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Microsoft Unveils the XNA Framework

You've heard the rumors, now hear it from the source... This morning we announced the Microsoft XNA Framework. The XNA Framework will bring a unified set of game development class libraries to Windows and the Xbox 360. This means that game developers can write games which shares a great deal of source code and even source game assets (sound, models, etc) between the Windows and 360 platforms. Oh, and did I mention it's all managed code? That's right, we are building a custom implementation of the Common Language Runtime for the Xbox 360 as well.

I remember when I first joined Microsoft four years ago I was talking to some people from the Xbox team about the possibility of getting managed code to work on an Xbox. At the time it was sort of kicked around as a really fun idea we would have loved to enable, but nobody ever thought it would be a reality. I guess we were right - we aren't delivering a managed code runtime for the Xbox. We'll be delivering one for the Xbox 360 instead. <g>

More details at our Web site - https://www.microsoft.com/xna - including a link to the press release which went live this morning. It's admittedly sparse on details at the moment, but we'll be sharing many more details later this summer at our Gamefest event. This is just the beginning...

Comments

  • Anonymous
    March 20, 2006
    Now how about a community/express version? :-)

    I would love to be able to create a (relatively) simple dungeon crawl-style game with visual studio. Think of "Wolfenstein 3d meets dungeons & dragons" or HeroQuest (the M&B boardgame).

  • Anonymous
    March 20, 2006
    Where can I get more info on the CLR for the 360?  Will developers be able to create any type of .NET application for the 360, or only games that use XNA?

  • Anonymous
    March 22, 2006
    Along with mrf1022's comments, I'd also like to know more about the XNA framework. Will the Windows port be simply a set of .NET assemblies and use the regular Windows .NET CLR, or will it be a separate CLR?

  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2006
    How cool is that!?!??!??!  WAY TO GO!

    I am truly excited about the ability to write managed code for the 360, and I see tremendous potential here.

    Other aspects of XNA look quite interesting as well, of course, and I am anxiously awaiting the completion of my XNABuild download as I type, heehee.

  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2006
    Yes, you read that correctly. In case you missed the announcement at the Game Developers Conference earlier...

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