Microsoft® XNA™ Unleashed: Graphics and Game Programming for Xbox 360 and Windows

Foreword

It’s hard to believe that it’s been so long since the first version of Managed DirectX was released in 2002. I sit in wonderment at how far we’ve come in such a short period of time. It wasn’t all that long ago when I was just some guy with a crazy idea that games could (and should!) be written in managed code. We released a preview of what would become known as “Managed DirectX” at the Game Developers Conference, and from that point on it’s been a non-stop thrill ride. People were excited, and everyone wanted to know if you could get the same kinds of benefits you get from managed code writing games as you do in Windows programming. People were worried about the performance aspects, many people simply didn’t believe. As time went on, ...