The Dream Build Play 2009 winners have finally been announced and we got 2nd place! In this year’s competition, I think it’s safe to say it would be an honor to sit alongside any game in the top 20. I’m amazed at what all the competitors have come up with. Congrats to all the teams in this year’s competition, and a big thank-you to my Coin App brethren, the XNA community, Microsoft, and my girlfriend for tolerating my schedule over these past few months.

Just over a year ago I was finishing up my art degree, and now I’m the lead programmer on a Dream Build Play finalist team. It’s been a crazy ride. I can’t wait to see where we go next.

Although the Coin App crew wasn’t able to make it to PAX this weekend to see our game on display in the Microsoft XNA booth, friends and community members have been taking pictures and videos of our game being played. Thank you all for sharing with those of us who didn’t get to join you in Seattle.

I’m only going to re-post a single image here, as I think it pretty much says it all.

It’s finally public knowledge, Coin App’s first game, Max Blastronaut, is a finalist for Microsoft’s Dream Build Play 2009 game development competition. Out of more than 270 games that were submitted, we’re now in the top six! In my book, anything that happens at this point is a win for us. Simply being next to the other amazing finalists is an honor in and of itself. Big congrats to all the other teams as well!

The winner be announced in just a few days, so stay tuned for an update. Until then, check out Patrick Klepek’s preview of all the Dream Build Play finalists over at G4TV.com.

2009-09-05 Update:
Matthew, co-creator of Duality ZF and all around XNA community good guy, has posted videos of the top 20 games from this year’s Dream Build Play competition. Thanks Matthew!