I’m in a constant dilemma about Windows Phone 7. On one hand C# is perhaps my most favourite language, ever but sales havent been impressive so far. I’m currently unsure if I invest in it as a more niche market (ie smaller market, greater chance of exposure) but regardless I really enjoy using it for games, infact XNA being pretty low level (not as in asm but as in level of features pre-packaged) compared to AS3 has really freed me. I’ve created my own Sprites wrapped around Textures and SpriteSheets with animation support, collisions with points, distance and collision bounds, buttons, thumbsticks, it’s been an truly awesome experience!

My private framework is coming on leaps and bounds. Heres an uber simple example of a hSprite and a hSpriteAnimated at work, showing their CollisionBounds, scaling etc. When a collision occurs the top hSpriteAnimated changes color:

Take a quick look after the break:

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Aww c’mon you must have been expecting this one, poor old Flash always has it’s nose pushed out when it comes to a new platform!

I totally missed the launch of the Windows Phone 7 SDK in the rush of the emigration, so I was really excited when we had our first few Windows Phone 7 handsets here in Sydney and there’s a good buzz surrounding the new platform. It gave me a kick up the arse to stop slacking, get it installed and begin creating something. I don’t usually take much persuading to jump on board a new platform and the fact I get to develop with C# is an awesome bonus, it’s right up there alongside AS3 as my language of choice.

So for the last few weeks I’ve been buried in books regarding XNA and a smattering of Silverlight (I’ll be honest, this is my least favourite bit at the moment) trying to get as much experience as possible in order to decide on the platform and you know what….. I like it :)

I’ve focused primarily on the XNA/Games front as I’m enjoying that the most and I currently have the basics of a tile engine using the XML Tiled provides for the levels. It’s very much work in progress but a little more depth and video after the break…

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