Make Your Own Xbox 360 Game

GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
edited August 2006 in Science & Tech
While home-brewed games for personal computers are nothing new, consoles have usually been closed-off to amateur software developers. On August 20th, Microsoft will release XNA Game Studio Express, which will let Windows XP (later, Vista) users develop their own games for the Xbox 360. It will require a $99 annual subscription, and will be basic compared to the developer kits that the big names pay tens of thousands of dollars for.
David Amor, creative director at Relentless, developers of Buzz, praised the move by Microsoft.

"Anything that lets a wider set of people have the ability to create software is a good thing.

"The best games are about ideas, not necessarily about technical skills."

Mr Amor said the games market was broad enough to support epic, expensive titles and more modest, home-produced games.
Home-brewed games could be shared on Xbox Live, and while Microsoft will regulate the releases, the developer will retain ownership of the game itself. Microsoft executive Peter Moore was quoted as saying "I'd love to send a royalty cheque to a kid." The chances that you'll break into the video game industry by making Xbox games at home may be small, but it sounds like a fun hobby that might even pay off.

Mr. Moore must also see additional profit opportunity for Microsoft, saying that the company may also sell additional software packs to help users "tweak their games." At this time it is unclear whether those software packs would be more professional-level tools, prepared content, or something else entirely.

Source: BBC News

Comments

  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    This is sweet news! Now Halo3 won't be my only reason for buying the 360.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    from what I've read, though, sharing your games on xbox live will be an exercise in "an astounding number of steps"... You and the person you are sharing with both have to be subscribers to the XNA service, you have to have the other party download the source code, etc. It'll be crazy.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    IE, it'll be as complicated as humanly possible, can't modify existing games, can bear the resemblance to no other copyrighted work, requires licensing and distribution fees, and is generally a marketing gimmick that is bound to have a few isolated successes and a low rate of user uptake.

    Sounds like Microsoft's generosity at work. :P Bless them, but they've none o' that business.
  • CyrixInsteadCyrixInstead Stoke-on-Trent, England Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    Sounds a bit like that home developers kit that was available with the original Playstation. I used to get Playstation magazine and there would be a cover disc each month, sometimes with some pretty cool games that had been developed by Joe Public at home.

    ~Cyrix
  • rapturerapture
    edited August 2006
    net yaroze? I remember playing a homebrew asteroids style game with racing multiplayer, cool as ****.
Sign In or Register to comment.