Thanks everyone, made me feel a lot better about my decision. I figure Im getting a good deal compared to sticking with Java or C++, Java just doesnt have the huge gaming support as either C++ or C#, and C++ of course has its pitfalls.. so I think using a pretty elegant language like C# and coupling it with a strongly backed library like XNA I really cant go wrong. In the end my goal is to learn game development from the ground up, not to make the next fortune. Honestly if that was my goal I would probably pick up something like Unity and be done with it. XNA seems like just enough boost to avoid writing boring/mind numbing code, but leaves you enough alone so that youre pretty much forced to learn everything thats happening. Im ok with knowing that in the same time I make a 2d platformer in XNA I could have make 3 of them in Unity, because to me the road and the experience is so much more than the finished product.. even if the road involves frustrating coding