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Microsoft looking to create a "YouTube" for games

Microsoft will be putting the power of XBOX 360 game development in the hands of gamers beginning August 30. At that time, Microsoft will make available a beta version of its XNA Game Studio Express software which allows hobbyists to create games for both Windows XP/Vista and XBOX 360 platforms. A final version of the software, which is built on Visual Studio Express and .NET technology, is expected to be made available from the software giant by the end of the year.

For those looking to take their game development to the next level, gamers will be able to join a "creator's club" for $99 per year. The subscription affords budding developers the ability to build, test and distribute their games for the XBOX 360. Additional tools will also be at their disposal to make game development faster and simpler.

Microsoft's Peter Moore went on to state what he hopes to see accomplished with the software toolkit, "Ultimately, long term, ... I think that there's the ability here to create the YouTube of games." Microsoft general manager of the Game Developer Group Chris Satchell said, “XNA Game Studio Express will ignite innovation and accelerate prototyping, forever changing the way games are developed. By unlocking retail Xbox 360 consoles for community-created games, we are ushering in a new era of cross-platform games based on the XNA platform. We are 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.”

CNET notes that Sony tried a similar strategy with its original PlayStation console in the form of its $750 Net Yaroze developmental kit. Microsoft is looking to give its XBOX 360 platform every advantage possible as it will soon face stiff competition from Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3. Giving the Average Joe access to tools to create games to share with friends and the online community is a good way to make people take notice of the 360.

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Great idea
By feelingshorter on 8/14/2006 6:33:23 PM , Rating: 2
This is a great idea. One of the reasons that Blizzard's Starcraft and Warcraft III games did so good is because of the amazing map editor. Without it, Starcraft and Broodwar would of never been so popular. Along with WC3, nothing beats starcraft's Use Map Settings or WC3 "custom" games. Microsoft is making a very smart move to let the community make their own games. Imagine USM maps or custom wc3 map type games being playing on the 360 in multiplayer. I can only imagine someone out there building characters in 3D studio max and then creating a game from it. Makes me want to buy a 360 now.




RE: Great idea
By Glitchny on 8/14/2006 6:37:36 PM , Rating: 2
As a current Xbox360 owner I'm really excited, this opens up so many more possibilities with xbox live etc. What I would like to know is what the execs at Sony said when they got this press release...


RE: Great idea
By Totalfixation on 8/14/2006 6:42:55 PM , Rating: 3
I didnt think SC and WC was good because of the ability to use mapsettings or custom, i think it was because of the great rts gameplay. I only played BGH when i was playing SC i would play that map all the time and nothing else, it was the Gameplay and the ability to play against real people that made it so addicting.


RE: Great idea
By blazeoptimus on 8/14/2006 10:33:21 PM , Rating: 3
I think you guys are both right feeling and total. The excellent map editor in SC contributed to the overall success along with the excellent gameplay that made it so addicting. Blizzard has a pretty good track record of making really quality games, including a map editor and havin seriously addicting game play is all part of that quality. Likewise, Microsoft is known for making high quality coding tools, and they look to be continuing that trend with this move. I'm no Microsoft fan, but this was a smart move on there part. Hopefully the speed will be as good as ODDTsi would have us believe.


hobbyists can already do this...it just costs more
By msva124 on 8/14/2006 10:20:52 PM , Rating: 2
How much do the commercial kits cost?

I hope that this will result in a YouTube for games. But making a video game, even a simple one, is a lot harder than shooting a two minute video.




RE: hobbyists can already do this...it just costs more
By TomZ on 8/14/2006 10:42:29 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
How much do the commercial kits cost?


CNN reported that the commercial tools cost tens of thousands of dollars.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/fun.games/08/14/micro...


Dont forget the PC...
By beepandbop on 8/15/2006 12:18:14 AM , Rating: 2
I believe the guy mentioned PC support too.


By msva124 on 8/15/2006 5:14:56 AM , Rating: 2
Actually I was wrong, it looks like hobbyists can't develop games.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/dev/regdev.htm


By TomZ on 8/15/2006 8:42:12 AM , Rating: 2
This would contradict the entire point of releasing this $99/year kit, which is to allow everyone to be able to create games. I would guess that the link you referenced relates to professional developers using the commercial tools, and that a separate licensing agreement and distribution system would apply for this $99/year kit.


Following sony's footsteps?
By raven3x7 on 8/15/2006 6:06:59 AM , Rating: 1
Sony had already announced for a while that they would allow custom content on the PS3.




RE: Following sony's footsteps?
By maverick502 on 8/15/2006 8:13:30 AM , Rating: 2
Sony announces many things that never come about...I imagine this would have been one of those things...except now MS has taken the lead, putting Sony in a position to keep up...Do people forget all the things Sony has said they would do over the years, but never end up releasing or following through on. Words are useless without action.


RE: Following sony's footsteps?
By SunAngel on 8/15/06, Rating: 0
RE: Following sony's footsteps?
By maverick502 on 8/15/2006 8:54:11 AM , Rating: 2
my thoughts are completely based on experience with sony...


RE: Following sony's footsteps?
By TomZ on 8/15/2006 8:55:39 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Here is another example of a hate post against Sony.

I disgree, I think the OP is basically saying that Sony has a lot of plans but doesn't always follow through with good execution.
quote:
Sony announces support for a particular platform and function and MSFT steals the show by immediately implementing the idea.

This is the nature of a highly competitive market. Anyway, I haven't seen any mention of a new initiative for PS3, and it is widely acknowledged that Sony failed in their efforts for PS2. Here is an article that tries to look at whether Microsoft can succeed where Sony failed (their judgement, not mine):

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/14/will-xbox-360-xn...

quote:
I wrote in a previous post that whenever Sony releases or announcement a tech innovation they get slammed for it on these forums. But the moment someone else decides to do it its an okay technology

I think this is only partially true. Sony has done a lot to erode their image within the past year, and I think folks are reacting to that. Also, you have to look at Microsoft on the other hand - many people have a strong contempt for Microsoft (rational or otherwise), and they get slammed for nearly everything they do also. So it is not only Sony that is in this situation.


RE: Following sony's footsteps?
By OddTSi on 8/15/2006 2:29:23 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Here is another example of a hate post against Sony.

Sony announces support for a particular platform and function and MSFT steals the show by immediately implementing the idea.


And here's another example of a Sony fanboy post. MS has been working on XNA for almost as long as they've been working on .NET. This is NOT something that they came up with just to counter Sony (believe it or not the world doesn't revolve around Sony) and it's not something that they came up with just for the XBox360. XNA allows for easier cross-platform game development, so it'll be relatively simple for someone to make a game for both the PC and the XBox360. Plus, if the Mono project people decide to implement XNA on *nix then it'll be possible to relatively easily make Windows PC games written in XNA work in *nix.

So to sum up, this has nothing to do with Sony making a promise of allowing development on the PS3 and it even has more to do with the PC than it does the XBox360, it's just that for some reason everyone has chosen to focus on the XBox360 side of this announcement.


I wonder...
By hannons on 8/14/2006 5:47:48 PM , Rating: 2
if this is one part of the 'big surprise' that has been hinted at in the past few weeks.




PC too...
By beepandbop on 8/14/2006 6:19:07 PM , Rating: 2
I dont like the idea of subscribing to make a free game. These tools better be worth 99$ a year...
I like how its coming to the PC too, thats always nice.


RE: PC too...
By PrinceGaz on 8/15/2006 7:29:05 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I like how its coming to the PC too, thats always nice.

Yeah, because there are so few software-development tools currently available for the PC :p

But seriously, it is a good thing that MS are pushing the PC as well as XB360, even if it is mainly because of Vista.


RE: PC too...
By rykerabel on 8/16/2006 9:24:31 AM , Rating: 2
Its Free.

Only the Microsoft run community is $99. So don't join it, join a free community online.


Works for me...
By exdeath on 8/14/2006 5:33:41 PM , Rating: 2
...as long as the homebrew system allows full access to the hardware and isn't crippled in any way compared to commercial development kits.

Hopefully the hardware will be documented at the register/command packet level like the PS2, but most likely it will be a crippled black box SDK >:{

Either way my PPC experience on the Gamecube won't go to waste!




RE: Works for me...
By OddTSi on 8/14/2006 7:21:00 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Hopefully the hardware will be documented at the register/command packet level like the PS2, but most likely it will be a crippled black box SDK >:{

You obviously haven't read anything about XNA. In fact you probably didn't read this news post too closely either.

XNA is based on .NET, it's being referred to as "managed DirectX" by some people. Essentially it will do for games/graphics programming what .NET did for general programming. It'll make it a lot easier to implement (cross-platform) games since you let MS deal with all the nitty-gritty hardware details.


Xbox360 no XBMC?
By gramboh on 8/15/2006 1:14:18 AM , Rating: 2
I have an original Xbox softmodded with XBMC and it makes a great HTPC for playing mp3/video through our LAN however the original Xbox isn't powerful enough to decode HD quality video.

Will the Xbox360 ever be 'cracked' to the point of XBMC being able to be used? Or is there something preventing this from happening, I read above that booting custom software from the HD isn't possible?




RE: Xbox360 no XBMC?
By Kilim on 8/15/2006 7:45:38 PM , Rating: 2
The 360 will be cracked, but i believe that there is some epoxy holding the bios for the DVD drive on it or something like that.

There was some talk about how some XBOX crackers broke the 360 a while ago and that they were mere weeks from completely cracking it. That was MANY MANY months ago and I have not heard anything about it since. They were bragging about how quickly they could do it, lets see if they have some honor about that and admit Microsoft actually did a good job of protecting its system.


This is great
By IMPoor on 8/15/2006 11:35:31 AM , Rating: 2
lets say you are a lone hacker and created the most popular game online. The chances are Microsoft, 3rd party game developers, Nintendo, Sony, etc. would all be very interested in your product and developing a retail version of it. So you would recieve reward for it or at least some job offers. May the best game win.

Remember that all the homebrew, XBMC, etc stuff for the original xbox was made by these lone hackers, or groups of lone programmers, for the general public to use and I did. But I never once paid for any of it. These groups spent countless hours just to release free software to the general public.

Microsoft realizes there are legit reasons to creating homebrew apps and games other than for pirating purposes and kudos to them for it. They also must realize how many people bought a old xbox just to turn it into a XBMC or whatever.




RE: This is great
By Kilim on 8/15/2006 7:54:14 PM , Rating: 2
Speaking of, I work at a Gamestop and our entire District has a problem keeping XBOX'es in stock. It is a bit of a joke, we cannot keep them in stock, and I do not believe it is to replace broken ones. Every one I get traded in (usaully for a 360) gets sold within days. Defective XBOX'es are very rare, I have not had one that has been returned to me as defective in months.


Interesting
By creathir on 8/14/2006 5:13:20 PM , Rating: 2
The only reason I ever purchased a mod chip for my orig. Xbox (had 4 over time) was to MOD the sucker to write homebrew stuff and install XBMC. I never was into that entire "pirating" scene... just not my thing. This will destroy legitimate use of the mod chips...

- Creathir




RE: Interesting
By Samus on 8/14/2006 8:44:46 PM , Rating: 1
I agree, if this works as advertised, I may actually buy an XBOX360, because its so crippled as a 'modded' media center (DVD firmware hack + media center dvd boot disc, no bootable hard disk like the old xbox) that it hasn't been attractive up until this point.

Ohh yea, and practically every game for it sucks. Gears of War might be the only thing sparking my interest in it for this year.


Good Deal All around
By AxemanFU on 8/14/2006 6:41:44 PM , Rating: 2
This kind of thing can finally give a console some inroads into areas where the PC still dominates gaming..mods and addons and custom maps, etc. It's a win-win all around. MS gets basically free R&D and free content that users will spend time on Live to get, and increased future add revenues by having that much larger of an audience, and the users get a LOT more to choose from, and the possibility to get their talent noticed, or create the things they want themselves. Gotta give them credit for this move.




For Hobbyists?
By MrHanson on 8/14/2006 8:54:53 PM , Rating: 2
"The subscription affords budding developers the ability to build, test and distribute their games for the XBOX 360."

This might seem like a stupid question, but the article wasn't clear on exactly how I will get my game (or whatever program I wish to create) from my PC onto the 360 hardware. Every time I wanted to test my program on the 360 I would have to upload it to XBOX Live (or whatever service there will be for 360 hobbyists, homebrewers, ect.) or will there be a way to directly link my pc with the 360 hardware (ethernet port?) and upload my games to it quickly for testing? I'm not really interested in distributing my programs so would I still need to pay the $99 subscription? Or is that for homebrew developers who want there games to be available for download?




XNA Game Studio Express
By imguessing on 8/15/06, Rating: -1
RE: XNA Game Studio Express
By maverick502 on 8/15/2006 9:37:58 AM , Rating: 2
imnegative...


RE: XNA Game Studio Express
By Vinnybcfc on 8/15/2006 9:53:54 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
PC to design Xbox 360 (gee, no PS3 support?) video games


I dont think Sony are going to turn around and say sweet develop on our console so MS dont have a choice even if they wanted to

Think before you post


RE: XNA Game Studio Express (SPAM)
By TomZ on 8/15/2006 10:33:41 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
I’m Guessing http://imguessingblog.blogspot.com imguessingblog@gmail.com

This is a link to a web site that contains commercial adversiting. IMO, this post therefore constitutes SPAM which is in violation of DailyTech's T&Cs.


RE: XNA Game Studio Express
By rushfan2006 on 8/15/2006 11:41:00 AM , Rating: 3
I'm guessing your extremely naive....

Sure Microsoft has been caught doing shady things, been sued for anti-competitive actions, etc....

Do you HONESTLY think MS is the only company that does business less than perfect, saintly or innocent? ;)

Let me tell you something...most, if not all the fortune 1000 companies do shady dealings day to day...and a good bit of the smaller companies do to...its just how business is like it or leave it.

Microsoft merely raked over the coals because of their very high visibility in the public eye as one of the most popular/well known companies the planet has ever known.



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