<![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students - Kotaku Comments]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students - Kotaku Comments]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @homernoy: Oh yeah no I agree with you that you were responding to an overblown statement, and I tried to factor that into my response without jumping into that dialogue you were having with the other guy, but I guess it boils down to every company wants to design a system that encourages you to upgrade on that same path, and I can't argue that apple doesn't do some things to encourage that, such as educational discounts. I'm curious as to when you were in school, as in the 90s Apple had truly awesome educational discounts, 1700 dollar computers for 1100, things like that, now the discounts are much trimmer, $100 for students and teachers, maybe a bit more for an entire district contract. So back in the day, there was more truth to that, it was part of a strategic plan by Apple that has, I would concede, panned out by giving them perhaps 10-15% greater share of the education market than they would now have otherwise. The price differences are much slimmer, which along with the discounts now its much more dog-eat-dog in terms of price competition between Apple, HP, Dell, etc for educational machines.

Thats a great thing in general, and I'm glad for it. Now if we can just figure out how to fix out broken system of administration and funding our schools, maybe district contracts will stop hinging on non-democratic power struggles between school board members, teachers, etc, many of whom often have one form of vested interest or another in the decision, and start being based on fair bidding and individual teacher preference. I would disagree with the notion that going to Class A and using computer platform X, then going to Class B and using platfrom Y later in the day/week/month/etc is somehow bad for students. It seems like you would want to be turning out people well versed in platform migration, using different systems to accomplish the same tasks, rather than automatons confused when confronted by a terminal prompt and/or WinGUI, MacGUI, KDE, etc vs what they've been used to using for their entire schooling.

I also totally agree MS is not all bad, they're a corporation not a single, faceless entity. I loved the book MicroSerfs, really illustrates both the good and bad things about being a low level code-jockey at MS. Conversely, Apple is not some righteous savior corporation here to deliver us from the evil tendrils of MS, I know some Mac users come off that way at times and I'm not one of them, I sometimes curse their products but I still use them, and for the most part Mac Office is pretty decent. If they would just develop a real image embedding format (that people actually used!) to replace .doc to simplify the transition from .doc to real page layout programs for the countless designers who must deal with the format (they know what I'm talking about), they could double my satisfaction with their products overnight ;)

DaiMacculate

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @MugiMugi: Haven't tried, but can't you choose Mecenat or studera.nu?

Harteex

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> The big thing about XNA is the 360's 12 month XNA creator's club membership. Everything about XNA has always been free. If your uni isn't on the list you just need to verify your actually a student at a different university. It's really easy, and took me a few minutes to do. You can access the alternate methods of verification at the same page when you select your uni.

kermit007

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Cool stuff. I might be a bit more enthusiastic if I wasn't a Mac user but this is cool nonetheless. :)

Zyvo

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @Witzbold: I think they've been doing Japanese Universities for a while now.

okenny :)

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> I was all excited when I saw this, and Microsoft ruined my day by making this college-only! I'm sure I am not the only high school student around that would appreciate some free development software!

Jon.B

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Hey hey, I think I'm eligble for this. Unfortunately I already use a lot of Adobe stuff, but the XNA creators club looks interesting.

Odin

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @CoverlessTech: Uhh inject code into the wii via the twilight princess hack -_-;;... i was trying to be unblunt lol.. since im not sure of the rules for saying stuff like hax o_O... but they made pong that way =/

pyropetey

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @brent_w: I prefer Kate in Linux for most of my dev needs - C++, Perl, PHP - but I'm perfectly happy with working in a text editor that does highlighting. Crimson Editor is a good one for windows and if you need an IDE, Dev-C++ is good for C/C++ development. Visual Studio is a must for any kind of .Net work, though considering all the lengthy methods and whatnot and the love that IntelliSense provides.

jacksinn

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Express editions of C#, VB (boo that language), C++ and others are available for free for those making smaller scale apps or learning. The school I graduated from (Augusta State) had an MSDN license where the school had an agreement with MS and we got to download professional versions of their development software as well as operating systems. Good thing I didn't have to pay to try out Vista.

jacksinn

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> UMD Graduate Program...Im IN!

JesseLacey

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @chiefpoopingpants:
Anybody who is going to college for computer science should be perfectly capable using any of the Integrated Development Environments with a little adjustment period.

If someone became dependent on Visual Studio to the point that they couldn't work without it, I would be very sad and confused for that person.

brent_w

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @pyropetey: Our school is associated with MSDNAA so yes I do get most of this software for free anyways but it's still great for anyone else, plus I now get a free year of CC($100 is still $100). Plus there are 4 other programs not available to me by MSDNAA.

The point still remains that for most people, free dev tools for a console(save for DS, PSP, GC and a few others, these ones still do not give you licensing opportunities though) are almost impossible to get. And by free I don't mean stealing it.

As for porting I don't mean taking the code I have written for the DS and compiling it in XNA, I simply mean having the means to make the games on something other then devkitpro offers is great.

Like I said, if you have a better free alternative to making a game on a console please fill me in.

CoverlessTech

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> It would be cool if MS went and distributed a few of these "packages" to game development schools in Japan too.

Witzbold

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @homernoy: *course ;)

homernoy

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @DaiMacculate: I wasn't trying to say something bad about Apple as much as I was trying to say this statement

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

Is rediculous. No one is forcing anyone to do anything. It's not like Microsoft is putting a gun to anyones head and saying "use this software or else".

When I was in school we had Apple hardware and software of cource, and I liked using them. I was told these computers were used because of the steep discount, not necessarally by teachers choice.

Heck, my wife works for Microsoft here in Redmond, and she has a Mac Book Pro, so MS and their emloyees aren't that bad.

homernoy

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> No Va Tech, but they have UVA? FAIL.

beezdeez

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @homernoy: Not Apple's fault that everybody liked writing educational software for Apple2 and then Macintosh better than doing it for PC. Apple gave teachers tools like Hypercard that were much simpler to learn than anything on PCs to date, which is why they built up such a following in that space in the 80s and into the 90s. Dell and HP made major inroads through aggressive pricing, but Apple still owns a pretty significant portion, and its not through anything other than teacher preference.

Full Disclosure: My mom used to work for an Apple edu reseller, and as a teenager I'd go with her on sales and deliveries helping install machines, etc. There were some pretty crappy edu-focused Macs in the mid 90s, I would agree (look at the "Road Apples" page of www.lowendmac.com for some more glaring examples), but that was hardware put out after they ousted Jobs, whatever else he has done I don't agree with he turned Apple around, hardware-wise. Mac Software was never the issue in the education space, and still isn't except for the dumb ass school districts that think Citrix is going to work as a classroom solution :eyeroll: ;)

DaiMacculate

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @SDreamer: There's tons of web development software out there... that IS free... microsof tisnt the priority choice for most people... however if you are really into what they are doing then why not try visual web developer 2005? Its a free lightweight component that is pretty much ... free and made by m$ which provides all the web functionality of visual studios -_-;;

people need to look online more .

pyropetey

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @CoverlessTech: Your approach to a free alternative is spot on, doing work on the DS and other consoles that have, more of less, their entire inner workings posted on the internet.

BUT as for porting? Don't expect an easy alternative if its for one of the current consoles. But for the most part look for the work around such as code injection lol... weeeee :D

Im sure the code will run the same in that sense lol :P even if its sorta gimped... at least you'd be working under the maximal potential so anything looking great there will look even better when all out can be done :P

pyropetey

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Despite my University having very popular Games Courses, it's not on there. Great stuff, Microsoft. Nice work on the research.

Narfmaster

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> FYI everything is mostly free or has a free substitute... and uhh free to "acquire" if you uhh... look in the right "place"

ANYWAYS. the ONLY gain is the creators club free 1 year aka 100 $... which is sorta dumb lol since it doesn't really lead anywhere either. Oh well next time m$! Im sure you'll get some of us next time!

And btw depending on your schools if you're signed up with their computer science department (usually) and they're associated with MSDNAA (which they usually are) you should be able to get every one of those programs ( exception XNA... but thats free to being with) free... and actually a lot more than just those programs.

pyropetey

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> To every one putting MS and it's products down, show me a better FREE alternative to making games for a console. I currently use devkit pro for my DS development but I would really like to port some of this stuff to XBLA one day but as a student living on about 12k a year I can't really afford licensing and official dev kits. If you have a better free alternative please let me know, if not leave the barking for the ocean.

CoverlessTech

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> They must be suffering from a lack (or perceived lack) of mindshare with students and are desperate to get them to change to the windows platform and lock them into their proprietary fold. .net obviuosly needs more of a boost and isn't as successful as they make out. LAMP has taken a big bite out of their own shitty application stack.

It will have only limited success. It's still only for a windows platform, and the tools aren't really all that good either if you've used other stuff as well. And even if they were a bit better in some areas the restrictions are a big turn-off for anyone who cares about honouring them.

And they'll just flood the service with the sort of mediocre shareware crap we've all had on every pc platform over the last 30+ years.

$Bill$G$

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> They'd have to pry my precious adobe software from my cold dead hands before they could get me to switch design programs :) Still commendable though, free software is always good.

lestat730

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @MaxS: nope, ms academic alliance (or something near-identical) is alive and well here in the states too... a friend of mine goes to neumont university in utah and gets damn near every piece of software microsoft currently produces for gratis.
the free xna creator's club membership, however, was worth informing him about :)

djabacus

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @homernoy:

You're right about Apple holding onto the one area it sells computers (schools) and that is another benefit to MS if they can stop more people from buying Apple computers and get them completely locked into the Microsoft way of life.

Apple does tie some of its products together but there is no way Apple has tried to control people's computing nearly as much as MS has. Apple actually works with other companies.

Microsoft could have contributed to OpenGL which would have benefitted Windows, Mac and Linux users and that's the problem. They've instead opted to develop Direct X. A Windows only solution that gives them full control and it's not even necessarily the best solution.

That's the same thing. They're trying to tie kids into a the MS way of programming which means you'll work on Windows and if you try to move onto another langauge not owned by MS you'll probably give up in frustration since real programming seems so hard compared to MS handicap version of programming.

chiefpoopingpants

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> No Australia? TYPICAL!

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> This has always been MS strategy, and it is very smart. Give free software to students and get them hooked, and when they are out there in the business world, they would either buy them themselves or recommend them to their companies. In this case, it pushes XNA further into many more hands.

optimusprime

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> all indie game developers and peope working on projects...add me as a friend thru kotaku so i can stay updated with you.

musicgangATL

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> I've been able to download stuff for free or with huge discounts from MS using their Academic Alliance licence for two years now. Not sure if it only works in the UK or not, though.
And it's not only the six abovementioned titles - there's about twenty altogether. Including Win2k/XP/VistaBusiness. Oh, and DOS 6.0 O.o


MaxS

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> A lot of people are saying that XNA is already free, and yeah it is, but there are other things being offered as well, such as Windows 2003 Server Standard Ed, Expression Studio, and Visual Studio 2008 Pro (as someone else has stated). I've been looking for good web development software for a while to just get started with it. Expression Studio here I come, just waiting for UCR to approve my application and give me a net id >.< Can't wait.

SDreamer

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> I just got this and man am i happy. Thank you Kotaku! Fantastic feature.

clifftrapremover

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Awesome deal, that's made me happy.
At least it did until I found that my uni wasn't on the list: but it turns out that they also support ISIC cards, awesome!

Estel

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Interesting, I've been using DevKit Pro and XNA for a while now but could never afford visual studio so I'll be getting this for sure(Computer Science major here so I'll actually do something with it). Is journeyed.com only for US though? I might have to get a ISIC card from Travel Cuts to register.

CoverlessTech

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @SG79: I laugh at comments like that. Once you understand how to generate algorithms ansd the basics of programming, the techniques are the easiest things to learn.

Once the jargon makes sense, the rest is just elbow grease. Just like you can pick up a book to learn almost anything.

peacefuloutrage

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> use journeyed.com if your school is not on the list.

Truepatriot

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> This is rather great. I'm going to finish my school this year (computer development). It's great to be able to use vs 2008 for free. And as long as I can keep contacts in my school, I'll keep getting licences :p.

The only bad part is that our school is not in that list yet. Only two universities are enrolled. I did contact my school (and one of the teachers who is really into xna and coding), and I think they will contact microsoft to make a deal. I have the highest confidence/hope in this :p.

This is a great initiative. That's all there is really to say about it.

marlblank

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Kudos Kotaku, I tipped you off about this DAYS ago. Whats most significant here is the usefulness of this for people that aren't even developers. A free XNA Creators Club subscription means free (and legal) Xbox 360 homebrew. There is now a world of XNA developed software you can freely install on your 360, including cool stuff like NES emulators. All without the fear of getting banned on live.

Justin Nolan

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> I would be getting this, except my uni's network for registring is ****. Computer science there is a joke - all of the computers and accounts down. I would mention which Uni it is, but I won't just incase... (btw its UK based)

Zigmat

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Here is a part of the license agreement that talks about what you can and cannot do with this "Student software":

1. NOTICE: STUDENT PROGRAM SOFTWARE. The terms of this license apply to all Software provided to You under the Student Program, and shall supersede and control over any conflicting license terms You may encounter in the Software, even if installation of the Software requires You to "accept" a separate end user license agreement.
2. DEFINITIONS. "You" or "Your" means a person enrolled in and attending "for credit" courses through an educational institution.
3. STUDENT PROGRAM USE RIGHTS.
a. Installation and Use Rights. You may install one copy of the Software made available to You through the Student Program on Your own device, but only (a) to support science, technology, engineering, mathematics and/or design ("STEM-D") courses, labs, or programs You are enrolled in and attending through Your educational institution; (b) in non-commercial STEM-D research; or (c) to design, develop, test, and demonstrate software programs for the above purposes.
b. Restrictions. You may not use the Software:
• for commercial purposes (except as permitted under Section 3(d); or
• to develop or maintain Your own administrative or IT systems, or those of Your educational institution.
c. Violations. If Microsoft informs You that You have violated these license terms, You must immediately discontinue any use of the Software provided to You under the Student Program, and You must return or destroy all copies of the Software in Your possession.
d. No commercial use. If You use the Software to create software programs, You may only commercially use or distribute them upon the purchase of appropriate commercial license(s) for the Software.
4. END OF STUDENT STATUS; TERMINATION.
a. End of Student Status. If You no longer qualify for the Student Program (by failing to meet the definition of "You" above), then Your membership in the Student Program will automatically terminate, however, You may continue to use the Software You obtained prior to termination of Your student status subject to the terms of this license.
b. Termination. Microsoft may terminate Your usage of any Software obtained from the Student Program if You fail to comply with any of these terms.












ShadowGod

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> I got everything the second it came out. Just so everyone knows, you'd be saving a lot of money here. True, XNA has been free since day 1, but a Creator's Club account hasn't been. You're saving $100 here with XNA, and hundreds more if you download Visual Studio from them. It doesn't matter if your school isn't on the list (mine wasn't), but you'll just have to prove you're a student at another school (which isn't a difficult process).

I'm pissed that people have no problem with knocking XNA despite that they know little about it or what they've been charging for. Try checking out creators.xna.com and reading a little before you complain about what they're charging people to do.

j14rk1n

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Once you get verified here is all the software that they are offering for free:

Visual Studio 2008 Professional
Visual Studio 2005 Professional
Windows Server 2003 Standard
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
Microsoft Expression Studio
XNA Game Studio and 1yr Creator's Club membership






ShadowGod

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @Devenish:
Exactly, this is a great idea to get access, just ALWAYS do your homework and read the EULA.


-EDGE-

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @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

cubed2D

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @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]

Devenish

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Sweet, now I get almost every Microsoft product for free except the basic office apps.

OpenOffice ftw.

pcgecko85

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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.

ShadowGod

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @-EDGE-: Yes my thoughts exactly. Sorry for the late post.

Devenish

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Cool beans. Any word on the chances of Kent State getting on that list?

JAcK0R

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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

dhlt25

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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

Ganonmaster

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @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

musicgangATL

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> I will give points to MS for this one but at best they are still villians seeking redemption.

Crazy_Buffet_Happens

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @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

musicgangATL

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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.

Devenish

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @MykalBloom: Boot Camp

AnonymousNoob

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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

MugiMugi

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Damn, why isn't the University of Birmingham on that list...

lharoon

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Thanks for the heads-up. I'm downloading now.

themunk

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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.

Anemone

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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 ;)

-EDGE-

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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...

Sonic_and_Tails

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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!

ShadowGod

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @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...

mkg614

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @MykalBloom: Yeah, so what? Wanna fight about it?

MoarFightos

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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?

MoarFightos

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> I'm going to go out on a limb and assume this software doesn't work on a Mac.

MykalBloom

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @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.

sUKi

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @Marooner:
@sUKi:

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

Lemming To The Sea

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @g1g010:

I thought your paycheck was the pleasing part.

BlackDove

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Just get an ISIC card...and then select ISIC from the list.

Moosebox

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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?

musicgangATL

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @chiefpoopingpants: Oh, just like Apple did for decades?

homernoy

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> @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.

Thassodar

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Not having LSU A&M College on their list fails ;(

sUKi

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> For the record the list of schools isn't exactly comprehensive, so by students, they mean students of these 20 seemingly random universities.

Marooner

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> hoping to lure them away from Adobe-powered and open source software

Pretty much. The fight against OpenGL continues.

SG79

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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.

yemightybum

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> I called up my Game Design buddy the second I read this. He responded with "Dude, our computer labs have had XNA since forever."

NeoStarr

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Where the hell was this when I was in collage. Its about 1 1/2 years late Damnit.

Anicode

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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.

g1g010

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Obviously they want to make a lot of students dependent on their technologies to keep themselves relevant against superior technologies.

chiefpoopingpants

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Wow, I'm getting everything wooo.

Morberis

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> w00t! I'm enrolling for summer!

Knoxximus (360/PSN)

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> My University isn't on the list :(

kcm117

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Imperialistic Bastards!

Timsobuff74

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> Great, I just graduated in December...thanks MS D:

SpishackCola

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> 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

RemyDuvalle

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> I would like this please.

Ryumeka

]]> <![CDATA[Microsoft Handing Out XNA (And Lots of Other Stuff) To Students]]> smart idea...XNA is already free..whats makes this deal BIG news is the swarm of other full programs u get along with it

musicgangATL

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