Xbox 360 Fanboy

The mysterious XNA curtain has been pulled back revealing not only a new community friendly XNA / Xbox Live service, but also seven XNA game demos for everyone to enjoy. But you don't have to be on the GDC show floor to try out these little XNA gems, no sir. All you need to do is hop onto Xbox Live and get your download on. Though, the process for downloading XNA games is a bit different, so let us break it down for you.

First, you'll have to download the XNA Game Launcher off the XBLM. You can find the this little doodad by going to New Releases > Game Content > XNA Creators Club. Once that 7MB file downloads, make your way to your XNA Game Launcher by heading to your Games blade > Games Library > My Games > XNA Creators Club. Here you'll be able to press "Y" and download all seven XNA trial games for free. Once you find a game and download it, you'll then be able to launch your demo from the same location. That's it, all done. And to get you started, we've posted a description of all seven downloadable XNA game demos after the break. Find something that appeals to you and give 'er a download. Oh, and have some fun too.

Microsoft just announced plans to bridge the gap between the XNA development community with the Xbox Live community by allowing XNA games to be tested, tried and shared over Xbox Live. This new service will be rolled out "soon" and will allow Live members to access, rate, review and play new community created XNA Arcade games which will greatly increase the XBLA's current library. And, as a sampling of what's to come when the service debuts, Microsoft has just placed seven beta versions of XNA created games onto the XBLA so that the developers can get important feedback about their projects. Games including JellyCar, Little Gamers, TriLinea, RocketBall, ProximityHD, Culture and our personal love, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. Now THIS is what we call user created content. Bravo!

Above, you can see the view from the sitting area of the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, one of many hotels hosting press events for E3. The chairs are comfy and the view is gorgeous. Honestly, could you think of a better place to blog? Sure, it's a lovely view. We can't argue with that. What's not beautiful is that there's no free WiFi for miles. The single E3 press room is a glimmering mirage far in the distance, located in the hotel farthest from all the others. Yes, at any given time, the press room (so far, the only location we've found with free WiFi [or internet at all]) is at least a 15 minute shuttle ride away. For bloggers like us, 15 minutes is a long time. Like, long enough for breaking news to become "so old."

Note for E3 Media Summit 2: MOAR WiFi.