\Managed DirectX and XNA Framework news
I've already documented 'other .Net languages and XNA' pretty well in the XNA Forum FAQs - though its often apparent from the questions in the forums that I keep it updated mostly for my own amusement.
But its been a busy week for XNA and 'other' languages:
Firstly, the OOPSLA conference this week ("OOPSLA" - its just fun to say it!) had a talk by Jim Hugunin from Microsoft. Jim is the guy responsible for IronPython and is now an architect for dynamic languages. You can read about Jims's talk on eWeek. The XNA connection is the throwaway comment "Hugunin said the DLR works with several Microsoft products, including XNA Game Studio, Microsoft Robotics Studio, ASP.Net, Windows Vista, Exchange Server and Silverlight.".
I don't have any evidence that IronPython or other languages will run on the 360 any time soon. Not that this stops you from using the XNA assemblies on Windows if you want but it does kind of defeat some of the purpose of XNA GSE if you don't also target the 360. Of course you will have to work around the content pipeline too. I suppose its understandable that people think that any .Net API will work with any .Net language since that's the message Microsoft evangelize, but XNA GSE is an exception to this due to its almost mandatory VS add-ins. You would think that internal Microsoft folk would check up on this before being quoted (though it wouldn't surprise me if a journalist misquoted too)
Secondly, BlogusMaximus is on one of his totally justified VB.Net rants about APIs like the XNA Framework which do not officially support VB.Net. Chris, as his close buddies sometimes call him, is a VB.Net MVP and points out the injustice of VB.Net being the most used .Net language but not corresponding support from Microsoft and also notes that the VB MVPs were told that XNA was "too hard for VB programmers".
In the case of other languages I can assure you all that to the best of my knowledge there is no conspiracy in the XNA team. Compared to most teams at Microsoft they are very small. Adding test passes and templates for other languages is just out of scope for the number of hours they have. Sure Microsoft could mandate all of their teams support C# and VB.Net (and maybe the C++ and J# guys want samples too) but what if that pushes the budget for a project beyond what the return on the investment is. Maybe we would never have the XNA framework...
JameZilla has his T-Shirt store up and running so now you too can look this good and support him now that he has quit his job just to make Dead Samuri the coolest XBLA game ever!
Well its a bit of a stretch to think of XNA as a mobile technology but since XNA will run on the UMPC it appears to be fair game at the Mobile conference this year. I'm not 100% sure if all UMPC devices are man enough to run all XNA apps but its looks like the closest XNA is going to get to a mobile platform for a while. There's some strange aspect ratios and screen sizes to consider but otherwise it seems like a pretty standard windows install. Nick sent me a link about gaming on the UMPC if anyone is interested.
So if you are in Las Vegas November 5th-8th you should head along and see Nick's talk
MPC310: XNA Game Development for the UMPC November 5th-8th, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas.
(and how come Nick gets a trip to Vegas and I get Minneapolis !)
Today happens to be National Chris Williams appreciation day....
Chris will be speaking on XNA and TorqueX at the Twin Cities Code camp this weekend. For more details check out their web site.
There's not too many podcasts out there with XNA content - but here's a short one with Chris Williams where he talks about XNA, his user group, his Roguelike game Heroic Adventure and some shoutouts for The ZMan and George
Fixed the year - it's the 2007 conference!
If you are near Vancouver, BC, Canada from November 26-30 and you (or your company) will cover your entry to DevTeach Vancouver which has an entire track devoted to gaming and the XNA Framework. Speakers include myself, Shawn Hargreaves and Pat McGee (XNA author).
Please drop me a line if you will be there - I would love to meet up with any Canadian XNA enthusiasts. I will be in Vancouver from Monday 26th to Thu 28th so if your user group wants a special bonus XNA talk let me know and I will see what I can do.
A couple of guys from Minneapolis have formed the Twin Cities XNA User Group which is not a very good acronym ;-) TCXNAUG!
November will be a very busy month for me as I will be flying out to Minneapolis to speak at their first meeting on November 15th. So if you are in the area then get yourself there as I know Chris has scored lots of swag!
No there is no public beta out yet but if you live close enough to Redmond, WA Microsoft would like you to come on in and try out the latest internal version. Get a chance to test your demos early.
If you have a code base you would like me to take along and test please let me know and I will see how much time I have. Since its under NDA I will not be able to give you feedback but I can make sure MS see any issues or bugs which might mean the beta is in better shape when it comes out.
Check out Mitch's announcement of the XNA GS 2.0 testing labs
