Starting with C++? LOOK HERE IF WONDERING

[MrD.]

I also haven't seen any eye catching games made using XNA. Just some 2D and half-assed 3D ones.

I really don't think you can expect someone to make an XNA game that has the same quality as a AAA game, especially the ones that are on the 360 since there is an file-size restriction on the final game. That said, you can't judge a book by it's cover, Narbacular Drop was the game that eventually became Portal, and I have never managed to play through NB since it always crashes before I finish it. It has a fair few random bugs, but it went on to become something great and proves that an average game with an awesome concept can lead to something fantastic.

XNA is typically used by teams of a few people with the scope of just making a small game. I guess you also have to remember that XNA is not a game engine, merely a programming framework geared towards games; this means you essentially have to write your game engine with it (or find an existing one). I've been using XNA since it first came out and I find it great for prototyping things, but don't tend to use it for anything more serious than that.

The best game I've seen made with XNA is called "The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai".

I remember that, the guys from Microsoft game into our Uni to demo XNA when it was first released and that was one of the things they showed us. I think their quote was something like "So we gave some guys a game framework to play with, and one of the first things we got back was an ultra violent hack-a-thon. I guess that says a lot about our industry"