Hasta La Gadget!

Alright, we’re going to be straight with you: you’re not going to like this. See, Microsoft just showed us a pair of 3D games running on its ASUS Windows Phone prototype and built with its brand new XNA Game Studio 4.0, but wouldn’t let us nab a single photo or video of the process. What we can tell you is that they exist, they work, and at least Microsoft tossed us some screenshots to wave in your face. The two titles are The Harvest (pictured), a good looking touch-controlled dungeon crawler with destructible environments, being developed by Luma Arcade; and Battle Punks, a less impressive one-on-one sword fighting Facebook game by Gravity Bear that’s being ported over. We didn’t get to see any full motion 3D camera moves, since Battle Punks is just composed of two characters duking it out, and The Harvest has a fixed camera and some pre-rendered elements, but there were indeed some real polygons being crunched before our eyes at a full resolution (no upscaling), alpha-rev, choppy framerate, and we were assured that full screen 3D was possible. We also got to see one of our first glimpses of universal notifications on Windows Phone: Achievement unlock notices (also pictured above) that slide down from the top of the screen in a black bar and then slide back, and can’t be interacted with. Follow after the break for some more nerdy details, along with a video of VisualStudio in action, and screenshots of the two games are in the gallery below.

Continue reading Microsoft shows off XNA games running on Windows Phone, full 3D is a go

Microsoft shows off XNA games running on Windows Phone, full 3D is a go originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guess we don’t have to wait until MIX to have all our Windows Phone 7 Series questions answered! Microsoft’s Eric Rudder, speaking at TechEd Middle East, showed off a game developed in Visual Studio as a singular project (with 90% shared code) that plays on Windows with a keyboard, a Windows Phone 7 Series prototype device with accelerometer and touch controls, and the Xbox 360 with the Xbox gamepad. Interestingly, not only is the development cross-platform friendly, but the game itself (a simple Indiana Jones platformer was demoed) saves its place and lets you resume from that spot on whichever platform you happen to pick up. Pretty impressive stuff, and while the words “Windows Phone 7 Series” weren’t spoken by Eric, the use of the prototype ASUS device and the clear emphasis that this would place on Xbox Live for making the magic happen make it obvious that this is the “wave of the future” for all three platforms — at least for casual gaming. Check out the demo on video below the fold.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Microsoft shows off single game running on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox

Microsoft shows off single game running on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So Microsoft’s Charlie Kindel posted up a long blog post about Windows Phone 7 Series and app development just now, and we couldn’t help but notice the WP7S device mockup he used is noticeably different from the stock press shots we’ve been seeing and the actual devices we’ve gotten to play with. That’s a totally different hardware trim, for starters, and there’s a Zune-like menu on the right– on the builds we’ve seen scrolling to the right reveals the app list. And that map on the bottom has been moved up a couple rows from where we’ve seen it on demo builds — which is unfortunate because it’s so wildly ugly in comparison to the rest of the 7 Series interface. Now, this could actually be an older mockup, not a newer one, so we’re not reading too much into this, but it’s clear that Microsoft is still making a ton of tweaks to the WP7S interface as time goes on — hopefully we’ll see some final results at MIX.

Update: Charlie confirms that this is an older mockup. Sorry, Zune fans.

Windows Phone 7 Series mockup changes slightly, Zune menu making a comeback? (update: nope!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know that it ain’t always practical or desirable to put money down on a phone every time a new OS or interface comes out — so what is a gadget hound to do when they realize their hardware won’t be supported by Windows Phone 7 Series? Well, if you’re anything like these enterprising individuals you roll your own. Both Jaxbot and LeSScro, members of the XDA Developers forum, have skins in the works that mimic the new OS on WinMo devices with varying degrees of success. The work of the former is still pretty slow and buggy but it does offer some functionality — including info on live tiles and the ability to see upcoming appointments on your lock screen. The latter theme, on the other hand, sports time, date, and notifications on the lock screen, profile settings, transitional animations, a handful of hubs (including games, media, and Office), and an apps launcher. Check out the source links for more info — but not before checking out the demo videos after the break.

[Thanks, Geever]

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 Series themes for WinMo abound in dev forums

Windows Phone 7 Series themes for WinMo abound in dev forums originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Truly our craziest show yet. In case you didn’t tune into the livestream of The Engadget Show on Saturday (and if you somehow didn’t hear about the news), then you’re in for a real treat. The crew gets especially wild on this episode while talking Hulu and plans for world domination with Boxee’s Avner Ronen, revealing the first partner handset for Windows Phone 7 Series with Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman, and playing around with the Dell Mini 5, as well as the forthcoming Engadget app for Android. Oh, and there’s also a fascinating short piece on chiptune music and visuals and the folks who make the magic happen. If you do one thing today, make it The Engadget Show. You won’t be sorry. The full video is available to stream after the break, or you can download it below.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel
Special guests: Avner Ronen and Aaron Woodman
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger
Edited by: Michael Slavens
Music by: Nullsleep
Visuals by: Paris and Outpt
Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec

Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 006 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 006 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted)

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Continue reading The Engadget Show – 006: Avner Ronen, the first Windows Phone 7 Series device, Dell Mini 5, and more!

The Engadget Show – 006: Avner Ronen, the first Windows Phone 7 Series device, Dell Mini 5, and more! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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