So I have started playing around with the Guide, signed-in user preferences and information, and the UI features in XNA.  Gotta say, I am impressed so far…

I am currently punting and using the text input feature to get a player’s high score name, defaulting it to the configurd player’s name.  When the game is done, I want to provide a custom-drawn GUI that allows the user to use the gamepad to select and enter letters, just like an old-school game does. 

I am thinking of showing a visual keyboard and allowing the user to select characters from there.  I believe it will be quicker than just using up/down to change the character at the cursor’s position.  Uses either approach allows me to control the characters used, but I think the former will be more fun and a better learning experience.