In the last two years, I have developed a few applications and one game for Windows Phone 7.5, primarily as a hobby and for my own entertainment. My last application, Bolo8, deploys fine on Windows Phone 8, but I found online and documented resources at the time difficult to navigate, so learning the new platform was less than simple.
Jamro’s new book, Windows Phone 8 Game Development offers readers a great introduction to Windows Phone development, using the MVVM methodologies, a concept that both logical and appropriate, but unusually absent in other publications.
The book is structured along the lines of a typical application development lifecycle – not immediately logical to the non-developer – but ideal for developers and those wanting to code as they read.
Following the Design, Develop, Improve and Publish flow, each chapter describes in detail each aspect of development, beginning with the application structure of a game (Space Aim 3D – an ‘Asteroids’ clone), following with world development, movement and collision detection, and User Experience.
A fantastic inclusion is a chapter dedicated to explaining the nuances and benefits of social media with relation to mobile game development and promotion. Whilst this is limited to the more popular social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), the concepts are universal and Jamro provides a good introduction into interfacing with these networks.
The book also contains a comprehensive listing of use resources, links and relevant Microsoft properties. These are at risk of being outdated, however I’m sure the book, in it’s electronic form, can be updated from time to time.
My only suggestion for improvement is in the layout of the electronic version of this book – some code examples are split across two pages (I know this saves physical space on paper, but not so much in a PDF), and there is little in the way of in-line code comments. Not a big issue if you read the text! 
Learn more, or buy the book today – from Packt Publishing
Book Details
Language : English
Paperback : 394 pages [ 235mm x 191mm ]
Release Date : September 2013
ISBN : 1849696802
ISBN 13 : 9781849696807
Author(s) : Marcin Jamro
Topics and Technologies : All Books, Mobile Application Development, Other, Mobile, Games
Tags
Code,
IT