In a vain attempt to be hip and cool I've launched a Facebook group for Very Silly Games (actually it was Craig's idea). If you want to take part you can find out more here.
I'm still waiting for someone to come up with a video for GamePad racer. The first one with something halfway decent on Facebook gets a signed copy of the book.
If you have actually obtained a copy of the book you will have noticed that it does not have any CD-ROMs with the source code on them. This is not as advertised on some book sites. I am really very sorry about this. The book was originally going to be shipped with copies of XNA and Visual Studio on CD-ROMs, but this was not possible in the end.
You can get the companion content for the book from here. (thanks ed)
I am terribly sorry about all this. I just hope that you still consider the book (and this site) worth it.
Microsoft seem to have caught the silly bug, in a most wonderful way. Thanks to a new initiative called DreamSpark, students can now get their hands on free versions of Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2005, Expression Studio and.... wait for it.... XNA subscriptions.
Yes, if you are a student who wants to write silly games for your Xbox 360 you can now get a one year Creators Club membership for nothing. Oh to be young again....
You can also catch an interview with Bill Gates about DreamSpark here.
I wrote an XNA Program that does nothing but print this. Silly eh?
Very Silly Games is at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. If you want to meet up with the silly person behind all this, send an email to gdc@verysillygames.com with your contact details and we could meet up for a silly chat.
I'll be recording a tutorial on how I made the silly banner, complete with silly sound effects. Once I've recovered from the jet lag....
Two complete chapters of the book Microsoft® XNA® Game Studio 2.0: Learn Programming Now! are now available from this site. You can also get hold of the sample code projects for these chapters and use them to turn your PC or Xbox 360 into the biggest and grooviest mood light you have ever seen.
You can find them here.
I feel that I must apologise for the new "Silly Ideas" section. Read some of the game ideas and find out why...
I've just been asked by my agent to confirm that this site is in no way a cheap tie-in with the book Microsoft® XNA™ Game Studio 2.0: Learn Programming Now! by Rob Miles, soon to be released to a patiently waiting public. Well, it isn't, not at all. Definitely not. Never crossed my mind.
(but there are links on the left to Amazon so you can pre-order it)
The first batch of content is now available for download. New games will be available on a weakly basis. And yes, I do mean weakly.
Welcome to a world of silliness. Ever wanted to race your Xbox 360 gamepads? Indulge in silly sixteeen player button bashing madness? Discover the joy of "Zero Graphics Gameplay"? Learn how to program in C# using your Windows PC and even your Xbox 360? This is the site for you.
Over time we are going to build up a "Library of Gameplay silliness" from which you can pull down fully working XNA games you can play instantly on your computer or, once you have joined the XNA Creators Club, on your Xbox 360.
Rob Miles is technology author and educator who spent many years as a lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Hull. He is also a Microsoft Developer Technologies MVP. He is into technology, teaching and photography. He is the author of the World Famous C# Yellow Book and almost as handsome as he thinks he is.
Make your own programming language. Find out more here.
