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Windows Phone 7 won't kill Zune HD

The Zune HD is a strong music player. It's got a lot of features I wish Apple would add to its iPod and iPhone lineup, particularly wireless sync and queuing. But with the impending release of the Windows Phone 7 Series, which will include full Zune HD functionality in its "Music + Video" hub, I've begun to wonder if Microsoft will phase out the Zune as a standalone music player.

Here's one clue: Microsoft developer Michael Klucher on Tuesday put up a blog post about the upcoming XNA Game Studio 4.0. Thus far, XNA Game … Read more

Rock Band game platform opens to indie music

If you're an independent musician looking for as many ways to sell and promote your music as possible, and you or a friend has some experience with software development, you'll want to check out the upcoming Rock Band Network, for which Harmonix and MTV Games plan to begin beta testing in late August.

To program songs for the game, you or your developer friend first needs a membership to Microsoft's XNA Creators' Club, which was launched a couple years ago to let independent developers create casual games to sell through the Xbox Live Marketplace; a membership costs $… Read more

Nintendo launches WiiWare with six games

Nintendo on Monday put its latest shot across the bow of Microsoft and Sony when it officially launched WiiWare, its new online repository of downloadable games.

Ostensibly a service where Wii gamers will be able to shop for new, independent games, WiiWare seems to be Nintendo's answer to Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade and its XNA Studio and to Sony's PlayStation Store.

WiiWare is launching with six games: Square Enix's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, Frontier Development's LostWinds, XGen Studios' Defend your Castle, Nnooo's Pop, High Voltage Software's V.I.… Read more

Where we let the chatroom pick the show name, and this was the best they did

EPISODE 40

The three guys today talk about Street Fighter being the best game ever...We wax reminiscent over old video games. Plus, Stanford drops tuition, XNA gets more open, Gears of War 2, and three actors replace Heath Ledger.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Which XNA game do you want for Zune?

Microsoft's announcement at today's Game Developer's Conference made some waves in the gaming community, but for the growing faction of Zune owners, it felt like an exciting glimpse into the product's future.

While Microsoft hasn't made any formal announcements regarding games coming to the Zune, they dropped a big hint today when they demonstrated a game developed using XNA Studio running on a Zune 80. Its a move that makes plenty of sense, considering that Apple has been slowly and steadily releasing games for the Zune's competitor, the iPod. Gaming on the Zune also capitalizes on a theme Microsoft already has some credibility with, by way of XBox 360.

We might not know when Microsoft will start releasing games for the Zune, or how much they will cost, but we have some idea of what types of games will be released. The following list of XNA games and descriptions is quoted from Microsoft's XBox 360 site (videos via YouTube):… Read more

Video game creation: See if you can do better

In the movie industry, there is a prevalence of rehashed sure-fire "hits" churned out by studios. The same goes for video games these days. Almost no one wants to take big risks when you need up to three years to develop a video game, which is why there are so many II and IIIs.

But in the movie industry, cheaper high-end camcorders and better video-sharing sites have also boosted the capability and exposure of indie filmmakers everywhere. Now the same may become possible for indie video game developers.

Microsoft has released XNA Game Studio Express 1.0, free, … Read more