Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express (Beta 2)
XNA Game Studio Express enables hobbyists, academics and small, indie game developers to more easily create video games using new, optimized cross-platform gaming libraries based on .NET for Windows and Xbox 360.
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2.11.2006 New Diablo 3 Screens Showing Brutal Fights
Diablo 3 was announced just a few months ago and after the first trailer, Blizzard did not reveal too much new information about the game.
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27.8.2008 Diablo III Officially Announced - Trailers and Screenshots Available
All the conspiracy theories can be put aside now because it’s here: Diablo III has been officially announced.
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29.6.2008 Game over
Google's Name Game
Backlash and confusion have dogged Google's plans to scan millions of books, and, while continuing with its efforts, it has opted for a name change from Google Print to Google Book Search.
"We don't think that this new name will change what some folks think about this program," says Jen Grant, product marketing manager for Google, via the company's Web site. "But we do believe it will help a lot of people understand better what we're doing."
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20.11.2005 Is it game over for Windows Vista?
The saviour that was meant to be, Vista Service Pack 1, isn’t. In some cases it’s actually a performance decrease for an operating system already grinding up-to-date PCs to a halt.
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25 New Need For Speed Game is ready
The latest EA investors meeting was a great opportunity for the company's boss, John Riccitiello to unveil a host of new and exciting projects.
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18.6.2008 Microsoft Game Testers Wanted
Microsoft’s Game Technology Group is looking for official software testers for their upcoming projects.
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21.7.2006 Microsoft Teasing New Game Device?
A new viral Web site at notfornoobs.com has launched that appears to tease an upcoming game-related device by Microsoft and hardware manufacturer Razer.
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21.8.2006 Microsoft to Share Game Ad Revenue
Casual game developers will soon be able to share in some of the revenue from MSN Games thanks to a new system developed by Microsoft. The new option is available immediately, and could mean as much as $250,000 in shared revenue for the five most popular titles.
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12.2.2007 New York Police Department calls for boycott of game
The New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and the city's largest police union are calling for a boycott of Activision?s upcoming True Crime: Streets of New York City, calling it "an outrage."
The "mature" rated game is set in New York with a fictional version of the cities police department whose members are depicted as having no problem roughing up suspects and breaking into buildings without search warrants among other naughty acts.
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Free Game from MS! Play Carioca Rummy
In the off chance that you have mastered Solitare, are bored with Minesweeper and like me, have no idea how to play Hearts, Microsoft has a new card game for you to download and install.
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27.3.2006 Microsoft to Acquire In-Game Advertising Pioneer Massive Inc.
Massive?s technology for weaving dynamic, relevant ads into video games will extend next-generation advertising across Microsoft properties and beyond.
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5.5.2006 Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express (Beta1)
XNA Game Studio Express enables individuals and small teams to more easily create video games using new, optimized cross-platform gaming libraries for Windows and Xbox 360.
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30.8.2006 Burger King Confirms Xbox 360 Game Dev
Turns out that despite all those breaking into people's homes, running across football fields and trying to shove people off high rises, the King isn't as cheerful a guy as one might suspect.
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12.4.2006 Game Developer Says Vista Breaks Casual Online Games
The world is still absorbing all the added features and security of Windows Vista, game developers and casual gamers may have something to be unhappy about when it comes to the Microsoft’s operating system.
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31.1.2007 Microsoft shares rosy update on its in-game advertising strategy
Microsoft is pinning its hopes on in-game advertising as a future moneymaker for the company across not just Xbox Live, but also MSN, Windows Live and other Microsoft properties.
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16.3.2007 Halo 3 Becomes Fastest-Selling Pre-Ordered Video Game in History
Blockbuster consumer brands including 7-Eleven, Burger King Corp., Comcast, Mountain Dew and Pontiac unveil unprecedented support for the launch of this year’s biggest entertainment event.
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9.8.2007 Microsoft Releases XNA Game Studio Express and Launches XNA Creators Club
Global game development competition, “Dream-Build-Play,” offers an opportunity for winner’s game to be published on Xbox Live Arcade.
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12.12.2006 Microsoft Office 2010 Beta 2 Leaks, Public Beta Expected in November
After Microsoft announced yesterday that Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 will be sent to testers this week, more exciting news comes from the Office 2010 section.
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21.10.2009 Activate Windows 7 Pre-Beta 6801 with Vista Beta or RC Product Key without Crack
Already download and install Windows 7 Pre-Beta build 6801? You probably have to leave the product key field blank during installation in order to complete the setup of Windows 7.
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1.11.2008 Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2, .NET Framework 3.5 Beta 2
Visual Studio 2008 is the next generation development tool for Windows Vista, the 2007 Office system, and the Web. The Beta 2 release includes most of the products found in the Visual Studio product line. MSDN Subscribers can also download these files from
MSDN Subscriber Downloads. Thanks to pacpis for this news.
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27.7.2007 Windows 7 RC Brings Windows XP Mode Beta and Windows Virtual PC Beta
The Release Candidate of Windows 7 will bring with it the first Beta development milestones for Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC.
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29.4.2009 Firefox 1.5 Beta 2 Out Now
Firefox 1.5 Beta 2 is now available for download. This is the second Beta release of our next generation Firefox browser, to be released later this year, and it is being made available to our developer and testing community for compatibility testing and to solicit feedback.
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IE 7 Beta 3 Now Download
Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) Beta 3 has been designed to make everyday tasks easier, provide dynamic security protection and improve the development platform and manageability.
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29.6.2006 RunScanner 0.9.0.0 Beta
RunScanner is a completely free windows system utility which scans your system for all configured running programs. You can use runscanner to detect autostart programs, spyware, adware, homepage hijackers, unverified drivers and other problems.
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17.3.2007 Silverlight 1.0 Beta
Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web.
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3.5.2007 ViStart Beta 5
Now everyone can enjoy the benefits of fast program searching straight from their Start Menu, with ViStart, currently my latest project, Developed under the management of Windows X For the latest Vista Transformation Pack.
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10.6.2007 XPize 4.7 Beta
XPize is a GUI enhancer for Windows XP and above. It replaces most of the non-XP icons, avis and bmps that Microsoft has always overlooked.
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19.7.2007 VistaTweaker 0.1 Beta
VistaTweaker is a complet tweaking utility designed for Windows Vista in mind. By using it you can have your computer configured exactly the way you want.
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25.7.2007Efficacy of Activision + Blizzard merger will be tested with Diablo III
Much to the delight of gamers, Blizzard Entertainment finally confirmed Diablo III is in development, and also showed off screenshots and game
play during the 2008 WorldWide Invitational (WWI)...
betanews.com -
01.07.2008Diablo III Hints?
Thanks to
Shacknews for the heads up.
Diablo III is one of those
games that most people assume
has to be in development, but
has still yet to be announced.
Now, several Blizzard and
Diablo fan sites have hosted
an online chat interview with
Diablo novelization author
Richard A. Knaak containing
numerous tidbits suggesting
that a third main game in
Blizzard's acclaimed hack and
slash RPG series is on the
way. Some choice quotes:
Q - Medievaldragon:
How much of the book is
creation of yours, and how
involved is Chris Metzen
behind the canon storyline of
Diablo: The Sin War Trilogy?
Do you think the ramifications
of this book impact in the
storyline of Diablo 3 the
game? A - Knaak: This is a
pure collaboration between
myself and Chris/Blizzard. All
that is written is passed by
him and the others there. This
will be canon and has adjusted
earlier info. The
ramifications here will be
used for any future
project...and I ain't writing
for a dead game. Q - Deathshade|EU:
So... Diablo 3? A - Knaak: I am not
writing for a dead world...but
a world with dead. nuff
said
Sweet, Diablo III. Now
all we need is Starcraft II
and Warcraft IV!
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26.10.2006XNA Game Studio 2.0 Beta Now Available
The XNA team is pleased to announce the Beta release of XNA Game Studio 2.0! This Beta release is your chance to try out the new features available in
XNA Game Studio 2.0, including support for Visual Studio 2005, multiplayer support over System Link and LIVE, and many more features and enhancements,
many suggested by you, the community members.
If youre an existing XNA Game Studio Express user, you wont have to worry about
uninstalling anything “ XNA Game Studio 2.0 (Beta) lives comfortably side-by-side with XNA Game Studio Express. Just follow the link below to find out
whats new in XNA Game Studio 2.0 and download the Beta, as well as updated sample content you can use with the Beta right away. Theres even a
multiplayer-enabled starter kit you can use to familiarize yourself with multiplayer programming in the XNA Framework.
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20.11.2007XNA Game Studio 2.0 Beta Ending Soon
Michael Klucher: This Friday, December 7th, will be your final chance to download the beta of XNA Game Studio 2.0. We are ending the beta program in
preparation for our final release.
Additionally, the Games for Windows - LIVE online functionality will become disabled. You will
still be able to use XNA Game Studio 2.0 Beta to program System Link games, but you will not be able to log on by using a LIVE-enabled Gamertag.
As we have mentioned, the delta between the beta and the release was very short. During that period, we addressed many bugs and
issues, but the beta you received was "feature complete," meaning that everything new for XNA Game Studio 2.0 was included with the beta.
Our final release is right around the corner, and we'd like to thank everyone who took time to download our beta as well as provide
feedback through the Microsoft Connect site. It's with your help that we can ensure that our final build is as stable as possible.
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06.12.2007XNA Game Studio 2.0 Beta Available Soon
Michael Klucher: It's been a while since we posted on the upcoming XNA Game Studio 2.0 release. The good news is that there will be a XNA Game Studio
2.0 beta available for you to download very soon!
This beta is considered "feature complete." This means that while we still
have some issues to address, all of the features that will be in the release are included as part of the beta. However like all our previous betas,
the beta is for the Windows-based computer functionality only and you will not be able to deploy games to the Xbox 360 system.
Unfortunately, there were a few things that didn't make it into this release. The most prominent being that you cannot host XNA applications in
Windows Forms. All the other major features that we talked about earlier this year will be available!
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15.11.2007Microsoft Opens Up Halo 3 Beta
Microsoft's Bungie Studios
has put the call out for beta
testers of the next
installment of the Halo game
series for the Xbox 360
console, set to offer for the
first time a multiplayer
aspect of the game through
Xbox Live...
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06.12.2006Hellgate London: DX10 vs. DX9 Gaming Experience
On Halloween,
Flagship studios (the same people who brought us the classic Diablo
series) shipped their latest game,
Hellgate: London. Published by
EA Games, Hellgate: London has the somewhat unique distinction of being half
single-player action RPG, and half MMO action RPG.
Admittedly, the MMO portion of the game is currently lacking population to
make it truly massive, but the game is yet young. In addition, online play is free, but a subscription service with extra perks (such as a larger
stash and high-level raid content) is available. The game is played almost entirely in the third person perspective, with all of the proper attitude,
rotation, and zoom controls needed for such a game. When a player equips just a single firearm (without a shield), the first person perspective
becomes available, and the game is transformed into a first-person shooter. Even with the genre-bending, experienced gamers should have no trouble
picking up on the familiar "WASD" keyboard controls, and new gamers won't be hard pressed to learn them either.
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26.11.2007Study: Online games more captivating
Role-playing games with an Internet element are so much more captivating than equivalent electronic games that they change users' lives, cutting into
their sleep and boosting the time they spend playing, a new study shows.
So-called massively multiplayer online role-playing
games, or MMORPGs, have become a huge phenomenon in the game world in the last five years. The largest, "World of Warcraft," has more than 9 million
players.
The study by Joshua Smyth, a Syracuse University psychology professor, says one reason for their success is they really
suck in players.
Smyth divided 100 student volunteers randomly into four groups. One got tokens to play at a local arcade, a
second played the adventure game "Gauntlet: Dark Legacy" on a Sony Corp. PlayStation 2 console and the third played role-playing game "Diablo II"
on computers.
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18.10.2007Halo 3 Beta Gaffe Angers Gamers
Microsoft has fixed some early
issues in its Halo 3 beta
offering for those who
purchase the game
Crackdown , as well as
agreeing to extend the beta
period by one week to June 10...
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19.05.2007XNA Game Studio Express Beta 1
Released
As previously announced,
Microsoft released a few hours
ago XNA Game Studio Express
Beta 1 on Connect. XNA Game
Studio is aimed at simplifying
game development for both
users developing as a pastime
and professional developers.
Unlike what was
expected, XNA Game Studio
isn't a standalone program
based upon Visual C# Express
2005, but rather a plugin to
it, adding pre-made simple
project files and some new,
simplified libraries.
XNA Game Studio Express
Beta 1 is available to any
Connect user by using the XNA
Connection in Microsoft
Connect, and also has a direct
download link at Microsoft's
Download Center, provided
below.
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31.08.2006XNA Game Studio Announced
Microsoft officially announced
today that it will release
Beta 1 of its future XNA Game
Studio series of products. The
"series" because it is
divided in 4 different
products:
-XNA
Game Studio Express: This
product is targeted at
students and hobbyists game
developers. It is based on
Visual C# Express 2005 and
lets the user create its very
own games for Windows and Xbox
360. A beta of it will be
released on August 30.
-XNA Game Studio
Professional: This one is
targeted at, as its name
indicates, professional game
developers. It will feature
all features of its Express
counterpart, adding more
features that are mainly
useful when shipping
commercial games. Its beta
release is currently set for
early 2007.
-XNA Framework and Content
Pipeline: The framework is
essentially a set of unified
C# libraries, designed to
simplify game development. The
content pipeline lets the user
implement 3D content easily to
a XNA Game Studio
project.
A
program is already available
at Microsoft Connect for the
upcoming XNA Game Studio
Express Beta. You can access
it directly using the link
below, but it is advised that
you subscribe to the program
through your Available
Programs list.
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15.08.2006Phantasy Star Universe Beta launches, with some hiccups
The Phantasy Star
Universe Xbox 360 open beta
has now begun as of Friday
morning. It was delayed
earlier in the week, but
apparently Sega felt it was
time to let people test the
game out. Unfortunately it
looks like the beta has many
issues, and considering the
game will go live in about a
week in North America (not
sure about Europe) and is
already out in Japan, maybe
Sega should have waited
another day or two to iron out
the little
bugs?
In any case, all you need
to do to get the beta is log
on to Xbox Live and go to the
Marketplace. You can download
it there, but you are required
to have an Xbox Live Gold
membership to do so. Once in
game, you can create a
character and go explore the
Gurhal System with up to five
other people. Six is the party
maximum in the beta, though
I'm not sure if that is the
maximum for the full game. Any
region can take part in this
beta test, except for Hong
Kong, Korea, Singapore and
Taiwan.
Just to prepare some of
you who will try this beta
out, some of the issues being
reported are complete game
hang ups, the inability to
finish character creation and
trouble logging into the game
period. There are other issues
as well, and I've linked the
1up.com&
nbsp;story about it.
Otherwise, enjoy the beta for
Phantasy Star Universe
everyone.
neowin.net - 14.10.2006
AdSense ads wind their way into Flash games
After initial testing with social media game maker Playfish, Google is now launching a beta that will include Sprint and Sony as advertisers and Zynga
and Konami as game creators. Is this the beginning of an ad-supported virtual world?..
betanews.com - 09.10.2008
Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta
This release represents the beta of Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.0, which enables hobbyists, academics, and independent game developers to easily
create video games for Windows and the Microsoft Zune digital media player by using optimized cross-platform gaming libraries based on the .NET
Framework.
Targeting the Xbox 360 console is not supported in this beta release. It will be supported in the final release
version.
The new features in this release are too numerous to list here. However key items include: Support for the Visual Studio
2008 family of products, developing games that run on the Microsoft Zune digital media player, enhancements to the XNA Framework API for media
support, sound effects, rich presence and much more!
This release provides compatibility with the Zune 3.0 Firmware release.
Please note that the XNA Game Studio 3.0 CTP will no longer work once you have upgraded your Zune device to the 3.0 firmware.
winbeta.org - 17.09.2008
Successful Halo 3 Beta Concludes
Microsoft said Wednesday that
it had ended its multiplayer
beta of Halo 3 , adding
that it had attracted over
820,000 unique participants
contributing over 12 million
hours of game play...
betanews.com - 13.06.2007
Halo 3 beta racks up impressive stats
The Halo 3 beta is over and
even though it may seem like
the beta was over too soon for
gamers, Microsoft has revealed
the latest stats about the
success of the beta, which is
surely a good replacement for,
you know, the actual beta.
More than 820,000
users participated in the beta
with more than 350 terabytes
of data downloaded from Xbox
Live, this is the equivalent
of more than 82,000,000
digital music downloads from
the Internet. More than
580,000 saved films were
created by users.
"The participation in the
Halo 3 beta was staggering,"
said Shane Kim, corporate vice
president of Microsoft Game
Studios. "Witnessing such a
great reaction to a small
portion of the game has been
inspiring. It's a testament
to the fervor and anticipation
that surrounds Halo 3. We're
confident that on September
25, Halo 3 will drive an
unprecedented wave of new
gamers to Xbox 360 and Xbox
Live."
winbeta.org - 14.06.2007
Scrabulous creators sued in United States by Hasbro
Game maker Hasbro, just weeks after the release of a properly licensed Scrabble Facebook beta, have filed suit against the creators of the
unauthorized, and apparently too-popular Scrabulous , asking for removal of the game in addition to unspecified damages...
betanews.com - 25.07.2008
Quake Wars public beta details confirmed
Activision is to invite 60,000
gamers into the public beta of
multiplayer shooter Enemy
Territory: Quake Wars (PC),
it's been confirmed, although
a start date for the beta is
yet to be announced.
Gamers who secure a place
in the public beta will be
thrashing the living daylights
out of only one map, Sewer.
This level "is part of
ETQW's Pacific Campaign",
the Quake Wars website
explains. "Set in Japan, the
map revolves around a Strogg
base hidden in, well, a sewer.
It's an interesting mix of
outdoor and indoor, vehicle
and infantry combat,
deployables and
counter-deployables and good
old-fashioned FPS combat."
An announcement on
the website adds, "If you'd
like to help us finish ETQW,
we'd really appreciate your
participation. If you want to
just play a game for free you
may find it a frustrating
experience. This Public Beta
is not the Demo - it's not
the finished game, but an
opportunity to get feedback
from a large group of people
while testing stability and
performance on a wider range
of hardware combinations...
winbeta.org - 18.06.2007
Microsoft's next XNA Game Studio beta supports multi-player
An expedited beta period is planned for the artistic development environment upgrade, which will now enable programmers to build multi-player games
for Games for Windows Live...
betanews.com - 22.11.2007
Sign-ups begin for beta of EA's Battlefield: Heroes
EA DICE announced early this year that it would be releasing a free, ad-subsidized version of its Battlefield franchise by summer. Sign-ups for
the beta of this upcoming game have opened...
betanews.com - 20.05.2008
