Print - Microsoft Opens Up Xbox 360 Game Development to Everyone

In a bid to let game players, students, and other programming amateurs create their own video games for the Xbox 360 and Windows-based PCs, Microsoft today unveiled XNA Game Studio Express, a basic game-authoring tool. Set for release in late 2006, XNA Game Studio Express will be free but will require a $99 yearly subscription fee to translate code into a format that the Xbox 360 understands.

Microsoft will officially announce XNA Game Studio Express during Microsoft General Manager Chris Satchell's keynote address at Gamefest 2006, the Microsoft Game Technology Conference in Seattle. The company said the tool will "democratize" game development by giving powerful console-game-creation capabilities to anyone that wants them, a move that will ultimately benefit the entire industry.

"XNA Game Studio Express will ignite innovation and accelerate prototyping, forever changing the way games are developed," Satchell said. "By unlocking retail Xbox 360 consoles for community-created games, we're ushering in a new era of cross-platform games based on the XNA platform. We're looking forward to the day when all the resulting talent sharing and creativity transforms into a thriving community of user-created games on Xbox 360."

A beta version of XNA Game Studio Express will ship on August 30, Microsoft said. This version will require Windows XP and will target XP game development. The company will ship the final version of XNA Game Studio Express by the end of the year. In early 2007, Microsoft will ship a more full-featured version of the tool, dubbed XNA Game Studio, for professional developers. Microsoft likens XNA Game Studio to a Visual Studio product targeted specifically at game developers. Indeed, both XNA Game Studio and XNA Game Studio Express are based on Visual Studio.

there are a few things i don't like: A) should be free. B) not sure i trust my 360 to college kids. how do i know they don't write something to steal my account.

"A) should be free. B) not sure i trust my 360 to college kids. how do i know they don't write something to steal my account." Heck I'm happy it's just $99/year. If you can get a devkit, they usually run hundreds of dollars. Also in theory it should be impossible to get your credentials from the game as the X-Box handles all the username, password crap. It's just a matter if someone can find a whole in the code.

Too bad nobody cares about the crappy, overpriced Dreamcast 360. The much cheaper and more innovative Wii will obviously hit #1, or at least #2 beneath the giant market share of the Playstation.

Unlike Windows Vista, 64-bit OS X Leopard supports 32-bit device drivers natively: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33666 More proof that Apple's technical engineers are smarter and more skilled than Microsoft's. Right now, AMD64 users still run 32-bit Windows due to lack of driver support.

Major win for modders - this is just another example of MS's open and interoperable ethos they've adopted of late. There's little that can rival Visual Studio for sheer easy of step-through debugging, and its prevalence has greatly supported and perpetuated the Windows ecosystem. Doing something similar for a console is a great step to allowing the possibility of a similar community evolving around X360. For fifty quid, it's a bargain.

The more that MS can do to open up the better. While I won't be doing any game development myself, I'm all for giving the community a chance to do so.

This is an AWESOME idea! End users have created some truely great mods and games over the years. CounterStrike anyone? guruguru: "...will require a $99 yearly subscription fee to translate code into a format the Xbox 360 will understand." Having to pay a hundred clams a year in order to make the game actually playable on the Xbox will hopefully be enough of a deterrent for the wonky college kids out there.

"Having to pay a hundred clams a year in order to make the game actually playable on the Xbox will hopefully be enough of a deterrent for the wonky college kids out there." I agree. Pretty smart move by Microsoft and it may work too. It worked with Windows and Visual Studio.

Microsoft made a very good decision by releasing this product. The more they can diversify, the better for them and their shareholders. I only wish I had the money for an Xbox 360, Xbox Live Gold, and a subscription to XNA. Too bad. Wait a sec... it supports Windows for free? Sweetness. Total sweetness. Sony has a lot to live up to with the PS3. This is coming from a fan of the PlayStation series, BTW.

More amazing Leopard features from Apple that Windows fanboys won't be getting in Vista when (if) it comes out next year: http://www.handras.hu/stuff/ani2.mov

"Unlike Windows Vista, 64-bit OS X Leopard supports 32-bit device drivers natively: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33666 More proof that Apple's technical engineers are smarter and more skilled than Microsoft's. Right now, AMD64 users still run 32-bit Windows due to lack of driver support." LoL I still run 32-bit Windows instead of OSX due to lack of driver support. Isn't that a coinkydink? That and matlab on OSX is slow and whiney (phone's home ever 5 seconds and is practically unusable if you arn't connected to the net, great for laptops!)