Initial Ideas

Since I'm not looking to dive straight into the deep end of the pool, the main thing I'm trying to focus on is developing a game concept that can be built upon in little pieces.

After a couple of hours of brainstorming, (it's a 45 minute commute with no traffic to and from work), I've decided my first XNA game will be a 2D side-scrolling arcade style game. I'm also conceding that this first game will very much be a 'throw away' game. It should be fun enough to play with the kids here at the house, but I have no hopes of this ever making it past the XNA peer review.

Even being a 'throw away' there are a number of core things I'm looking to accomplish here.

1) Get a hands on basic understanding of C# and XNA as a tool set
2) Spot any inconsistencies between the Windows development and the 360 development (and learn how to deal with them)
3) Start to set up a basic pipeline for production (for 2d games)
4) Establish some basic game mechanics (game state management, player movement, scoring etc)
5) Build the game in a modular approach so that new elements/mechanics can be built onto the basic game as we go

As far as the theme/concept goes, it can be just about anything. I've always liked the ocean and aquatic life so I'll develop some story or concept that is ocean driven. It could be "Atlantis" inspired or "40,000 Leagues Under the Sea" or "Nemo" themed...there's so many possibilities somethings bound to pop up.

My immediate XNA background going into this consists of a handful of basic trial publishes to the 360, reading "XNA Game Studio 2.0", and so far approximately a quarter of the way through the "Visual C# 2005 - Step by Step" book. I also worked through the very nice 2d game video tutorial on the XNA site for the "Cannon Game". That was a big help, if you're a beginner and you haven't check it out yet I highly recommend it.