XNA Game Studio Express Brings User-Created Games to the Xbox 360
Microsoft, just before it kicks off its Gamefest event, has announced XNA Game Studio Express, a software suite that allows anyone with Windows XP and a lil’ know-how, to create games on the PC/Xbox 360 and share them via the Xbox 360. In order to get your games out into the wild, one will have to pay a $99 subscription fee to the “Creator’s Club.” Developers will also be able to draw upon a wealth of resources, from Microsoft, to help speed the development cycle.
Microsoft had this to say about XNA:
”...will democratize game development by delivering the necessary tools to hobbyists, students, indie developers and studios alike to help them bring their creative game ideas to life while nurturing game development talent, collaboration and sharing that will benefit the entire industry.”
Several developers have been enlisted, by Microsoft, to help out with this endeavor and to make things easier for aspiring developers. Some developers include, Garage Games, provider of Torque, which was mentioned by Toots in an earlier post, has brought “both its Torque Shader Engine and new Torque Game Builder 2-D visual game designer over to the XNA Game Studio Express platform.” Autodesk has also said that developers would be able to incorporate their content into XNA-GSE via its FBX file exchange format.
On top of all this, 10 universities, including two I am looking at going to in order to get myself into the game industry, have announced plans to include XNA-GSE into its curriculum. The institutions also mentioned that the 360 will be the only console used in the coursework.
The beta version of XNA-GSE will be available for download, free, mind you, on August 30, 2006.
Amazing! I cannot wait! This will bring many great things to the 360 and the world of game development. ...and who knows, maybe, one day, you’ll see some freakishly-crazy yet cute game from me on there. For more information that is updated to-the-minute, follow the link.
BREAKING: Microsoft To Enable User-Created Xbox 360 Games [Gamasutra]
XNA FAQ – For the Specifics of the Program [Microsoft]
Super Timsy
Posted to Video Games on 14 August 2006
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