Tag Archives: xna

Emails allegedly sent to XNA developers suggest Microsoft may be phasing out the development environment behind Xbox Live Indie Games.

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Microsoft’s GDC got moving this morning, with confirmation of a $75,000 total prize for its Dream.Build.Play 2011 Challenge.

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Kinect project director Alex Kipman has said the motion camera will eventually support Xbox indie community XNA.

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Microsoft’s put out XNA extensions for Zune HD, as you can see here.

The update adds the following functionality:

• The ability to target and develop for the Zune HD media player.
• The addition of new Touch APIs to the XNA Framework for use on the Zune HD.
• The addition of new Accelerometer APIs to the XNA Framework for use on the Zune HD.

Shit your pants right now, Apple. Actually, maybe hold off until Microsoft manages to release Zune anywhere else apart from America.

Thanks, Roybott.

Microsoft has decided to shut down its user friendly development program Popfly.

Released two years ago, the program enabled people with little or no programming experience to create games.

Come August 24, folks will be asked to direct themselves to XNA or Kodu.

Via Kotaku.

The rules and regulations that are sent out to developers who wish to use Avatars in their games has emerged via the XNA Creators Club website revealing that no sex, maiming or indeed talking is allowed.

The lengthy list (after the break) stipulates that Xbox Live Indie Game that uses Avatars must be reviewed to make sure it “doesn’t let the Avatar commit the following acts, have the act occur to them, or is a spectator to them”.

So we won’t see headless zombie Avatars running around, noiselessly copulating then? Shame.

Full thing below. Thanks, CVG.

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Gamerbytes has published a nice table of XNA games sales and profits, showing fairly ably that you’re not going to get rich from the platform any time soon. Put it this way – you’d be lucky to take home $1,000.

The figures show how many times games were trialled, how many times they were bought and how the money’s split up.

Fill your boots. Thanks, Kotaku.

Microsoft take as much as 60 percent of revenue from Xbox Live Community Game sales, according to XNA developer, Mommy’s Best Games.

Company boss Nathan Fouts said sales data his XNA title Weapon of Choice was “sobering”, with less than 10,000 units moved.

In his blog post, Fouts explained that Microsoft takes a baseline cut of 30 percent and remittance rate, plus an additional 10-30 percent for advertising.

More harshness on GI. Thanks, Shatner.

XNA user SniperED007 has created a fireplace for Xbox 360 costing 400 Microsoft Points.

It features “realistic smoldering embers and flickering flames,” and apparently creates “the perfect backdrop for a relaxing evening.” Quite.

You can download a demo if you want to try before you buy. Shacknews even has a video of it in action.

This is the future, right here.

By Mike Bowden

Microsoft’s confirmed that NXE’s community games are to head to new regions, following news that plenty of countries didn’t have access to the content when 360′s new UI launched.

Singapore, Australia and New Zealand will all get access to community games from December 15.

“If our annual Dream-Build-Play competition taught us one thing, it is that there is such a wealth of creativity and imagination in this region, and all over the world, that should be shared with millions,” said XNA boss Boyd Multerer.

“Now even more developers can participate in what we expect to be a worldwide movement to truly democratize game development.”

There’s a press release on Team Xbox.

NXE’s XNA community games don’t appear to be available in all European regions.

Reports on the Eurogamer forums suggest that both Denmark and Norway simply don’t have the Community Games menu option in the new dash. Which means we can’t play them either. Catastrophic.

Perhaps it’s just Scandinavia that has been left out? We’re contacting Microsoft to get official word on the subject.

Update: Finland, Sweden and now Ireland can add themselves to the list of regions without a Community Games section, so we’re told, and it appears the title, Weapon of Choice, is not available in France. Thanks to Paavi, netsabes and Michael O’Connor.

By Mike Bowden

After the break. Now this is more like it. Watch the rather intriguing tech demo whose premise is that you need to navigate your way through an all-white maze by splattering black paint everywhere, revealling the obstacles that stand in your path.

Anyway, enough talking, more watching. Thanks RPS for the head’s up.

By Mike Bowden

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Microsoft will start selling user-created games on Xbox Live this autumn, the firm announced today, at three different prices – the equivalent of $2.50, $5 or $10.

Up to 70 percent of the revenue will be split with the games’ creators. As is already known, any game to make it to the store and be valid for sale will need to pass a peer-review system.

“Not only are we democratizing game development with Xbox Live Community Games later this year, but we’re creating an opportunity for aspiring developers,” said XNA tech boss, Chris Satchell.

Remember that you have to be a member of the XNA Creators Club to be able to make a game applicable for Live sale, and that costs $99 per year.

Big news. Loads more here.

XNA boss Chris Satchell has said in an interview with GI that digital distribution will create a new type of games publisher.

“With the release of community games distribution I think we will see a new class of micro-community-’publishers’ – small community teams that publish their work exclusively on Xbox Live,” said Satchell.

“This means more diversity of content for gamers, a huge audience for up-and-coming developers and new creativity and talent in the industry, talent that will also fuel growth at large publishers.”

Full interview through the link.

By Mike Bowden

Speaking at Gamehorizon in Newcastle this morning, Microsoft’s XNA boss, Chris Satchell, has said that user generated content can be responsibly rated by an audience of its creators’ peers – and doesn’t need any intervention from the BBFC or PEGI.

“PEGI and the BBFC simply are not going to be able to rate community content. We have to work out a way to police ourselves to avoid huge regulatory pressure,” he said. “The core of Creators Club Online take it very seriously. If you give the community tools, they act responsibly.”

More on MCV.

Microsoft’s announced that the beta for the Community Games on Xbox Live has entered closed beta.

Only premium members from the XNA Creators Club are eligible to take part at the moment, membership of which costs $99 per year.

See here.

Speaking to GI, David Edery, Xbox Live Arcade’s worldwide portfolio planner, said that user-created games will set Xbox Live apart from its rivals.

“I certainly think from an innovation perspective it’s going to help us leapfrog the competition, effectively until they find a way to duplicate it, assuming they ever do,” he said.

“To some extent it will certainly help us have more innovative content than either of them, just by definition. With all this random stuff coming from the community, every once in a while there’s going to be a real gem in there that you just couldn’t have found otherwise, it wouldn’t have found its way on to a console.”

The XNA game-creation stuff for Live was announced at this year’s GDC and will go live later this year.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Chris Satchell, XNA group manager at Microsoft, has said that he believes Sony – as well as othere companies – is walking on thin ice by allowing users to upload content to its online services.

“I think there’s a potential risk on any platform… where you’re running in what we call native mode, where you’re writing straight to the metal, not a sandbox layer like XNA, and then that runs a script engine and you let people do that in that script engine,” he said.

“Any platform that let’s you do that, and doesn’t have the right security measures in place – whether it’s Sony, whether it’s Nintendo, whether it’s Apple, whether it’s anyone – you’re inviting trouble, because sooner or later someone will want to prove they can do it.”

These quotes are from a broader interview to be found here.

Here. This is the last time we ever get excited about a sheet. Behind the amazing XNA shroud of power was a stand full of… XNA community games. And when we say “full”, we mean “four screens”. That sound is our lives, ending one ticking second at a time.

Here we go. Expect more XNA than you can possibly stand for the rest of the day. Microsoft’s announced that the development suite is to be given to students for free (finally).

The free access is being organised under the DreamSpark banner, and is open to students from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Switzerland, Canada and the US.

All you have to do to get involved is to sign in with your Passport ID and tell Microsoft what sort of education you’re involved in. We’re not sure, “College of Hard Knocks” counts.