Microsoft Communities

games

XNA Game Studio - Your world, your game.

Posted By: Laura Foy | Mar 25th @ 10:29 PM
XNA Game Studio really does give you all you need. Not only do they give you the tools to make the games that you want, but they also give you the training and tutorials to give you the skills to do it. I ran across one of their many game design challenges to see exactly how it happens, who can enter- and of course, where you can find out when one is coming near you. Take a peek here at the latest event in San Francisco, and then I hope to see you at the next one!
Tags: , , , ,

Halo 3 Heroic Maps Free Today

Posted By: Sarah Perez | Mar 25th @ 11:26 AM
Happy Halo Map Pack Day! As of today, Halo 3's formerly $10 set of maps, the Heroic Map Pack, is now free. This add-on lets you add new battle zones to the Halo 3 game. The pack consists of the Rat's Nest, Standoff, and Foundry maps, where players are provided with things like labyrinthine mazes (Rat's Nest) and editable objects that can be used to create a custom battlefield (Foundry). The next series of maps, the Legendary Map Pack, will be available on April 15th for 800 Microsoft Points.
Tags: , , , , , ,

Games on your Zune!?! What? How? When?

Posted By: Laura Foy | Feb 29th @ 11:08 AM
There are many happy Zune owners right about now. At GDC last week Microsoft announced that XNA Game Studios games can now also be made for the Zune. If you didn't know, XNA is a game development toolkit available to "do it yourself" enthusiasts for about $99 / year. You don't need to create your own games, simply take advantage of XNA games created by the user base. The XNA team also made some cool announcements about Xbox LIVE community games. I got all the good dirt- take a look.
Tags: , , , , ,

Boonty, le réseau social pour vos jeux vidéos

Posted By: Benjamin Gauthey | Jan 24th @ 1:43 AM
Vous connaissiez déjà probablement la société Boonty. Celle-ci propose des casuals games téléchargeables sur le site www.boonty.fr. Les jeux sont téléchargeables et gratuits pendant un lapse de temps et si vous souhaitez continuer l’expérience, vous devrez en faire l’acquisition contre 20€ pour une licence à vie ! Cette société existe maintenant depuis plus de 6 ans et reçoit environ 8 millions de visiteurs uniques par mois. Au niveau mondial, 300 millions de personnes surfent sur ce type de jeux. Afin d’étendre leurs activités, ils s’apprêtent à lancer dans les semaines à venir, cafe.com. Portail permettant de créer un réseau social autour du jeu vidéo. Celui-ci prend pour ainsi dire, le meilleur des réseaux sociaux existants (Avatar 3D, monnaie virtuelle, groupes….) et l’intègre dans le monde des jeux casuals avec un nouveau modèle de paiements. Les explications dans ce podcast.
Tags: , , ,

Microsoft struts their stuff at PAX

Posted By: Laura Foy | Aug 28th, 2007 @ 1:00 PM
When you think of big gaming conventions I'm sure you conjure up visions of E3 and GDC. I'm here to tell you that from here on out you should include the Penny Arcade Expo to that list. It felt like home to wander through the dark halls and wait patiently for my turn to play BioShock. Here's a glimpse of what Microsoft was showing off this year.
Tags: , , , , ,

Zero Gravity: Silverlight based puzzle game

Posted By: Laura Foy | Jul 6th, 2007 @ 12:36 PM
You've all played these web browser "twitch" games before when you should be actually working- but wait! Well Zero Gravity is different. Zero Gravity isn't flashed based, it runs on Silverlight. I spoke with the guys from Terralever who set out to prove that Silverlight is certainly a worthy platform for this type of game and talked about some of the difficulties and successes involved in the games development. So, how do you play? Well you put your thinking cap on, try to get Lt. Bennett home via his spaceship and watch this clip for the details.
Tags: , , , ,

All Games Radio: Scot Rubin brings you daily gaming goodness!

Posted By: Laura Foy | May 1st, 2007 @ 3:23 PM
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away Scot Rubin and I made video game programming on the information super-highway. Cut to 8 years later and he's back. All Games Radio is more than entertainment, it's a community of devoted gamers and fans all coming together to celebrate life digital. Take a look at this piece and join in the fun.
Tags: , , , ,

Show Us Your Home: Andrew Parsons Edition

Posted By: Nick Hodge | Mar 30th, 2007 @ 1:32 AM
Do you have Australia's Geek-iest House?

First in our competition, with no prizes apart from everlasting fame here On10.net, is Andrew Parsons. Recently moved into his new Geek Castle north of Sydney - Andrew proudly displays his devices and geek collections.

After I get my hit of traditional gaming, I ask Andrew his Geek Story. And it's a goodie. One of the proudest GeekDads I know.

Andrew is also the web master of GameParents, a site dedicated to educating parents and teachers on games titles. Go visit.

If you have a competitor to Andrew's GeekHouse - email me and I'll visit+video.
Tags: , , , , ,

GRAW2 Development Diary shows new game tech

Posted By: JD Lewin | Jan 30th, 2007 @ 12:24 PM
One of the more anticipated games for the Xbox 360 is the sequel to Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. The blend of action and extremely detailed controls creates a great crossover from Tom Clancy's novels to the gaming world. The team at Xboxyde published the first devdiary for GRAW2 last night. The video focuses on the technical and artistic accomplishments such as object translucency, dynamic fire and smoke, and a real day and night time cycle. While we're not sure about a war with Mexico, we're looking forward to playing out the what-if.
Tags: , , ,

Rare tour and XNA workshop

Posted By: Paul Foster | Jan 27th, 2007 @ 1:02 AM
As part of the UK launch of XNA Games Studio Express, Microsoft Games Studio company Rare ran a series of XNA workshops for academia at the Rare offices. I tagged along to get the tour of Rare and discuss game development with workshop organiser and Rare software engineer Nick Burton.

I've had some fun in this video, tell me what you think. Also, to be clear Grant Kirkhope did most of the music for Viva Pinata with Steve Burke providing supplemental music. To hear Steve Burke’s fantastic music to Kameo, and see the story behind it, visit www.kameosoundtrack.com.
Tags: , ,

Forza Motorsport 2 gets May release

Posted By: JD Lewin | Jan 26th, 2007 @ 5:33 PM
The racing simulator is the epitome of testosterone gaming for many people. Burning fuel and tires around the world's great race tracks is one of the most profound forms of digital entertainment, and for the livingroom petrolhead, Forza Motorsport 2 has been the unreachable pinnacle. Today however, the tarmac Gods have concluded that Forza 2 will be released in May of 2007. Get some time off slated this spring, as there will undoubtedly be a lot of paint to swap.

And for those keeping score at home, while Jeff is leading Duncan (pictured), the 10 Championship is far from decided ;)
Tags: , , ,

Peugeot Design Contest brings your car to the Xbox 360

Posted By: JD Lewin | Jan 17th, 2007 @ 3:51 PM
For the petrolhead gamer, walking through the virtual garage of your favorite racing sim is one of the more pleasant experiences. Staring at the endless amounts of detail that gets lavished onto each car model is truely awesome, but what if you could see your own designs in-game?

This year's Peugeot Design Contest is being sponsered by Xbox 360, and they've decided to give us all a shot at just that sort of glory. The grand prize winner, in addition to having their fully-constructed concept vehicle shown in Frankfurt, will see their creation take digital life inside an Xbox game.
Tags: , , , ,

Superman Returns for the Xbox 360

Posted By: Duncan Mackenzie | Oct 30th, 2006 @ 4:19 PM
I've been wanting to see some real hands-on play of Superman Returns... I mean, the first trailer was beautiful and all, but real play is what matters... sounds like I won't be disappointed, at least according to this review from GAMINGtruth. Xbox 365.com also walkthroughs the game and has a link to a video of the gameplay on YouTube.
Tags: , , , ,

Reuters opens Virtual News Bureau in "Second Life"

Posted By: Tina Wood | Oct 16th, 2006 @ 10:52 AM
Advertising in video games has been around for a while now and we've all sort of been sitting back to see how far it will actually go.  It's going to go as far as it does in reality.  Toyota and Sony BMG already have advertising in Second Life. If game companies can make extra cash through advertising to off set some of the costs to create a game which then inevitably makes games cheaper for the consumers to buy then I say YEA!  As long as its doesn't interfere with the gameplay.  On the other hand, I worry game companies will just pocket the extra dough and then in three months tell us games will now cost $75.00 do to the high cost to make them.  :) 
Tags: , , ,

Page Navigation