This is a Geek Night dedicated to developing games. The core of the evening is going to revolve around the XNA platform.

We are also hoping to have talks on game development with Java, open source projects on the Cell/PS3 and also a talk by Iain Simons the author of Inside Game Design.

Review:
In this London Geek Night focused on game development, Francisco Trindade opens with the explanation of why he chose the Agile software development method to structure the development process during game development. He details the differences in the practises used between the game industry and the traditional software industries. In further detail, he explains the use of post mortems to reveal the project experiences during the game development process and provides an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the methods used.

Leaf Garland gives viewers a brief introduction to Microsoft’s new managed API for express game development on the Windows platforms (Microsoft Windows, XBOX 360, and soon also the Zune). He explains how this system essentially brings forward a common ground for game development on these multiple platforms to provide simple and abstract methods that avoid the need to create repetitive boilerplate code. Leaf then goes into a little more detail with the use of a live demo and points the viewers to a few example games, such as Sumo Squash.

Steve Goodwin gives a very broad view on open source software. By demoing the use of open source in games, he breaks some stereotypes commonly associated with companies and corporations when it comes to open source software in general. He concludes the talk by revealing some of the complications involved when companies first attempt to utilise open source software, but also indicates the advantages of doing so.
Review by Jim Li

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