So... I got a new laptop not long ago with a touchscreen. A big part of getting the touch screen was so that I could develop both apps and games for Windows 8 systems, games being a big part because they most interest me. I've been using C# for some time on my own, and now use it professionally. Being that Metro Apps are developed in C#, and the XNA Game Library also uses C#, I got very excited about that doors that would open with programming for the new platform. Turns out those doors were slammed and I didn't even know. XNA, formerly used to program for PC, XBOX 360, and Windows phone 7, was killed off by Microsoft. While it seemed to me that expanding on XNA to support Windows 8, on all it's platforms, seemed a no-brainer (especially being that Microsoft needs to get its app store filled), it was instead shut down. I then saw that while apps are done in C#, Win8 games (all platform) are done in Direct X with C++. OK, I went to school for that, so while it would take a while to get an engine I could do it. Turns out I can't; you can't program in Direct X with the new release of Visual Studio Express; you have to pay. Note that everything I was talking about to this point was free. So, WTF happened? I could code games either in a soon to be unsupported language (XNA) or on a system that will not allow me to cross platform (VS2010) and is unlikely to get any more support (I doubt any enhancements in the new C++ will translate down to 2010). The seems completely counter-intuitive, especially given that they're doing their best to force independent development into the new Windows 8 platform.
Wow...I didn't know this, what a joke. I'm glad I looked on this thread as I was debating on what language I wanted to pursue in order to make some indie games. Microsoft is looking more for their bottom line than anything else. Sad day for indie developers. However, I did find this during my putzing around so alternatives (As I now am back to square one on a language to learn that will be around in the future. C# looked like to be a thing of the future for Microsoft, not it's back to the extremely difficult C++. I went to school and learned it as well, I had a hard time grasping the concepts, it seems like the choice is clear now. On a side note, I did find this: http://monogame.net/. It's an open source implementation utilizing the XNA framework. They actually published over 20 games and one of them was even published by Microsoft. So, in at least that regard, there is some hope for indie developers (Myself included ).
