XNA Essentials

XNA Game Studio 3.1 includes many cool features. They could have gotten away with a major version number in my opinion.  It includes things such as

Avatar Support

Xbox LIVE Party Support

Video Playback

Changes to the Audio API

Content Pipeline Enhancements

XACT3 Support

Also, it allows targetting either XNA GS 3.0 or XNA GS 3.1 inside of Visual Studio. XNA GS 3.1 games can be submitted to the peer review service on July 23rd.

Also, it appears the artist formerly known as XBLCG (Xbox LIVE Community Games) is now known as XBLIG (Xbox LIVE Indie Games).

More information can be found at http://creators.xna.com/en-us/news/xnagamestudio3.1

The download link is at the bottom of page. So download it today and start making 3D Avatar games with cool video billboards!

Happy Coding!

-Chad