Book Review: XNA Game Studio 3.0

Having received a copy of Microsoft’s, Learn Programming Now! XNA Game Studio 3.0 (written by Rob Miles) I decided to try my hand at a book review. For all people who want to know how a game really works this is actually quite a good read. You do not have to be a programming genius to read this book, and it has been designed to provide a simple, yet fun learning experience.

Coming from a C++ (build everything yourself) background, I was not every enthusiastic about using XNA, thinking that it is just a dodgy cover to DirectX. But it is FAR from that, XNA is a brilliant tool, to build fun games quickly and easily.
The book is very much the same, it sets you up for a gentle ride into the XNA world, but before you know it you have fallen in love with a great programming tool. It is packed with detailed information describing everything you need to know to get started with XNA. From creating your first program, all the way up to multi-player networked games, there is even a bit of AI in there as well.

If you’re thinking that this is a code heavy book then you are quite wrong. Yes there is code on almost every second page, but Rob has only placed small snippets in so you don’t get lost in pages of black and white code. Every bit of code is explained very well, there were only a few times where I had to look back and think about what was explained.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised about how easy this book is to read, as I am no book worm at all. I cannot stand the dribble of university books, so this was a very comforting change. For anyone out there wanting to get into XNA programming, or just learning some of the trick on how to make games this is a great book.

LOADFEST TIME

Hey all,

Windows 7 is around the corner and we want to get all of Deakin in on the experience early. So we are getting a few pizza’s together and getting as many people as we can to load Win7 onto their machines as we can.

We have everything you need for the night so bring your desktop or laptop and we will help you load up Win 7.

Melbourne
Deakin University
Venue: Deakin Univeristy Burwood Campus Room he1.0021
When: Thursday 4th June
Time: 5pm till late
Website: blogs.student-partners.com.au/deakinmsp
RSVP: elmarschippers@studnet-partners.com.au

So come on have some fun before exams start.

Hope to see you on Thursday

Future Vision

This is a video from the OfficeLabs.com website, it’s a really cool look at what the world could be like in just 5 – 10 years. Office labs has heaps of cool videos about what Microsoft thinks the future can hold for us. Its dedicated to trying to reproduce ideas that come from within Microsoft. Just like car companies create concept cars, Microsoft creates concept videos and products.

Take a look at the video and check out their website for heaps more videos.

MSDNAA: Free software for all Deakin IT students

Ever wanted your own Dev box with the top Microsoft Software, for IT students today is your lucky day. You should all have recently received an email from MSDNAA with information about your subscription. If you havent already checked it out then do so, there is TONNES of software to get your hands on. This is also possibly the last place where you can still get Windows xp from so if your still in love with xp but need a new copy go get it.

The list is quite phenomenal it has everything from free training for Microsoft Certs, to XP, Vista and Win 7. It even has all the things you will ever need for creating your own projects, from Server 2008 Enterprise to SQL 08 and XNA game studio 3.0
Just follow this link to the Deakin MSDNAA site and use your supplied login and password to get in. If you have not received your email send us and email and we will follow it up.

Have fun downloading
Jastill

It's Not Cheating!

Once again Microsoft has given the money stricken University student a big helping hand. It’s Not Cheating, is a website that allows uni students the opportunity to purchase Microsoft Office 2007 ULTIMATE for $75. It has tonnes more features then Office 2007 home and Student, and is almost half the price. Ultimate sells for upwards of $650 to everyone else but we have the chance of getting it via download for just $75. If by chance you cant download it, they will send you a disk for $14 extra.

I recon this is a fantastic offer that every uni student should take up. Legit software for an almost illegal price.
Go check it out at It’s Not Cheating Home