As long as there has been games, there have been gamers claiming they can build a better game. Having done some pen-and-paper game design (not just writing modules or crafting new monsters), I can say from personal experience that this isn't an easy task. Also, having a background as a developer (dragons can code, too, and ferrets can as well if they were formerly dragons), writing and developing games isn't easy. But any time I go in one of the major books store chains (in disguise, of course, for who would sell to a ferret), I can't help but notice the "game programming" books on the shelves. They serve a purpose, don't get me wrong, but knowing how to program a game and actually creating a game and successfully writing it are two totally different things.

With that said, Microsoft has released the "shut your big trap" package to anyone who claims they can write a better game than what's out there on the market. It's called Microsoft XNA and it lets you write games for the XBox 360. Don't have an XBox 360? That's not my problem, but you'll be happy to know that the XNA Game Studio Express product is free. You just have to go download it, here:

Microsoft XNA  

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