14 DAY TRIAL // One of the promises Microsoft made back at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona about four weeks ago when unveiling the Windows Phone 7 Series was that users would enjoy an enhanced experience on their devices, and that the gaming capabilities of future phones would also be leveraged. This week, at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the company has unveiled a few more details on the matter, including the fact that game developers will be able to use the XNA Game Studio 4.0 to bring compelling titles to the Windows Phone 7 Series devices.
Up until now, the XNA Game Studio was available only for developers of software solutions for Windows PCs or Xbox, yet now the tool has been enhanced to support the company's Windows Phone 7 Series too. Not to mention that the unveiling of the new version of the tool comes only a few days after the Redmond-based software giant has shown on video how a user can start a game on a PC, continue it on a Windows Phone 7 Series device and finish it on Xbox.
“At GDC this week we’re giving everyone a first look at the latest and greatest, XNA Game Studio 4.0, which provides a powerful, productive, and portable technology for game development on Windows Phone 7 Series, Xbox 360, and Windows PC,” Michael Klucher notes in a recent blog post. “I wanted to shout out answers to some of the burning questions I would have. Yes, We have hardware accelerated 3D API’s on Windows Phone 7 Series. Yes, We have Visual Studio 2010 integration with our toolset. We’ve even added buffered audio support to the Audio API’s that many of you have asked for,” he continues.
One interesting piece of information Michael Klucher shares with us is the fact that Zune HD does not enjoy support in the new XNA Game Studio 4.0. Zune will still see support in the current XNA Game Studio 3.1 release, yet those developers who have built games for the platform should port them to Windows Phone 7, it seems. This move also suggests that Microsoft plans on focusing a lot on the new mobile platform, and that Zune is likely to turn into a service in the near future, since it has been integrated into Windows Phone 7 already.
“The other key component of XNA Game Studio 4.0 that we’ve enabled exclusively for Xbox partners is Xbox LIVE and a premium gaming experience on Windows Phone 7 Series. Through the Gamer Services API’s you can pull in a user’s Gamertag and 2D Avatar as part of the game experience, unlock achievements on the platform, and leverage notifications for asynchronous turn based gaming. […] With Windows Phone 7 Series we’re targeting the developers who work in small teams at large studios as well as the lone programmer working solo on their first mobile game title. We think this benefits all game developers and continues to grow the usage of .NET for games for indies and high end professionals alike,” Klucher also states.