It looks like Microsoft's trying to increase the must-have factor for the pricey Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 suite, because the XNA Team has just come up with a VS 2008-only rendition of XNA Game Studio - upgraded to version 3.0 But there's a lot of catches, and they aren't pretty for the average, budget-conscious, and possibly still studying,  indie dev. Prepare to be blown away (the wrong way, probably) at the full story.

It looks like there's a lot to look forward to, that's if you own a Zune. According to Microsoft XNA's big wig, Chris Satchell, the Zune game concepts are now progressing very nicely.

Aside form this, he was able to discuss briefly the developments currently going on. Details on what he said after the jump.

XNA Chief Chris Satchell has just dropped a couple of bombs at the GDC 2008. He announced that Xbox Live will be getting a new service called Community Games. This feature gives developers a chance to post their games and eventually get it up on Xbox Live. For more on this, head on over to the full article.

In an interview, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect J Allard takes a look at the general overview of how the company is doing so far and its future plans for their many products and services.

The "Xbox guy" stressed that his job relied on a lot of "patient passion". Allard says that he dreams of taking ideas that are mostly outdated and give it a new spin. He says that their focus on the music industry especially needs more frequent attention if they hope to gain any growth on the different products and services they've been coming up with.

He mentioned the Zune and the services Microsoft has planned for it. Don't expect to see a portable version of Halo on it, however. Like he said, they wanted to take things slow and see where this possible market will take them. Seeing how the iPod already has games running on it and the rather lukewarm response, they still have much to consider whether the Zune will be doing the same.

Speaking of Apple, he wasn't stingy on giving out good comments for their rival as well. While he considers the new iPhone's browser the coolest thing ever, he finds the iPhone's touch screen keyboard something a little tough to manage.

Other plans they have for the Zune is their continued policy of not allowing wireless song purchasing through the Internet. Due to practical reasons, they'll be sticking mostly to buying music for your Zune through the store or at the Zune Marketplace at best. Also, if you're thinking of maybe seeing a Zune phone some time in the future, he said that music will be their primary concern for the device for now.

If you're on the Internet, you've probably already encountered, in some strange fashion, the supposedly dreaded HD-DVD hexadecimal code that dooms the HD-DVD's security. Here's a little history on that, and we'll show how it's somehow connected (even in an infinitesimal manner) to the wonderful world of gaming.

We here at QJ.NET first came across the code, or at least, word that HD-DVD's security got breached, around early January this year. Back then people were speculating that it was just a hoax, and many doubted that it was a real breach. You know how things are in the "Interwebs"; people scream "Fake!" and often times for good reason.

Anyhow, it was mostly speculative until the AACS itself admitted later that same month that the encryption of the AACS system had been bypassed. But they were bold enough to show confidence in their system. They said, "It does not represent an attack on the AACS system itself." They defended themselves by saying that the widespread copying of movies is impractical given the large file sized in high-definition discs.

Of course, the mouth says one thing, but the hand that gives out cease and desist orders does something else.

Read the rest after the Jump! Click on the "Full Article" link below.