Microsoft releases XNA Game Studio Express

Microsoft's been talking this one up for some time now, but XNA Game Studio Express, the so-called "YouTube for games," has finally hit the big 1.0 and is now available for would-be game designers everywhere to get their hands dirty with. The software is a trimmed down version of the company's full-fledged XNA game devleopment platform, based on Visual C# Express and able to run on a standard Windows PC (XP for now, Vista later). The YouTube analogy is, of course, a bit of an overstatement as you'll need some honest-to-goodness programming skills to actually create something resembling a game. While the core software is available as a free download, to get the most out of it you'll have to sign up for the XNA Creators Club, which will run you $49 for a four month subscription or $99 for an annual sub through Xbox Live Marketplace. In addition to letting you play user-created games on an Xbox 360, it'll also give you access to a library of game assests, as well as sample products, white papers, and technical support. If you need an added incentive, Microsoft's also announced the "Dream-Build-Play" game design competition, though the only details they're providing at the moment are that you can win "fantastic prizes" and "global envy." Funny, we thought you needed a PS3 for that.

[Morgon @ Dec 11th 2006 3:41PM]

Even if you're not interested in playing games, I think this subscription is worth it just to play the near-infinite amount of games.

I got a chance to see some of the XNA content that some people had created for the Xbox Fall Showcase last month - with some proper talent and time, some truly amazing things are going to come out of this.

[Morgon @ Dec 11th 2006 3:42PM]

Duh, I meant "Even if you're not interested in CREATING games..."
Posting and working are not easily mixed.

[Cory @ Dec 11th 2006 3:47PM]

So do I need to pay $99 per year to play other people's crappy half finished games, or is that only if I want to publish my own? I would think if they wanted a "YouTube for games" then to play them would be free (well, after you pay for XboxLive).

[Bill @ Dec 11th 2006 3:49PM]

great! now a nother service that M$ can overcharge us for!

[JinKazama @ Dec 11th 2006 3:51PM]

Somebody help me out here, isn't this possible on the PS3 by installing Linux? If so, while it'd lack the organization of MS's effort, why in the world would MS charge for something that their competitor is offering for free?

[Jason @ Dec 11th 2006 4:15PM]

You're paying for the convenience of established frameworks which ease your game creation as well as allow you to publish content on both Windows and the 360 without any hassle.

[Morgon @ Dec 11th 2006 3:52PM]

You can share/download people's source code and play the games on your PC from the XNA framework for free.
The subscription is to publish, share, and play your games from the comfort of your 360.

[len @ Dec 11th 2006 4:58PM]

No, you're paying to create a barrier to entry and to reduce your audience so that all the people who payed $10k+ for the real development kit don't raise a shit-storm over free games written for practically nothing.

[_man1c_ @ Dec 11th 2006 6:29PM]

i dloaded this already. havent really fiddled around with it yet, but going too. need to get more experience in with java. java and c# which this is based on are very identical. so maybe ill have a game on it one day.. :)

[Dave @ Dec 11th 2006 6:30PM]

@JinKazama

No, in fact linux under PS3 doesn't even have access to the cores mini processors. Running Linux on the PS3 is kinda like running it on a 3 year old PowerPC mac in terms of performance as it can only run code on the primary core.

[Dave Pevsner @ Dec 11th 2006 6:47PM]

microsoft.........embracing the homebrew community. i'll believe it when they send me a 360 and the software to test it.

what's gonna be next, sony giving out 3.02 to 1.50 downgraders for PSP and encouraging DevHook or the MFM?

[Rohit @ Dec 11th 2006 6:57PM]

Man most of the guys here need to get their head checked. The MS phobia stinks. XNA is an amazing concept. I have not seen anything inovative from Sony for years now. You guys need to get a life.

[Rod Elder @ Dec 11th 2006 7:07PM]

ZERO SUPPORT for Live Networking within the framework of the software. Makes it nearly pointless right now.

[Cory @ Dec 11th 2006 7:10PM]

I guess hitting the read link would have answered my previous question.

"subscription to the XNA Creators Club is required in order to run XNA-based games on the Xbox 360"

In other words, the only ones who are going to pay the fee to be able to play the published games are people who are too busy to because they're developing their own.

[Dan @ Dec 12th 2006 12:52PM]

While it is true that $99/year gets you the ability to play the XB360 XNA games, this is only temporary. MS plans on releasing XNA Pro which is the version of XNA that costs $$ for the devs...however they can publish XB360 games w/out the need for the XNA Creators Club subscription. However, the looks of it- the "creators club" looks like a place for developers to share their games with everyone.
Again, the $99/year is only temporary until XNA Pro is released which if I read correctly, will also allow the devs to incorporate XB Live.

[Coolwave @ Dec 11th 2006 7:12PM]

Microsoft knows what they're doing. The Express line of development software is a great idea. Free, powerful development tools for Microsoft's platforms. I don't know anything about this XNA Game Studio Express, but I use Visual Web Developer Express every day and love it. It's almost as powerful as Visual Studio, but it's free! I don't need the extra features Visual Studio offers, so I don't have to pay for them. The catch is that I do need to host my site on a Microsoft server, so a Microsoft product is purchased at some point. Exactly what they're going for.

Now they're trying to get young people to play with their free game development tools and learn to develop games for Microsoft. When they go out looking for a job as a game developer they know and want to develop Microsoft games.

[otakucode @ Dec 11th 2006 7:30PM]

This is NOT Microsoft opening up a "YouTube of gaming". Their plans explicitly avoid doing anything of the type. The way it works is that you pay $100/yr and you get the ability to put your own games on your own 360 console. You can also put other peoples games on your 360 console... only if they allow you to download the full source code and all source assets. Then you have to compile and deploy the game to your own 360. You don't do it through the 360 or the Live interface, they make it as difficult as possible.

Once you've done all the hard work and created your own game though, you can give away every bit of it completely exposed to everyone else with a Creator's Club membership though. It's basically forcing you to release everything you do as open source. There simply isn't any other option. You can't put it on the Live Marketplace and sell it, that would lead to a "YouTube of gaming" and Microsoft doesn't want that.

They have announced plans that sometime in the distant future they MIGHT let developers who developed with the XNA Game Studio Express and Creator's Club stuff put their creations on an Xbox Live Community Arcade....... for $1000 a pop. And even then, you'll have to go through Microsoft's approval process and your game will undoubtedly go past their "portfolio management" commitee which makes sure that the games on Xbox Live are only the kind of games they want to be on Xbox Live. Don't expect funny Internet meme games, or politically charged funny games, or anything that would remotely approach a "YouTube" type of community. If we're all very lucky, we'll get some more games like the ones from PopCap, but only ones that are significantly distinguished from the ones already available (MS isn't going to let someone make a Bejeweled clone and get it onto the service obviously).

[Spencer @ Dec 11th 2006 9:47PM]

Q: What does XNA stand for?
A: XNA�s Not Acronymed

Funny, they went all open-source/community development style with the name.
But not as funny as their Capcom/SF2 style they used for Vista x64 Ultimate Turbo.

[Jimmy @ Dec 11th 2006 11:41PM]

@Dave
-----No, in fact linux under PS3 doesn't even have access to the cores mini processors. Running Linux on the PS3 is kinda like running it on a 3 year old PowerPC mac in terms of performance as it can only run code on the primary core.-----

In fact, Dave, you are incorrect. Sony justed added a complete CPU package to the Linux Kernel source tree. Yes, Sony provided free code to the FOSS community. The lacking part of Linux on the PS3 is access to direct drivers for the video subsystem.

[SporkRocker @ Dec 11th 2006 11:41PM]

Microsoft's greed knows no bounds. To have the best online 360 service you need to fork out 50-60 every year. Online gaming should be free. Tcp/ip anybody? We use it when play a pc game online. Same thing for a ps2, after buying an adapter.

Now, they want to give free user created content to those that are willing to pay $100. Trying to mimic youtube. Is anyone seeing the irony? Youtube is free. For users that do submit their work is not worth it, paying $100, to a limited audience. While flash, mods, and etc are out for free. It would be ok if it was 20-30 dollars a year or 10-15 every 4 months.

[Dan @ Dec 12th 2006 1:09PM]

SporkRocker, you're complaining about $50/year when you are able to afford a $400 system, internet, and possibly an HDTV? Thats a little over $4/month. I can scrounge up $4/month from quarters I see lying around on the street and whatnot. Again, refer to how people pay $180/year for MMORPG's... and sometimes multiple accounts... not to mention, each account is about $50. Modern gaming is NOT cheap by any means unless you're gunna stick to CS/DoD and legacy gaming. When PS3's and XB360's alone are half a grand and each game is about $60 EACH, $50/year is nothing. and the $100/year for us devs to have fun with our games on XB360 (and only xb360- windows is free) is for hobbyists. as in, people who just enjoy seeing what they can do. again- MS plans on releasing a "pro" version of XNA in the future that the users dont need the $99/year fee

[Deihmos @ Dec 12th 2006 5:01PM]

Is online gaming really free? Why don't you start your own battlefield 2142 server and see how free it is.

[MrPieGuy @ Dec 12th 2006 12:35AM]

Okay seriously people stop getting angry at Microsoft for providing a service. I have been using XNA for over a month now and love it, I have a few little games of my own made and it has cost me nothing. My friends have played it, it cost them nothing. The only thing that costs money is to put it on the 360, and to access other peoples games on the 360. These are literally tens of thousands of dollars of dev kits for video games just handed for free to the public and you're whining about an optional charge of a hundred a year? If you dont want it, spend millions developing the software and hardware and shut the hell up.

[Dan @ Dec 12th 2006 12:54PM]

I agree, MrPieGuy. I'm a hobbyist programmer (what XNA GSE is made for) and I can't even believe that these kids are complaining that MS is charging to use a service that'll provide them with endless supply of CONSOLE games. I mean, yea its crappy that we won't get royalties, but XNA is brand new (publicly). I make things for FREE with 100s/1000s hours of my time and people complain that somewhere they need to pay $100/year to play my stuff along with 1000s of other peopls stuff.... all for just $100/year. I'm sure if they also could pay monthly $8.50, you wouldn't see so many complaining. Thats all- for $8.50/mo, people are getting access to infinite games. Once theyre on their XB360, they can play them forever. But $180/year to play one single game (WoW) isn't a problem.
STOP COMPLAINING, KIDS!! Just ask mommy and daddy for a $9/month raise!

[cc @ Dec 13th 2006 7:00PM]

Do you get to *play* the games for free if you're a regular member of XBox Live? I mean, is the $99 extra just for developers?

Microsoft sucks in a lot of ways, but I'm a fan of their development tools (Visual Studio 2005 and C# in particular). And no, I'm not an M$ fanboy (is there such a thing?) -- I use a Mac Pro at home and FreeBSD at work. Anyway, I might pay $100 to be able to make games for the 360 and send them to my friends who also have 360's.

The retro downloads are cool, in theory, but there should be more state-of-the-art 2D arcade games.