XNA Creators Club Online - beginner's guide introduction: chapter 1

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	beginner's guide

Introduction

	1	What is XNA Game Studio?
	2	Hardware and Operating System
	3	What to Install
	4	Join the XNA Creators Club
	5	Connect to Your Xbox
	6	Deploy to Xbox
	7	XNA Creators Club Online

1. What is XNA Game Studio?

If you have ever wanted to make your own games, Microsoft® XNA™ Game Studio 3.0 is for you. Student, hobbyist, independent game developer — anybody can create and share great games with XNA Game Studio.

XNA Game Studio 3.0 is a game development product from Microsoft that is built on top of the Microsoft® Visual C# 2008 Express Edition, giving game developers the power and simplicity of C# as a programming language. XNA Game Studio 3.0 includes the XNA Framework and the XNA Framework Content Pipeline, which provides an easy and flexible way to import three-dimensional (3D) models, textures, sounds, and other assets into your game, and a game-focused application programming interface (API) that simplifies development for Xbox 360®, Windows®, and now Zune®.

Getting started with XNA Game Studio 3.0 is easy, and if you want to create great games for Windows or Zune it’s completely free. For those who want to create games for Xbox 360, an Academic Trial Memberhip or Premium Membership in the XNA Creators Club unlocks Xbox 360 develompent. The Premium Membership also provides access to exclusive content on the XNA Creators Club Online web site.

The following sections show you what is possible with XNA Game Studio 3.0, explain the XNA Creators Club Online, and lead you through downloading and configuring the software you’ll need to get started. Then, you can follow along with the two tutorials and learn about the XNA Framework by making your own games.

XNA Creators Club Online
To further tap into the power of Xbox 360, you’ll need an Academic Trial Membership or Premium Membership in the XNA Creators Club Online. The membership, accessed through Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace on your Xbox 360 console, is $99 (US) for a Premium 12-month membership. The Premium membership gives you the following benefits:

Access to the XNA Game Studio Connect, which allows you to play and debug XNA Game Studio 3.0 games on your Xbox 360 console
Exclusive assets and educational content from the XNA Creators Club website
Access to special game development tools and content from key partners, such as Garage Games® and Autodesk®

The Academic Trial Membership, accessed through Microsoft DreamSpark or MSDN Academic Alliance, is free for students. The Academic Trial Membership gives you the following:

Access to the XNA Game Studio Connect, which allows you to play and debug XNA Game Studio 3.0 games on your Xbox 360 console

The requirements for the XNA Creators Club include an Xbox 360 console with hard drive, a Windows Live™ ID, and a subscription to Xbox LIVE. See the following sections for more details.