Hello. I was really excited to pick up either the just released Ipod Touch 3rd gen or the soon to be released Zune HD. These devices look at though they are in contention for best in the market. However, something that is making me a quite a bit hesitant regarding the Itouch is that even though I can get the 32gb for like $245 (employee perks, no not the Apple Store), there doesn't seem to be a support or even consistent way to develop games/apps on Windows, where as it is almost certain that Zune will just use an extension of the existing and fairly accessible XNA framework. This is really chewing at me. If I get the Ipod touch, there are a few specific games (I actually made a list...) that I would really like to play, but I won't be able to make any. With the Zune, I would presume that I would just have to wait for MS to release an SDK. But is that worth the price of admission? I don't really plan on trying to release anything for profit. This is more so for the fun of it.
No, it isn't possible to develop iPhone/Touch games/apps under Windows. You can get Objective-C compilers for Windows, though I've yet to find a proper IDE for one. But you won't have access to the proper APIs and couldn't compile functional iPhone code. You can get a relatively cheap Macbook or Mac Mini for development though (Intel-based, OS 10.5 or higher, natch), which is what I did. That, plus the $100 to join the Apple developer program and you're all set to develop. I suppose it's more to do with what you're comfortable with. If you already known XNA you'll probably have an easier time developing for the Zune HD (whenever MS releases an SDK for it), though there's a question of how much the SDK will cost, too. (If they're smart, they'll make it cheap, especially when they know very well they desperately need developers if they want the Zune HD to have so much as a fighting chance to succeed in the market.) On the other hand if you're looking for a wide audience to enjoy your creations, it doesn't get much wider in the mobile world than Apple's portables. (Or more crowded, but that's another issue.) I guess it's all in what you're aiming to do. Ultimately you're the best judge of that.
In THAT case, why don't you go for something which has over 21,178 Games available RIGHT NOW ? Or may be wait for the next gen which should have a camera in it ? I have a 2nd gen iPod & am SOOOOOO Happy that the 3rd one din come with a camera
I'm almost certain the Zune development stuff will be around the same price as the iPhone stuff($100). That's how much a creator's club subscription costs to make Xbox 360 games as well. C# is also a fantastic language. On the other hand, the audience for iPhone games is huge, and the App store is really good. I've looked into developing games for the iPhone on windows, and it's basically not possible(not in any sort of usable way). *HOWEVER* depending on the type of game, you can program it almost completely in C with OpenGL. That means that you can make the game in Windows, and then just have a few helper classes written in Obj C that interface with the accelerometer and the touch screen etc. You'll still need a Mac at some point though in order to try it out on the iDevice and all that. I was in the same boat as you, and I ended up getting a used macbook off craigslist for around $600 bucks. Making iPhone games in Obj C is a lot of fun.
It's possible. You just have to find an OSX distro hack that supports the hardware you have. I tried it before I got a Macbook Pro and managed to get it up and running on an Athlon X2 system with everything but Quartz working. Unfortunately I kind of needed Quartz for development, so, sort of a bust. I was actually waiting for Snow Leopard at the time (as it would support the video card I had at the time) but I ended up getting the Macbook and it became a moot issue.
im not sure if any of u looked up how the stupid zune thing is going to work but when u pay the $100 u gotta pay AGAIN after 3 or 5 games, its something stupid like that, i remember reading it not that long ago, but thats how the zune apps r gonna work for devs, its actually the reason i didnt wait for the Zune HD, imma huge microsoft fan and i love pc over mac but eventually when i can afford it imma get a macbook pro and a mac mini for iphone os dev kit, anyway look it up, im sure u can find the article, they might even mention it somewhere on wikipedia, but they announced this back in june or sumthing, and the apps that are made for the Zune HD will also b able to b made for microsofts new app store for their Windows Mobile phones, which i have one so i am waiting for the app store but the dev for it from what i read its gonna b expensive if u make alot of apps
Actually, thanks for mentioning that. I was curious as to their dev pricing model. However, I don't actually plan to release anything to any store. I just want to mess around for the fun of it. Eventually, if I made anything I deem worthy of sharing or even profit making, then maybe. I so almost bought a Zune HD today. Twice. Once at home, which made me late for class, and once after class, which almost made me late for work. I was in my college library with my credit card in hand, lmao. Ridiculous, I know. But with Dell's 15% off, the Zune HD is only $20 more than the iPod Touch with after my employee discount. I managed to stay my hand until tomorrow, when the tihng is actually officially released.
