In January and February, Microsoft will be hosting a series of free webcasts teaching the basics of 3D game development using C#. It's aimed at beginning programmers, so don't feel too intimidated.

If you have always wanted to develop cutting-edge video games but are just getting started, tune in to our 11 free webcasts. Learn the concepts of 3-D video game production as instructors from DigiPen Institute of Technology demonstrate the key stages of developing a game engine using Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition, a new development environment for beginner programmers. Learn how to handle backgrounds, objects, and collisions. In addition, these webcasts provide a primer for handling artificial intelligence in your game, along with multiple levels and additional character functionality.

View our library of on-demand webcasts to learn more about 2-D game development by working with the top-down shooter game Star Trooper, and also learn about community-based Project Hoshimi.

Bonus: Attend any four live MSDN webcasts and submit evaluations during the month of January and you will receive an MSDN Webcasts superhero action figure. Want to learn more? Meet the Source Fource!

Sweet, the Source Fource!