The state of Xbox 360 homebrew
Joseph Molnar, who recently informed us of magical Video Marketplace downloads that don't expire, is back again with an interesting article on the current state of Xbox 360 homebrew. Posted on his blog, the Pensive Gamer, the article is the third in a series dedicated to the homebrew scene on each new gen console (guess which systems the first two articles were about). The piece, naturally, centers on XNA. Molnar notes that there are many things that make the Xbox 360 attractive to homebrewers, most notably that Microsoft itself is aiding the homebrew scene with tools like XNA Game Studio Express. As it stands though, the homebrew aspect of the Xbox 360 certainly isn't without its faults. There are a few quibbles about feature support, but the most obvious barrier to homebrewers is the price. In order to run code on a 360, you must have a subscription to the Creators Club, which runs at $49 for three months or $99 a year. Before 360 homebrew can reach a mass market and attain wide acceptance, Microsoft will have to address this and other issues, especially if they plan to deliver the oft promised "YouTube for games."
Remember folks, YouTube is huge for two reasons: it's user friendly and it's free. What would you like to see added to the Xbox homebrew scene? What could Microsoft do to improve it?
