Wednesday, June 14, 2006

More Microsoft goodies

In addition to my work on Flight Sim, and my start at helping on Wix, I answered a survey targeted at independent/hobbyist game developers. Once the survey master found out I was coming to MS, she got me all set up.

I attended a round table about the new XNA Framework that MS is going to release. I had heard of XNA before, but the marketing blurbs I had read didn’t really explain how XNA was going to help small shops like me. Well, I know better now. I can’t say much since it’s all MS Confidential for now, but there’s going to be a big announcement soon.

After the round table, I was contacted by one of the SDEs on the team, to get my input on starter kits for the project. How cool is that? I’m helping shape future indie game dev tools; not to mention making great contacts on the team, in case I need any special help down the road.

There’s going to be a game conference here in Seattle, Microsoft GameFest. The XNA team is trying to hook us(those that are participating in the discussions about XNA) up with regards to the conference fee. I’ll be going, and if any of you are going to be in the Seattle area, I’d suggest you go as well. There are going to be some big announcements coming.

Here’s the list of study tracks from the site:

  • Graphics
  • Audio
  • Systems – Windows and Xbox
  • Visual Arts
  • Cross-Platform Xbox Live
  • XNA, Visual Studio & Developer Tools
  • Casual Games
  • Middleware
  • Publisher and Business
  • QA and Certification
  • Hands-on Workshops

Quite a list, eh?

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