having bashed microsoft 'ever so daintily' in my last post i return with a positive word in their regard.  xna... as i understand it from my brief perusal of the article on it, is a game development tool that will enable homebrewed games to be made more easily and help small dev teams keep production costs down. genius.  i see this to be an industry blessing and maybe just what microsoft needs to boost their appeal in the industry. who knows what gamers want better than the gamers themselves. put the power of creation into their hands.  i think this will lead to a broader array of games, more innovation, and all that nonsense.  on the flip side, i do realize that this may be a two-edged sword. it could lead to alot of crappy games surfacing but it's still nice to see that someone is helping the little guy, these 'garage developers', get their 15 minutes.