Microsoft XNA Game Studio

Microsoft corporation has recently released a new version of very popular among game’s developers tool XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta.

This version allows to create games for Windows and media players Microsoft Zune, using optimized playing libraries, based on .NET Framework. Xbox 360 platform will be fully supported only in final release of this version. This program gives the possibility to build games for the Zune platform. This will let you write one game and deploy it to all three platforms that XNA Game Studio 3.0 will support. XNA Game Studio is an IDE that gives the user access to the .NET-based XNA Framework APIs, allowing you to create fun Zune games while still letting you integrate carefully with the overall Zune media experience.
This release requires either Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition and higher or Visual C# 2008 Express Edition, allows side by side installation of XNA Game studio 2.0, which can be used with Visual Studio 2005.
There are various improvements, such as additional media support and sound effects and the biggest potential is that the CTP allows for multiplayer gaming across a Zune wireless ad-hoc network. The XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta is a chance to get an early look at XNA Game Studio 3.0 that is currently in development. This release contains networking and multiplayer support, the XNA Game Studio Device Center, documentation and help.