It's now only three weeks to the competition starts. Three weeks may sound like a long time, but to me it certainly isn't. I'd really like to have this prototype game library ready so I can whip something up along the lines of the contest as a demo.
Giving everyone three weeks to mentally prepare does have its benefits though. I've tried to stress how important polish and presentation is for this competition, and the three weeks warning should cement that home. If someone is struggling trying to learn a new engine or library during the actual week of the competition then they weren't paying attention.
This week I'll occasionally be listing more resources up on the contest wiki resource page. There's a ton of great free stuff out there on the internet that hobby game developers can use, so there should be no excuse for entries to avoid putting in music, sound effects or a decent attempt at an art style.
One question though, is XNA a valid framework to use for an entry?