We've all had a feeling that Microsoft is holding back some pretty big surprises (or at least completely reasonable revelations) when it comes to
Windows Phone 7 Series and gaming, and here at GDC this week it sounds like we're going to get a little glimpse into that. Microsoft is unveiling its new
XNA Game Studio 4.0, which lets developers work on games for Windows Phone 7 Series, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. The
integration with Visual Studio 2010 that we saw the other day allows developers to build a single project and then make slight modifications to let it run on each platform respectively. Most importantly, Microsoft specifically mentions that 4.0 will include hardware accelerated 3D APIs for Windows Phone 7 Series -- not stunning, giving the fact that Zune can do 3D games (and is
supported by XNA), but relieving just the same. Other phone-related tidbits are also telling: there will be fairly deep Xbox LIVE integration, including unlocking achievements from phone-based games and push notifications for asynchronous turn based gaming. Hopefully we can get some real live multiplayer gaming going as well, but there's no mention of that just yet. Microsoft promises "much, much more" will be revealed at MIX 2010, but for now we're gonna dig for all we can here at GDC.
posted March 9th 2010 1:31PM
yes! excellent news.
with the combined efforts of the Zune, WP7S and xbox gaming, the mobile gaming experience should be far better than that of iPhone and Android OS. I love both platforms but i never felt that gaming was their strong suit.
@xxhonkeyxx
It's just about time that Microsoft realized that their various properties actually work together really well if they just went and did it.
@xxhonkeyxx absolutely!
its time to buy ms stock ;)
@xxhonkeyxx This is the nail in my iphones coffin. I now know what phone i will upgrade to this fall
The Zune HD does NOT support 3d graphics in XNA. To the non-MS developers.
@xxhonkeyxx You are comparing a console to a mobile phone so I would hope they wouldn't compare. Think about what you are saying plus you and I don't even know what games or even what the games look like so it is a little early to say this don't ya think?
@xxhonkeyxx
Don't want to rain on your parade or anything, but maybe you should wait until you see some real games made with this? XNA doesn't exactly fly up to now. Not on xbox, not on Windows. Before you can conclude that XNA 4 will bring a 'far better game experience' than anything maybe you should see some actual games?
Integration across multiple platforms is all fine and dandy, but if you're only going to integrate millions of crappy bejeweled clones with some sad 3D effects tucked on, it doesn't really sound that attractive anymore. Personally I think you need native code to do even a half-decent game, which right now means either iPhone OS or -if you don't mind limiting your market to a few handsets and using the more or less experimental NDK- Android.
@Tiptup300 Well the might just change with this....let us all keep our hopes up!!!!
@drange
Maybe you just haven't been looking in the right places. There are plenty of good games made with XNA published in an array of places such as Acrade and Indie games; two examples: The Dishwasher, Shooter1Up. What makes you think XNA is insufficient for making games when 5 years worth of XNA says otherwise. FYI you don't have to use c# for XNA its just the only language MS cares to support (since they have very good documentation in comparison to say C++). Hell I've seen avatar (retail game on the xbox) running via XNA.
@RampantNinja
Maybe you have some inside information I'm missing, but I'm basing my judgement on the quality XNA games that are publicly available and the fact that XBLA games are AFAIK not made with XNA at all, even though it would be a perfect environment for it.
I never said you couldn't write nice games with XNA by the way, and I didn't say anything about C# either, they're both nice technologies. But the fact remains that with XNA you _will_ be running managed code no matter what (that's what has been the whole point from day 1) which could turn out to be extremely limiting for phone hardware.
@xxhonkeyxx When you think about a smartphone with the capability to sync games at par with what you're playing in xbox.. makes you want to wait and wait until this thing arrives.
I believe, MS has done a pretty good job on giving a fresh new look on how users see a smartphone device. Can't wait to see this one rolling out on the market. Impressions: http://bit.ly/windows-phone-7-reactions-to-impressions
@drange
There is no restriction on what arcade games can be made in. Simply most of the arcade games are made by developers with enough resources to not need XNA, i.e 9/10 of them have development kits. While managed code may be performance limiting it could just be what 'untrusted' developers need. Imagine a game causing memory leaks on your phone 0_0
@cherryboom
MS has actually specifically defined the required hardware, and said they'd partner with AT&T, my current carrier.
Thats why this last thing is the nail in the coffin, and not something that comes before that. Because im not jumping the gun.
@unwynd
Already have, went up 17 cents today just from this article by engadget
@xxhonkeyxx
I'm kind of torn about WP7S...I love my 360 and XNA so that's definitely appealing but for me the interface is the most important factor when buying a phone, and so far I've found HTC Sense on Android to be the most visually attractive and enjoyable to use.
WP7S definitely seems like a major step in the right direction but from all the walkthrough videos and screenshots to me it just appears a bit...sterile. I get that it's minimalism but it seems taken to the extreme where it's not pleasant to look at. It seems very efficient and all but very very bland and empty. I find sometimes the glossiness and icing on the cake like HTC's Sense can make using a phone much more enjoyable and so far WP7S seems overly industrial and almost unfriendly.
Hopefully I'll be wrong once I try one out. =) That's about the only thing putting me off WP7S and making me feel like I should stick with HTC Android phones for a while (or until Palm puts out a large-screen phone).
@killplay
I wanted an i Phone but have held off until I could see this thing. I had a Zune that I liked but it went belly up and I want something to replace it. Pi day tells the tale
What about ZuneHD you mofos!!??
Have you forgotten?
Why did you get Tegra when you were going to release only a handful of games???
@TRLKOR
Don't worry, it will get its due too. Its already established so they don't have to focus as much on it as they do WM7 and the 360 integration.
@TRLKOR My question as well. I'm not sure if people are aware of this or not--but XNA does not currently allow you to do 3-D for Zune HD development. They opened up the accelerometer and touchscreen. Other than that, you're limited by the capabilities of older Zune models (ie no 3D).
@User Formerly Known as Dave
sooo, how do you explain the 3D titles that's on the ZuneHD like PGR3? AudioSurf?
@TRLKOR
A simple ZuneHD update in the future will open it up to all the capabilities that WM7 will offer.
No big deal.
@lennie22 I explain it like thihttp://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=5541s: They were not developed with tools available to the public. XNA 3.1 does not provide the ability to write 3D apps for any Zune model.
Here's more:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=5541
@lennie22
MS built that not some third party.
@User Formerly Known as Dave: I see the Zune HD this way...
If MS is going to keep the standalone media player alive, then Zune HD will probably be compatible with WP7S games.
If MS is going to get out of the standalone player business, then this update is very unlikely.
So the real question that needs to be asked is whether MS is going to keep the Zune alive, or was it just a test bed for WP7S? One would think the former, except that the Zune HD never made it out of the US.
@TRLKOR When the WP7 gets a big game/app market, you can be sure that you'll see many things ported to the ZuneHD. But since it only has wifi, things that take advantage of a plentiful network will not be top priority for the PMP at first. But in good time, simultaneous development will ensue
@Alan Strangis Based on the ZDNet article I linked to in my last post, it sounds as though they're abandoning further Zune development. My guess is that 4.0 will still allow you to create Zune games--but won't allow you to leverage any of the new 4.0 features that Win 7 phones will be able to leverage. It's been less than a year since the Zune HD launch--and it sounds like it's already forgotten. I probably won't be buying a Win 7 phone or another Zune if every new product has the potential to be abandoned 6 months from release.
@User Formerly Known as Dave
Their whole iTunes equivalent is "Zune" branded. They recently just added the zune marketplace to xbox 360. The WP7 will use that same "zune marketplace". I doubt they'll abandon the player. But rather just put it on the back burner
@User Formerly Known as Dave
xna 4 is not available to the public currently so I would think that Is what they used internally.
To me the zune HD, while cool, has always felt like their test device. Try a bunch of different features and technologies to iron out the bugs for winphone 7.
The Une has network connectivity, marketplace integration and Tegra chipset so it should be capable Of a lot of what the new phones can do. The only difference would be higher end games. This is no different than the original iPhone compared to the 3gs. I have both the original iPhone really struggles sometimes these days.
@kjb434
Let Apple show you the way.
@lennie22 damn good point!!!
@devScott I hear you--but if I knew I was buying a test device, I would have used that money to buy an iPod Touch. They were about the same price when I bought my new Zune HD. They charged me for a real market-ready device and they advertised it as such.
Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series is shaping up to be some kind of Awesome
@haz I know... I'm really surprised... I honestly thought they'd just re-design the GUI of 6.5
They've actually... dare I say it... Innovated.
That's right, I said it.. Microsoft Innovated.
@sshole dude where have you been? they've been innovating since like 2005.
@kojo87
probably even earlier than that
IN REPLY TO: sshole does your name mean "some shit hole"?
@sshole I like how when ppl reply to you it says asshole. not that i think you're an asshole of course. just funny
@kojo87
Where've you been then? I'd say Microsoft was innovating from (almost) their very beginning. Sure, they've had to work the bugs out, but that's part of innovating something.
@Bowsa
no but when ever you reply to him you type asshole (@sshole)
I like the fact that all of these technologies are starting to finally mesh. Personally, I always thought that's why MS has been having such a hard time because nothing really worked together. Glad to see this change! Should make for an interesting fall.
"If you build it, they [developers] will come."
@shishi
I'm already pulling at the leash to get started. Release this thing so we can get started MS!!!
Windows Phone 7 = my next phone.
@Padilla7921 Agreed
@Kajax77
Tritto.
@Padilla7921
A WP7 from HTC
I hope the phone makers add D-pads to the devices.
@Padilla7921 Me 3!!
I'm getting tired of Blackberry phones.
@Ortant
Oh holy hell no. Have you ever used a hardware keyboard with a dpad squeezed into it? It makes typing a very unpleasant experience.
I think I may get rid of my Pre for a Windows 7 phone. So impressed. Also, love Visual Studio.
@Torpedo Vegas, with the PDK out IRC is full of developers and a lot are sitting in Visual Studio messing around right now. Will be awesome to see the stuff people make.
(Also, I'm in the same boat as a large open source person helping out WebOS I find I will most likely jumping ship once that SDK is released. So many nice devices expected no real risk involved either.)