How to play XNA Creators Club content

So you want to try out The Dishwasher but can't figure out how to download it from XBL? Here's how:

Downloading the new XNA Games takes a few extra steps. You can watch a video (on Inside Xbox, or linked below) featuring Xbox LIVE's Michael Klucher to explain it, or use this handy-dandy crib sheet:

Xbox LIVE Community Games

Xbox LIVE Community Games
Find out how to download the new XNA games from Xbox LIVE and play them on your console. High | Low

1) Download XNA Creators Club Game Launcher (Marketplace/Game Store/All Games/XNA Creators Club). Ignore the others.

(Note: If you use "XNA Game Launcher" or "XNA Game Studio Connect", you'll be told you need a Creators Club membership linked to your profile.)

2) Browse to My Games (Games/Games Library/My Games) and twist to XNA Creators Club.

3) Press Y to Download Games

4) Choose a game to download like any other game.

These pre-release demos are available for a limited time only. Via Gamerscore Blog.

1UP Games Developer Conference podcasts

Four episodes each of 1UP Yours and Games For Windows podcasts this week!

1UP Yours:

TUESDAY, 2/19
1UP Yours: "Adventure"
Amy Hennig, Naughty Dog & Lorne Lanning, Oddworld

WEDNESDAY, 2/20
1UP Yours: "Shoot 'em Up"
Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward

THURSDAY, 2/21
1UP Yours: "A One Console Future"
Denis Dyack, Silicon Knights w/Mark MacDonald

FRIDAY, 2/22
1UP Yours: "Beat the Press"
N'Gai Croal, Newsweek & Stephen Totilo, MTV
w/John Davison

GFW Radio:

TUESDAY, 2/19
The Big Picture
with Warren Spector, Junction Point Studios & Paul Wedgwood, Splash Damage

WEDNESDAY, 2/20
Real Time
with Josh Mosqueira, Relic Entertainment & Chris Taylor, Gas Powered Games

THURSDAY, 2/21
The Icing
with Kim Swift and Erik Wolpaw, Valve Software

FRIDAY, 2/22
Some Clever Theme That's TBD
with Ken Levine, 2K Boston

All Points Bulletin breaks cover

A few previews have popped up for RealTime Worlds' (Crackdown) upcoming MMO, All Points Bulletin. What does this GTA-like MMO bring to the table?

Here is where APB is so clever. The servers automatically match a similarly skilled set of enforcement agents to deliver the APB to in a dynamic form of matchmaking. You'll never have a clue who you'll get matched up with. It's all done automatically based on stats.

After the APB was sent out to a clan of enforcement agents, we watched a chase scene unfold. Cop cars converged on the van. One gang member drove while two others hung out of the sides firing guns at the officers. A cop car tried to block off an alley at one point…another time one took a jump over a barrier to get closer to the criminals. The scene ended with the gang making it to the drop off point at the same time as the cops and a shootout began.

Is PC Gaming dead yet?

Looks like there's yet another initiative to save PC gaming making the rounds.

While I don't think PC gaming is dying necessarily, I would definitely argue that something is rotten in Denmark. Here's a few of the things I think are working well and not working well with PC gaming:

(+) Steam. Steam rocks. Yes Steam used to suck, but lately they've been doing a bang up job of making their platform stable, reliable, accessible and useful. Steam Community and Steamworks already seem much better than Microsoft's half-assed Live for Windows implementation. I wish publishers would unite behind it (fat chance I know, but it seems more and more are coming aboard).

(-) Vista. It sucks. My 8800GTX still isn't stable in Vista, DX10 or not, and that's unacceptable for PC gaming's flagship videocard. I don't think I can even name a game with which I've had a pleasant experience in Vista with. I hope they get their act together, but at this point I'm kind of hoping someone (Valve?) might create a unified development platform that would be able to play games on Intel architecture, bridging the gap between Linux, OSX and Windows so that gamers will be able to enjoy games on the PC while choosing the OS that works best for them (once again, fat chance, I know).

(+) European developers. I think they've definitely found their groove... Crysis is a solid effort (although too much of the same for me) but really what stood out for me last year was The Witcher, a refreshing take on RPGs. Definitely looking for more PC hits from the Old World such as Alan Wake, Age of Conan, and more.

(-) Bugs. They seem more prevalent than ever. Is it the publishers' fault for rushing out games for the holiday season or developers for biting off more than they can chew? I don't know, but please, a little polish would be great (and not in the form of a post-release patch).

(+) And finally the games. I want to play Spore, I want to play Starcraft 2, I want PC gaming in my life! So come'on guys, pull it together!

Is the Xbox killing PC gaming? I would actually argue against that at the moment. Yes, there are fewer big titles aimed purely at the PC audience, but the Xbox has also allowed the PC to get many of the biggest console games in a timely manner-- something that did not happen in the past. Mass Effect, Gears of War, Halo, all have come over to the PC in solid iterations.

PC gaming isn't dead. 2007 wasn't the best of years for PC gaming, but it continues on. There are certainly alot of problems and issues that need resolving and I hope the industry works together to provide a better experience, from end to end.

Too Human flood at Gametrailers

Gametrailers has put up a bunch of videos from Silicon Knights' Too Human, and it looks like my Action RPG fix has arrived! The videos show off tons of character customization options, the quest system, and a bit of the story-- which is starting to seem rather twisted. Definitely check it out, Silicon Knights have seemingly made alot of progress since its disastrous showing at E3 2006.

Microsoft's GDC Keynote

Today at the Game Developer's Conference Microsoft showed off its latest and greatest including Lionhead's Fable 2, which looks like The Molynator might actually deliver what he's promising, as well as Ninja Gaiden 2 and the newly announced Gears of War 2.

The most exciting part of the conference for me however is Microsoft's XNA announcements - they're going to open up XNA downloads to the general public as well as provide XNA tools for free for college students. Hopefully this opens up a new flood of independent game development on console platforms and maybe even the Zune. You can already check out some of the games XNA has enabled including The Dishwasher on Xbox Live today, so "jump in" and take a look!