutes with XNA Game Studio 2.0, Charles Cox, Developer Educator, Microsoft XNA, Microsoft Corporation
During this live session we put XNA Game Studio 2.0 to the test and build a fully-realized casual game running on an Xbox 360 in just sixty minutes. Whether you are a seasoned games coder or a programmer thinking of moving into game development, this demo-packed session will give you plenty of food for thought and the information to get you started.

Speaker Biographies
Dave Mitchell, Director, Microsoft XNA, Microsoft Corporation
Dave is a Director in the Microsoft XNA organization and manages the Microsoft XNA community offerings in addition to global business development, marketing execution and PR for XNA. XNA not only includes XNA Game Studio but also spans all tools, technologies, and services used in game development by game developers ranging from hobbyists and academics up to the largest of commercial game studios. Dave has been with Microsoft for nearly ten years and has been heavily involved with developer tools and platform technology for more than 17 years. His passion and love for video games easily outstrips that however and dates back to his Atari 2600, nearly 30 years ago.

Charles Cox, Developer Educator, Microsoft XNA, Microsoft Corporation
Charles is a Developer Educator, a role which focuses on developing and delivering innovative educational materials for game developers using XNA. His contributions focus on "quick-start" beginner instruction, and include the popular "Going Beyond" video tutorial series, presentations at several universities and the 2007 Game Developers Conference, and most recently the creation of the new XNA Game Studio Express Beginner's Guide DVD. Prior to joining Microsoft, Charles worked at Sierra Studios on the popular Police Quest: SWAT action series. Charles is a graduate of the Digipen Institute of Technology, a video game development school in Redmond, Washington.

Technorati tags: Microsoft, MSDN Belux, event, XNA, XNA Game Studio, .NET, xbox, game

Several "Getting Started with XNA" Tutorials

tommer — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:23:00 GMT

Brecht Kets has published quite some tutorials explaining how to get started with XNA Framework and XNA Game Studio Express:

And 2 tutorials on DirectX 10:

At the same time, I'd also like to congratulate Riemer Grootjans for being awarded as MVP on DirectX and XNA! Well done...

Technorati tags: Microsoft, XNA, tutorial, game development, Visual Studio