As a Zune owner I have been quite excited to get my hands on XNA Game Studio 3.0 CTP.  I am excited about not only being about to develop games, but also applications for my Zune (see this post about XNA for the Zune).  So, I eagerly downloaded the setup, ran the install, and all was well, until I went into the “XNA Game Studio Device Center” to add my Zune device:

After clicking “Next” I was greeted with the following error:

System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Unable to find the specified file.
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.UnsafeNativeMethods.AcquireZuneTransport()
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.ZuneDeviceInfo.GetAllConnectedDevices()
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.UI.ZuneNamePage.SetCurrentPage()
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.UI.AddDeviceWizard.Proceed()
   at Microsoft.Xna.GameStudio.DeviceManagement.UI.ZuneWarningPage.SetCurrentPage()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

After a bit of digging around, I discovered that this exception is caused because there is no support for 64-bit operating systems in XNA Game Studio 3.0 yet.  Unfortunately, all of my PCs right now are 64-bit Vista to take advantage of >3.5 gig of ram and to test applications in 64-bit mode.  So, I will have to attempt to run this in a Virtual PC and hope I have better luck.

To save you some frustration, there are a few other things to note about this version of the CTP:

• You must be running Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition or higher or Visual C# 2008 Express Edition.  Those of you running Visual Studio 2005 are out of luck for now.
• No game development for XBox 360 yet.  This CTP was released for working with the Zune.  Perhaps more CTPs will come out over time.
• No support for 64-bit operating systems.  They should have support for this by RTM though (I hope).

As a Zune30 owner X2, I just had to post about this.  Microsoft just announced that XNA Game Studio 3.0 will support building XNA games for the Zune.  I was afraid this would only be for the 2nd generation Zunes, but it looks like it will support Zune 4/8, Zune 30, and Zune 80 devices.  Some features include:

1. Ability to write a game in XNA and target it for Zune, 360, or PC
2. Network support for up to 8 Zunes
3. A stripped down version of the XNA graphics API
4. Ability to customize game background soundtracks with mp3s
5. Ability to create real time visualization.  I am guessing this means visualization animations for music.
6. Games are limited to 16MB for code and content though

A preview of the new framework will be available this spring (maybe as early as April).  The full release is expected around Christmas 2008.

Check here for more information: http://forums.xna.com/ShowThread.aspx?PostID=46553