Geek cred for Visual C++ 2005 Express

See the press release: Valve Names Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition the Preferred Development Environment for “Half-Life 2” Modifications

GOLD COAST, Australia — Aug. 31, 2005 — Today at Microsoft® Tech•Ed Australia, Microsoft Corp. announced that Valve Corp.®, creator of award-winning game franchises “Half-Life®” and “Counter-StrikeTM,” has named the upcoming Microsoft Visual C++® 2005 Express Edition as the preferred development environment for hobbyist Windows® developers creating modifications for SourceTM, the engine on which “Half-Life 2” is built. In addition, during Tech•Ed Australia, attendees will get to hear how Team Dystopia created its modification for “Half-Life 2” with Visual C++.

Microsoft’s Visual Studio® Express Edition products, including Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition, will offer developers a low-cost tool to explore game “modding” on Windows. Hobbyist developers will also be able to learn more about how to create modifications for “Half-Life 2” on Microsoft’s Coding4Fun Web site, which features a new “Half-Life 2” Mod Corner. Microsoft Visual C++ Express Edition, currently available in beta, is due to ship this fall and will be compatible with the next release of Valve’s Source software development kit (SDK).

Also, check out the Half-Life 2 Mod Spot on Coding4Fun. More mods, more fun, and less cost...cool!

Between that and the fact that XNA Studio for XBOX 360 is based on Visual Studio 2005 Team System, and Visual Studio 2005 is looking like a great player in the game world. As a gamer, and as a Developer Evangelist for Microsoft, that's pretty exciting...now I just gotta figure out how to convince my wife I "need" an XBOX 360.