What is XNA?
XNA
Simply, XNA is a new development platform from Microsoft that will dramatically simplify the process of creating a game, improve the audio and visual quality to a near movie like experience, and standardize the interfaces that we use to play games.
Here's how Microsoft describes it:
Microsoft XNA is the catalyst for a new ecosystem of interchangeable, interoperable software tools and technologies from Microsoft, middleware and game development companies. By integrating software innovations across Microsoft platforms and across the industry, XNA forms a common environment that liberates developers from spending too much time writing mundane, repetitive boilerplate code. Instead, XNA frees game creators to spend their time where it matters most -on the creativity that differentiates their games.
XNA is the future of gaming. You better believe it. It will improve games not only on the XBOX, but also on your PC and future mobile devices.
Here's how:
The XNA development platform will provide the functionality to make it easier for developers to create the same social, unified online gaming experiences on Windows that game players have come to expect on XBOX. XBOX Live has long been my choice for online gaming because of it's hack-free multiplayer gaming, and ease of use. PC games have always had more features and pioneered the online multiplayer gaming communities, however nothing is worse than playing against someone who has rewritten the games code to cheat. If I wanted cheating I could always move back in with my ex-girlfriend.
Besides overall gameplay, the two areas that most influence my opinion about an individual game are the graphics and the audio. With XNA, many tools such as PIX (an analysis tool) and XCAT (an audio authoring tool - previously available only to Xbox developers), will now will be available on Windows. Likewise, new innovations from Windows such as "High-Level Shader Language" or HLSL, will now come to the XBOX. Basically, these tools and technologies will allow game developers to create movie-quality graphics with dynamic sound tracks for all of the platforms. Click Here for an example of XNA at work
As far as controllers and input devices, Microsoft will develop a common controller interface and unify input API's and button standards across multiple platforms. This is good news for several reasons. You will be able to interchange controllers for you PC and XBOX and manufacturers will now be able to design a whole new wave of input devices.
Note: Somebody please make an acceptable joystick and flight controller for the XBOX. Am I the only person wanting this?
It makes sense, by eliminate the mundane and time consuming process of writing the same boring code over and over, developers will now have more time for working on the creative side of things. I'll bet a lot of code monkeys are smiling at that idea. What? A social life? What is that?
I speak as one of the most experienced hard core Vidiots alive when I say that Microsoft has done a great job of taking video games and multiplayer gaming to a new level of excellence with XBOX and XBOX Live. I'm excited to hear of new technology that will take these advancements to an even higher level in the not so distant future.
Way to go Microsoft!
Now, lets talk about the Bob Narley Video Game..
Bob Narley
http://www.bobnarley.com
posted by Bob Narley @ 7:52 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home