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Microsoft's Dream-Build-Play contest fulfills a few indie devs' dreams

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai

A pair of budding developers, one from Ontario and another from New York, has tied for top honors in Microsoft's Dream-Build-Play contest, an effort to encourage indie game makers to get on board the XNA platform. Canadian John "Ain't No Fluke" Flook and American James Silva each pocketed $10,000 and were offered Xbox Live Arcade publishing contracts for their respective entries: Blazing Birds, a robotic game of badminton origins, and The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, a morbid tale of "mayhem and revenge" (pictured above).

In a remarkable display of generosity, Microsoft extended XBLA contracts to two additional contestants, Steve Olofsson of Sweden, for Gravitron Ultra, and Daniel McGuire of the UK, for Yo Ho Kablammo!, along with $5,000 (to each) and some swag. Sixteen additional finalists have been honored (in mention) over on the official contest page and could potentially be called to service if the XBLA pipeline runs dry. In all, 4,500 creations were creators entered into the competition, submitting roughly 200 projects.

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