Dan Walters has created a 12 part video game programming training series using XNA Game Studio and SOFTIMAGE|XSI Mod Tool "without skipping steps". It teaches you how to make a complete XBox game from scratch.
Here is what the series teaches you:
- How to build a simple 3D model in SOFTIMAGE|XSI Mod Tool
- How to build a more complex skinned, rigged & animated character model in SOFTIMAGE|XSI Mod Tool for use in an XNA game
- Project setup for XNA and XSI projects
- Pipeline & workflow between XSI and XNA
- How to animate a skinned XSI model in XNA using the XNAXSIRuntime library provided for free by SOFTIMAGE
- How to creating and managing sound and audio using the DirectX XACT tool
- How to handle input from the controller
- How to prep an XNA PC game for XBOX 360
- How to deploy an XNA game to the Xbox through the Creators Club
- And many, many nuances and "gotchas" that will help make your development experience 1000% smoother.
I haven't had a chance to review the videos yet, but I'm very excited about it.