Learning XNA 3.0: XNA 3.0 Game Development for the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune (Paperback)

~ Aaron Reed (Author), Reed Aaron (Author)
Key Phrases: game studio, sound bank, multiplayer games, Visual Studio, Test Your Knowledge, Solution Explorer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Do you have what it takes to become a game developer? With this hands-on book, you'll learn quickly and easily how to develop computer games with Microsoft's XNA 3.0 framework-not just for your PC, but for Xbox 360 and the Microsoft Zune as well.

Written by an experienced university-level game development instructor, Learning XNA 3.0 walks you through the framework in a clear and understandable step-by-step format. Each chapter offers a self-contained lesson with lots of illustrations and annotated examples to help you master key concepts. Once you finish the book, you'll know how to develop sophisticated games from start to finish.

• Learn game development concepts from 2D animation to 3D cameras and effects
• Delve into high-level shader language (HLSL) and introductory artificial intelligence concepts
• Develop three complete and exciting games using 2D,3D and multiplayer concepts
• Develop and deploy games to the Xbox 360 and the Microsoft Zune

While teaching XNA to beginning game developers, author Aaron Reed noticed that several key concepts were difficult for students to grasp. Learning XNA 3.0 was written specifically to address those issues. With this book, you can test your understanding and practice new skills as you go with unique "Test Your Knowledge" exercises and review questions in each chapter.

Why wait? Amaze your family and friends by building your own games for the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune-with Learning XNA 3.0.

"An outstanding book! Teaches you XNA development in a smart way, starting from 2D basics and going into 3D and shader development. What I really like is the 'peeling the onion' approach the author takes, which builds up knowledge from previous chapters." --David "LetsKillDave" Weller, CEO, Cogito Ergonomics, LLC, and former XNA program manager

About the Author

Aaron Reed has extensive software development experience and more importantly, experience in software development education. Since 2004 he has taught courses at Neumont University in .NET, web development and web services, XNA, systems design and architecture, and more.

Aaron's experience in teaching both DirectX and XNA for several years to university-level students helps him understand what topics are easily understood and which ones need more depth and emphasis. Through experience in the classroom he also has a good understanding of what format and sequence makes the most sense to present the material. This book follows that format and is meant to present game development concepts in the way most efficient and most comprehendible as proven in the classroom.

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Product Details Paperback: 506 pages Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (December 3, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0596521952 ISBN-13: 978-0596521950 Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 1.1 inches Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,855 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in these categories: (What's this?) #1 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Digital Music > Zune #12 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Graphic Design > 3D Graphics #31 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools > C# This item is part of The O'Reilly Learning Series.

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
game studio, sound bank, multiplayer games, game library, button state, database cache, drawing primitives, high level shader language, chasing sprite, sound bank window, new game component, biohazard bombs, wave bank window, sprite sheet, sprite manager, sprite closer, spritefont file, gamepad input, evasion algorithm, cooldown timer, rings sprite, player sprite, content pipeline, current frame index, sprite class

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Visual Studio, Test Your Knowledge, Solution Explorer, Wave Bank, Existing Item, Cue Name, New Folder, New Item, Putting It All Together, Sound Name, Auditioning Utility, Add Cancel Figure, Adding Update Code, Start Debugging, Particle Systems, Basic Artificial Intelligence, First-Person Camera, Creators Club, Right-click the Content, Updating While, Search Online Templates, Windows Explorer, Windows Game, Applying Some Object-Oriented Design, Splash Screen Game Component

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	71% buy the item featured on this page: Learning XNA 3.0: XNA 3.0 Game Development for the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune 4.2 out of 5 stars (13) $23.09
	14% buy Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.0 Unleashed 3.5 out of 5 stars (13) $31.49
	8% buy XNA 3.0 Game Programming Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (Expert's Voice in XNA) 4.4 out of 5 stars (7) $26.39
	4% buy Beginning XNA 3.0 Game Programming: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional) 3.7 out of 5 stars (3) $28.79

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13 Reviews 5 star:  (6) 4 star:  (5) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.2 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 4 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Learning XNA 3.0: XNA 3.0 Game Development for the PC,Xbox 360, and Zune, December 20, 2008 By  AkiraRaptor - See all my reviews I've purchased many of the XNA books available on the market. They all offer XNA insight, but this book tops them all. The author teaches the material, so the book is feels like what you'd get out of a very good class on the subject. It digs in right off the bat in the the first chapter, and never lets up. Out of every book I have on the subject, I've learned and understood the material faster. The chapters are ordered as you build an application and you build your knowledge step by step. Every new concept is clearly discussed as it gets added. I recommend this as a first book on the subject for anyone looking to get into XNA programming. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I wanted..., October 20, 2009 By  penguinassault - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase I did not need an introduction to the C# programming language, almost all the books I looked at had this. I just wanted a book that explained the basic concepts of creating games with C# and this book does that and does it very well. It is easy to read and follow. If oyu are new to making games with C# and have some knowledge of C# this is the best book to get. On a side note every review of any book involving this subject i have seen has included a review by someone saying they are experienced game developers and that particular book sucks. If you are experienced in this how about try to find books that dont have "Learning" or "Beginning" in the title. It will save you some time and money. 3 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Beginner's XNA Book, April 14, 2009 By  Brian Peek (Glenville, New York USA) - See all my reviews This is an excellent beginner level book for learning XNA 3.0. You'll find all of the important topics covered, like 2D, 3D, HLSL and shaders, particle systems, collision detection, the content pipeline, etc. If you're already familiar with XNA and are looking for something on more than the basics, I would suggest looking elsewhere. However, if you're new to the world of XNA and want to get up to speed to write your first PC, Zune or 360 game, this is a great place to start.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 3.0 out of 5 stars Weak Sauce This book is definitely for beginners who have absolutely no programming experience of any kind in any language. Read more Published 18 days ago by David Hall 4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Learning Tool I have a shelf of XNA books and bookcases full of other books on game programming. This book deserves to be there. Read more Published 1 month ago by Spencer Grey 5.0 out of 5 stars A good option for beginners It gives you a good introduction to XNA in 2D and 3D, XBOX and Zune deployment. I whould recommend the buy to the people who wants to begin develop games in XNA. Published 2 months ago by Jesus R. Bosch Ayguade 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reference Too! I see a lot of people giving this book 4/5 just for it being too basic for them. This is what I thought too when I first read it. Read more Published 3 months ago by Andriy Drozdyuk 4.0 out of 5 stars It is what it is. This book delivers exactly what it promises, to learn XNA. It's well written compared to internet tutorials (I suppose the fact that there's an editor and such involved helps)... Read more Published 5 months ago by Kris Lamb 5.0 out of 5 stars Really learning... Having no previous experience at all with C# or XNA, I find really surprising the ease with which this book is guiding me through the very interesting process of creating the... Read more Published 9 months ago by FConde 4.0 out of 5 stars covers all the basics this book covers all the basics you need to get started with XNA 3 and includes an example for Windows, Xbox360, and the Zune. Published 10 months ago by Thomas Z. Moore 5.0 out of 5 stars The best XNA book for beginners. I have read several XNA books and none of them have been as easy to understand as Learning XNA 3.0. Aaron Reed has done a superb job organizing the material in a friendly... Read more Published 10 months ago by Brandon K. Martini 2.0 out of 5 stars A little bit of a let down This book is a good primer for XNA 3.0 but that is about it. I am a moderately experienced programmer but I would not recommend this book for anyone who is over an introductory... Read more Published 10 months ago by AnonymousReviewer 4.0 out of 5 stars Starts out slow, but picks up eventually Aaron's teaching guide uses what people like to call the onion approach. He starts out teaching simple techniques and slowly builds on them getting more and more advanced. Read more Published 11 months ago by Matt B. Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 506 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (December 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596521952
• ISBN-13: 978-0596521950
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,855 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Digital Music > Zune
  #12 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Graphic Design > 3D Graphics
  #31 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools > C#

• This item is part of The O'Reilly Learning Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning XNA 3.0: XNA 3.0 Game Development for the PC,Xbox 360, and Zune, December 20, 2008

By	AkiraRaptor - See all my reviews

I've purchased many of the XNA books available on the market. They all offer XNA insight, but this book tops them all.

The author teaches the material, so the book is feels like what you'd get out of a very good class on the subject. It digs in right off the bat in the the first chapter, and never lets up.

Out of every book I have on the subject, I've learned and understood the material faster. The chapters are ordered as you build an application and you build your knowledge step by step. Every new concept is clearly discussed as it gets added.

I recommend this as a first book on the subject for anyone looking to get into XNA programming.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I wanted..., October 20, 2009

By	penguinassault - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

I did not need an introduction to the C# programming language, almost all the books I looked at had this. I just wanted a book that explained the basic concepts of creating games with C# and this book does that and does it very well. It is easy to read and follow. If oyu are new to making games with C# and have some knowledge of C# this is the best book to get.

On a side note every review of any book involving this subject i have seen has included a review by someone saying they are experienced game developers and that particular book sucks. If you are experienced in this how about try to find books that dont have "Learning" or "Beginning" in the title. It will save you some time and money.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Beginner's XNA Book, April 14, 2009

By	Brian Peek (Glenville, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This is an excellent beginner level book for learning XNA 3.0. You'll find all of the important topics covered, like 2D, 3D, HLSL and shaders, particle systems, collision detection, the content pipeline, etc. If you're already familiar with XNA and are looking for something on more than the basics, I would suggest looking elsewhere. However, if you're new to the world of XNA and want to get up to speed to write your first PC, Zune or 360 game, this is a great place to start.