smart idea...XNA is already free..whats makes this deal BIG news is the swarm of other full programs u get along with it

I would like this please.

That's pretty cool. I'm hoping this stuff takes off so we can actually some GOOD games from XNA. None of games that are currently up for download on XBLA are very good...

I wouldn't even download the full games for free. :P... except for maybe the spongy-car one. But that would be the first game to go once HDD space was needed. :P

Great, I just graduated in December...thanks MS D:

Imperialistic Bastards!

My University isn't on the list :(

w00t! I'm enrolling for summer!

Wow, I'm getting everything wooo.

Obviously they want to make a lot of students dependent on their technologies to keep themselves relevant against superior technologies.

XNA Game Studio 2 is already free, but if you live in one of those countries and you are a college student, you'll also get a subscribtion to XNA Creators Club for free. It is normally 100$/year. I was going to subscribe to it, to make games for 360 and Zune, but now I'll get it for free! Microsoft offers the opportunity for students to learn to make games for their platforms (Windows, Xbox 360, Zune) for free, legally! Oh, and if your game gets published onto the XBLA Marketplace, you can even make money. I couldn't be more pleased by this news.

Where the hell was this when I was in collage. Its about 1 1/2 years late Damnit.

I called up my Game Design buddy the second I read this. He responded with "Dude, our computer labs have had XNA since forever."

Before everyone gets excited by this piece of good news, it'd be best to keep in mind that Microsoft's XNA tools use the C# programming language, otherwise known as Microsoft's bastard child version of C++.

In other words, games that are produced using the XNA tools can ONLY be run on Windows PCs and XBOX360s.

Personally, as a programmer, I hate C# and what it represents: Microsoft's irritating need to exercise a monopoly on nearly everything in the computer industry.

hoping to lure them away from Adobe-powered and open source software

Pretty much. The fight against OpenGL continues.

For the record the list of schools isn't exactly comprehensive, so by students, they mean students of these 20 seemingly random universities.

Not having LSU A&M College on their list fails ;(

@Marooner: Sucks when they're selective about useful stuff like this. It's like if Nvidia sold their new cards for $165 but only if you buy it at a Best Buy.

@Anicode: Collage? Where the hell did you go to college and they let you graduate spelling like that, lol. And you don't capitalize damn either.

@chiefpoopingpants: Oh, just like Apple did for decades?

Why isn't my school or organization listed as a verification source here?

We're working as fast as we can to get everyone on board. If your school isn't on the list, we have several alternate student identity providers (IDPs), such as the International Student Identity Card (ISIC) you can use to verify your student status. If you're still at a dead-end, here's what you can do: have your IT Department check out the "University Administrator FAQs" to find out more about including your school or organization. After all, we don't want to leave anyone out. If you think you're legit and still can't get through, click on the Technical Support link located in the Contact Us section below and complete the inquiry form so we can see if we can figure out how to help you out.

Are only students from major universities or students located in major cities able to access the Microsoft software available on the DreamSpark site?

No way! The whole point of the Internet is to bring everyone around the world together, right? So it doesn't matter what size your school is or where it is. We only ask that it's an accredited school of higher education, and that your student status can be verified. DreamSpark is available to all valid and verified students across the globe, attending any university, college, or tertiary/higher education institution that's accredited. Group hug, anyone?

Just get an ISIC card...and then select ISIC from the list.

@g1g010:

I thought your paycheck was the pleasing part.

@Marooner:
@sUKi:

I go to a school not listed on there and I got my free software 3 days ago.

@Lemming To The Sea:

Yeah. but I just wanted to complain LSU wasn't there is all xD

Since it's an engineer college and stuff.

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume this software doesn't work on a Mac.

What is this ISIC card you're speaking of? Never heard of such a thing. And they say to ask your IT people to get the school included? Yeah right, the SIU cats will never do a damn thing.

Is there any alternative to this?

@MykalBloom: Yeah, so what? Wanna fight about it?

@everyone who says their school isn't listed: you can get verified as a student in another way. go to [journeyed.com]
You can either pay $2.95 and get verified instantly. The other way is to upload a scan of a student ID or a document from your school with your name on it. This is the way i went about getting the software. The instant verification didn't work for me so i had to do the upload thing and it took about 4 days until they sent me a download link.
Just an alternative way to get it...

It tells you how to get verified as a student even if your school isn't on the list, it takes you to a different site for verification. I did it two days ago and I got all my free software! This is great!

Sweet I'm psyched. I'm so gonna make pong. Now I'm an engineer, and I don't know how to do any of this stuff. How did I even get in here? Ahhhh!!! All the other apps look sick too though.

What are the best apps to try, and are there any tutorials or anything so I can actually learn how to use them? And why wold I need server apps?

I guess this is the least I can get for being significantly in debt. Thank you Cornell.

Oh and the other day Microsoft was having a job recruitment center in one of the major engineering buildings, and there was a dude in a suit in a jacuzzi with real water screaming and giving out free pizza and a free Elite. I'm liking MS right now...

Read the disclaimer at the bottom:

**You agree herein and henceforth to give up at the sole discretion of MS any and all use of any intellectual properties and children you might have in your lifetime. Further you agree the half of every dollar you earn belongs to MS the other half will be due, by you the end user upon your death. However the aforementioned children may at some point pay off what is due MS after a lifetime of indentured servitude.**

Seriously, it's there read ;)

I thought that half of the point of microfilm was that you don't have to worry about protecting it as much as you would say a 100 year old newspaper or 400 year old boook... Plus it takes up less space (being the other half) and then you pay for it by having to put up with horrible microfilm/fiesh machines that rarely work and the general strain of hours spent looking at reel upon reel of information trying to find something that resembles what you're looking for. *shakes fist at micro-media* Then again I suppose it beats trying to look at books where they hand you gloves and the fabric-tube-dealie.

On a more ontopic note... Hopefully the initiative has some effect on the quality and number of games that are offered on the new NXA arcade thing.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm downloading now.

Damn, why isn't the University of Birmingham on that list...

In sweden and neither is my University in the list, quite sucky. Specially as I do spend most of my time coding in C#/XNA

@MykalBloom: Boot Camp

Having access to learning dev tools is nice but giving XNA software away is still cheaper than child slave labor. My guess Microsoft needs more content and it's not taking off fast enough. Just be careful what you choose to upload to Microsoft before reading the EULA.

@lharoon: @MugiMugi:

read my post ahead...gives u information on what to do if your school isnt listed...its not the end of the world

I will give points to MS for this one but at best they are still villians seeking redemption.

@Devenish:

thats a dumb assumption microsoft leads the way in content...this is something people asked for and they gave it. now as far as reading the EULA true indeed

I wonder how fast they will implement it in Holland and other countries. If MS will make it available out here then al that's left for me is the €3330 Adobe Master Collection. :D

I've just download it. You school doesn't have to be on the list either. The site will redicrect you to journey ed to verified your status instantly. And it's not just XNA but also visual studio 208 pro and loads of other softwares, pretty awesome deal for nothing

Cool beans. Any word on the chances of Kent State getting on that list?

@-EDGE-: Yes my thoughts exactly. Sorry for the late post.

Guys, if you are a college student *anywhere* you can get this software. If your school isn't listed there is a link there that takes you to another site (journeyed.com) for instant student verification, then you get a link back to dreamspark to d/l the software.

Sweet, now I get almost every Microsoft product for free except the basic office apps.

OpenOffice ftw.

@musicgangATL: Yes give people what they want as long as they know what they are agreeing to. As for clarifying Live is full of great content, I am just pointing to free Community based content [kotaku.com]

@musicgangATL: @Devenish: What wasnt free before was a creators club subscritption, that lets you run code on the 360. Ive been paying for one since it came out, now that saves me a bit of money :)

@Devenish: Microsoft have something called the academic aliance, it allows unis to pay a single licence fee and they get as many licences for ms software on the program as they need, students and staff can get accses to the unis account and can get free licences. about 6 months back the xna team said they would try and get the creators club subscription on the AA system so students didnt have to pay. instead, we have a new site that open and free to all uni, college and soon high school student, offering more up to date tools (vs 2008 isnt on msdn AA last time i checked) vs 2008 pro is realy expensive, a good £600. its realy about getting people to learn how to use there platforms. some might not like it and say it locks people in, but it dosnt realy. a good programmer isnt locked in to one system or language, they are adaptable. ms is provideing some of the best tools for free to learners. its not aboutl lack of content, there tonnes of content there

@Devenish:
Exactly, this is a great idea to get access, just ALWAYS do your homework and read the EULA.