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Microsoft bringing XNA Game Studio 4.0 to GDC this week, does 3D gaming for Windows Phone
0804 days
by Raymond.J
in Cellphones
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.
PlayStation Move motion controller launched at GDC, starter kit to be under $100 with game
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No surprise here: Sony just officially announced the PlayStation Move motion controller at GDC 2010, calling it the “next generation of motion gaming” because it’s so precise — latency is about the same as the DualShock 3. As expected, it uses the PlayStation Eye camera to track the controller, and Sony says it becomes an “extension of your body.” The plan is not only to engage casual gamers, but to use the precision of the controller to create “new experiences for core gamers” — many of the demo videos we saw involved using a controller video in each hand, and there were quote a few demos of action / RPG games. We also saw a demo of Move Party, which uses the camera to do augmented reality gaming and video chat. The demos are pretty impressive — Sony’s not kidding when it says the Move is incredibly precise. There’s also going to be a secondary “subcontroller” with an an analog stick for shooters — you can play all the way through SOCOM4 with just the Move and the sub-controller. (Yes, it’s just like the Wii Nunchuk, only wireless.)
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