XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers ReviewThis is an ADVANCED book for EXPERIENCED developers, and not intended for a beginner or a first course on XNA 4.0 programming. The publisher's error in posting an incorrect table of contents during the pre-order period leading up to the book's release is not reason enough to give this book a 1-star review, so I'm countering that with actually useful information about the book.
Key points at a glance:
Discover how to create exciting and challenging games for the Xbox 360 using XNA Game Studio 4.0 and the Visual C# programming language.
Provides experienced game developers with a comprehensive overview of the XNA Framework, providing all the tools, source code, and information you need to develop Windows and Xbox 360 games.
An introduction to programming in XNA, the XNA Framework, and all the new features included in XNA 4.0.
The bulk of the book focuses on the XNA Framework, in particular the features of the Xbox 360, including the controller, playing audio, and creating graphics.
Covers the major features of Xbox Live, including creating and rendering an avatar, loading and rendering a 3D mesh using a basic shader, and networking via system link and online.
A final game project demonstrates the networking capabilities of XNA and acts as a rudimentary, sprite-based networked game engine for your own projects.
Source code and artwork from the book as well as Visual C# 2010 projects for Windows and Xbox 360 are available as accompanying downloads.
Table of contents:
Part 1: Introduction and Primer
1. Introduction to XNA Game Studio 4.0
2. Peeking Under the Hood
Part 2: XNA Framework Library
3. XNA Framework Overview
4. Audio
5. Content
6. GamerServices
7. Graphics
8. Input
9. Media
10. Net
11. Storage
Part 3: Xbox Live
12. Avatars
13. Guide
14. Multi-player Networking
15. Meshes
16. Sprites
17. Multi-player Game Engine
XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers OverviewDiscover how to create exciting and challenging games for the Xbox 360 using XNA Game Studio 4.0 and the Visual C# programming language. XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers provides experienced game developers with a comprehensive overview of the XNA Framework, providing all the tools, source code, and information you need to develop Windows and Xbox 360 games. You'll find an introduction to programming in XNA, the XNA Framework, and all the new features included in XNA 4.0 to get you started. The bulk of the book focuses on the XNA Framework, in particular the features of the Xbox 360, including the controller, playing audio, and creating graphics. The final part of the book covers the major features of Xbox Live, including creating and rendering an avatar, 3D programming, loading and rendering a mesh using a basic shader, and networking via system link and online. You'll tie together all the skills you've learned in a final game project that demonstrates the networking capabilities of XNA and acts as a rudimentary, sprite-based networked game engine for your own projects. Source code and artwork from the book as well as Visual C# 2010 projects for Windows and Xbox 360 are available as accompanying downloads.

Want to learn more information about XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development ReviewBeginning Windows Phone 7 Development by Lee and Chuvyrov is aimed at developers new to the Windows Phone 7 platform (which is probably most of us). This book expects a basic understanding of C#, the .NET Framework and XAML so if you have no prior programming experience, an introductory text is a pre-requisite. .NET developers without Silverlight or WPF experience shouldn't find the content too challenging as it is either explained sufficiently by the authors or fairly easy to grasp in its own right.
Part 1, The Essentials of Windows Phone 7 Application Development, starts with a high level introduction to the Windows Phone 7 platform and then drills into some examples ranging from the obligatory Hello World through to a thorough Windows Azure-based cloud services end-to-end scenario. There are plenty of step-by-step instructions and loads of screenshots in these five introductory chapters making them a easy read.
Part 2, Using Windows Phone 7 Technologies, comprises the remaining fourteen chapters and the vast majority of the book. The meat of the book is in these chapters and provides a reasonable grounding for developers looking to discover the breadth of the Windows Phone 7 platform without getting bogged down in too much detail.
The book is organised reasonably well and covers the material well enough for someone new to the platform to become productive relatively quickly. The tone of the book is light without trying too hard to be humourous, which I was thankful for. However, I have two complaints to make, resulting in a less than perfect score.
First, there are a number of inconsistencies in the example code printed in the book. For example, in Chapter 2, the book refers to a TextBlock called textBlock1 in the description of the subsequent code but then goes on to use a TextBox called txtMessage in the actual code listing. There are plenty of similar errors in this section. Its easy enough to understand where the book has gone wrong and correct for it but it may be frustrating for beginners.
Secondly, and far more annoying for me, was the volume of grammatical errors. The authors' command of English is obviously good but between the frequent errors, odd turns of phrase, and some repetitive wording, I found the writing to be a distraction (there's something about code being referred to as codes that really irritates me). Thankfully I perservered through to Part 2 of the book where either the writing improved or I became too desensitised to care anymore.
The book is fine as a survey of the important areas of Windows Phone 7 which will likely require your attention as a developer. If you don't mind the occasional superficial inconsistencies in code examples or if the quality of the writing doesn't get in your way, you could do far worse. Some work by the editors at Apress should result in a much improved second edition as it really only needs polishing rather than a rewrite.
Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development Overview
Microsoft'sWindows Phone 7 handsets have injected a new vibrancy into the smartphone marketplace and provided bold new opportunities for the Microsoft development community. Now in its second edition, Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development has been written to help you identify those opportunities and to learn the skills you'll need to harness them. It covers the very latest developments in the field, including the extended APIs offered in Microsoft's automatic platform update, so you'll have timely, accurate information at your fingertips. Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development, Second Edition starts with the basics, walking you through the process of downloading and setting up the right development tools, including Visual Studio, Expression Blend, Silverlight SDK, and Windows Phone SDK. It then takes you step-by-step though the development process as you build and deploy a working application, complete with a sophisticated user interface. Finally, you'll receive step-by-step instructions on selling your applications through the Windows Phone Marketplace.

What you'll learn
How to create effective networked applications
How to leverage your phone's GPS capabilities from within your application
How to interact with the phone's built-in functionalities (camera, contacts, maps, accelerometer, video and web browser to name but a few)
How to construct highly graphical and responsive user interfaces quickly and easily using these features
How to package and distribute your applications for bothpersonal distribution and commercial sale via the Windows Phone Marketplace

Who this book is for
This book is for anyone interested in developing applications for the Windows Phone 7. You might be an existing .NET developer looking for a new creative angle, or perhaps an iPhone or Android developer looking for a new opportunity. If you have an understanding of basic .NET coding practices, then this book is for you.

Table of Contents
Introducing Windows Phone 7 and the Windows Phone Platform
Building Windows Phone 7 Applications
Using Cloud Services As Data Stores
Catching and Debugging Errors
Packaging, Publishing, and Managing Applications
Working with the Accelerometer
Application Bar
WebBrowser Control
Working with Controls and Themes
Integrating Applications with the Windows Phone OS
Creating Trial Applications
Internationalization
Isolated Storage
Using Location Services
Media
Working with the Camera and Photos
Push Notifications
Reactive Extensions for .NET
Security


Want to learn more information about Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...