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PSA: You're doing it wrong, community game teaches foreplay [Update]
Update: Community game, Break One Out, has been pulled from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Ladies and gentlemen, we're doing it wrong. After years of thinking we'd figured out every trick available from books and television, video games have revealed that the easiest method to get someone naked is by playing an Arkanoid clone over their (already naked) body. How did we discover the answer to one of the world's greatest mysteries? The Xbox Community Game, Break One Out (yeah, that's the name) taught us, of course! The game features Kitty -- we're sure that's her real name -- covered with blocks that must be destroyed by sending balls flying toward her. In hindsight, we probably could have put that in a less "double entendre" kind of way ... Even though the game doesn't feature any real nudity (naughty bits are covered up by black bars) it's surprising Microsoft wouldn't pull the content for fear of damaging its family friendly image. Thankfully, all Community Games are considered unrated content, which means the game isn't accessible when any of the Xbox 360 Family Settings are adjusted. Here's the real PSA. Don't buy this game, folks. Not because it's a bad game (and it is), not because it's sad (and oh boy, is it) but because it's 200 ($2.50) ... and the sequel will probably include co-op.
GDC09: The developers-only metallic blue Xbox 360
Click to enlarge (developers only!) Hey game makers, we're writing this post just for you. That's right, regular people, you can tune right out starting now. Just turn it off. Zone out. Do whatever it is common people do. Are we alone? Alright, here's the deal: this summer Microsoft will be releasing a new blue-tinted Xbox 360 XDK Development Kit for developers, which not only adds some cool blue styling to the extra-tall dev profile, but doubles the console's memory to 1GB (a just-for-devs feature, of course). Until you can totally get one of your own in a couple months, stare at some more images in the gallery below ... since you're a developer ... since everyone else stopped reading, just like we asked.%Gallery-48543%
GDC09: MS announces new XNA features, Dream-Build-Play 2009, new dev kit
Microsoft today announced an update to XNA Game Studio, its free Xbox 360 development tools. The update will allow Xbox Live Arcade or Community Game developers to include Avatar support in their games. The update will also include support for the Xbox 360's Party system. Additionally, the update gives professional XBLA developers the ability to release downloadable content.Along with the new XNA Game Studio update, Microsoft announced this year's Dream-Build-Play competition. The contest charges developers with creating an XNA game and offers cash prizes to the winners as well as a chance to publish their games on Xbox Live Arcade. Joystiq readers may recognize CarneyVale: Showtime and The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai (pictured), both of which won previous Dream-Build-Play competitions. Dream-Build-Play 2009 will begin accepting submissions on April 6.Finally, and much less interesting, Microsoft is previewing its latest development kit. The kit has "additional debugging memory" which should help developers "push the console to its maximum capabilities." Just don't push it too hard, mkay?
SXSW 2009: Games By the People, For the People
So you enjoy playing video games, right? That's what probably brought you to Joystiq in the first place. But have you ever thought about making your own? Right now you're probably thinking, "But, Kevin... doesn't that take millions of dollars and a huge development team?" Well you happen to be in luck, because the answer is no. You can pretty much do it all on your own for pennies. But what's the secret to making it awesome? 5 out of 5 panelists agree: you need to have a good story, or a really interesting idea. Simple, right? Start thinking, and find out more after the break.
GamePro to publish indie games, free magazine
Set to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, GamePro -- and parent company IDG -- has made an unexpected announcement: it's getting into the business of publishing games. As reported by GameDaily, the newly formed label, GamePro Labs, will focus on publishing games from independent developers.The label's official site makes mention of Xbox 360, PC, Zune, iPhone and PlayStation Network platforms, but is light on specific release plans. Game submissions are being accepted, although GamePro does say it will only be publishing a limited number of tiles each year. The company will act as a sort of "middleman" between indie devs and platformer holders, in addition to handling payouts and "regular promotion in GamePro Magazine." The latter hopefully refers to ad space and not any sort of paid editorial consideration. Titles from three currently signed developers will be announced at GDC later this month.GamePro has also announced plans to produce a free, custom edition of its magazine for distribution exclusively at 7-Eleven stores. The convenience chain began selling games last year (and breaking street dates on them shortly thereafter).
Community Games devs still in the dark on sales figures
If you happen to be a developer for Microsoft's Community Games on the Xbox 360, our heart goes out to you. MTV's Multiplayer is reporting that since the Community Games service launched in November 2008, developers have yet to receive any sales information about their games. Thus far, the only official information available to the developers is the same information that's been released to the public, namely the top ten Community Games lists that Major Nelson compiles every week. As Multiplayer points out, knowing what rank a game is doesn't exactly tell the whole story without sales data: How many copies sold does it take to make number one? Thousands? Hundreds?In response, Microsoft stated that the sales data will be available to Community Games developers via the XNA Creators Club website by March. Hopefully, Microsoft will see fit to release some information on the overall performance of Community Games in that time frame as well.
CES 09: Is Kodu really that simple? Answer: Yes!
Our homies over at Joystiq got a chance to sit in on a demo of Microsoft's recently announced and supposedly user friendly Community Game Kodu and were able to answer the still lingering question that's on everyone's mind: Is Kodu really that easy to use? Quick answer, yes ... yes it is.According to Microsoft's Matthew MacLaurin, Kodu was created with kids in mind and describes the game as "programming as a fourth-grade art class." And Joystiq's Justin McElroy agrees that it really is basic and well, simple. Check out the informative (and totally factual) Kodu bullet points listed below: Will ship with 20 different objects/characters. 20 pre-built (and editable) levels will be included. Commands given to objects are called "Pages". Kodu has been tested with kids for over a year. Releasing this Spring for a yet to be disclosed price.
CES 2009: A closer look at Kodu
We don't know about you, but we weren't quite sure what to make of junior game creation platform Kodu when Microsoft showed it off at its CES keynote. Sure, it looked interesting, but scary smart 12-year-old demonstrator Sparrow was so adept at building levels with the software, we couldn't tell if it was as easy as Microsoft was making it out to be.The answer, judging from the brief demonstration we saw today, is a tentative "Yes."%Gallery-41406%
Starting 2009 with a few popular Community Games
For those of you have yet to jump into the ever growing library of gaming fun found in the Community Games, we urge that you do. Really, there's a lot of goodness to be found and even though each game is paid content, there are trial versions for each and ever title. To get you started on your 2009 Community Games test drive, we took the liberty of compiling a list of the top seven most popular games available. All of which are, for the most part, good times (except Fireplace, it's that controversial title that got a Major plug). Go ahead, jump in! Fireplace - "Enjoy the awesome ambiance of a crackling fireplace in your living room." Air Legends - "Take to the skies in frenetic WWII dogfighting." Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp - "Play as Johnny Platform himself in this retro-styled platformer!" sin(Surfing) - "Ever wished you could surf inside an oscilloscope?" Weapon of Choice - "Insane action and humongous aliens tied together by a twisted story." RPaints - "Do you like to mess with colors, or just doodle? RPaints allows you to do just that!" Dr. Popper - "Dr. Popper is a bubble breaker game."
GamerBytes picks top XNA Community Games
One of our New Year's resolutions is to do better at keeping up with all the XNA Community Games (it's a long-time-coming, we know). In the meanwhile, GamerBytes and XNPlay have picked up the slack, and have chosen the top games on the service from 2008.Taking the top slots are Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp, Ultratron and vertical ragdoll platformer CarneyVale: Showtime, which you really have to see to "get." Don't worry, we've put a video of it after the break.
Warm yourself by the Xbox Live fireplace
Oh, hello friends! Please, come in, we've been waiting for you. Here, let us get your coat. Dear, look at you, you're frozen! Why don't you come over here and stand by the fire. ... Go on, it's really warm. ... Oh, buttons! You've figured us out! It's not really a fireplace at all, but rather a fake fireplace created in XNA for download on Xbox Live. Sorry, we just couldn't resist a little yuletide chicanery.... What? ... Oh, umm, 400 points. So -- so basically, yeah, five dollars. Huh? Oh, yes, we can watch the video after the break for free. ... No, you're right. That's probably ... no, you don't need to apologize. We're disappointed in us too.
Halo still rules Xbox Live, community games now included
There's a new top games of Xbox Live list up over at MajorNelson.com and, for the second week in a row, Halo 3 is sitting atop all other Xbox 360 games. That includes Gears 2 and World at War. Funny thing about World at War, this past week it actually beat out Gears 2 for the second most played game on Live. Poor Marcus, he never had a fighting chance ... This week, Major also brings us a new weekly top ten list of Community Games, which should help you weed through game candidates and give you a weekly list of hot games. You know, hot games like Mr. Silva's ZSX4 Guitarpocalypse which made it into the top five.
MS expands Community Games into new regions
Today, Microsoft announced that they've expanded their Community Games initiative into new regions, thus growing the amount of developer participants.Singapore, Australia and New Zealand have just been added to the list of regions that can produce and participate in the Xbox Live Community Games program and create games like these. On top of the three new region additions, the Community Games program is available in: United States Canada England France Italy Spain Nordic Regions
Watch out Little Big Planet, here comes Microsoft's Boku
While the moniker of this webiste (as seen hanging ominously above) often causes readers to assume that we are a font of Microsoft biased gushing, we are, in fact, comprised of bloggers with a variety of gaming passions. As such, we have to admit that we're intrigued by the PS3 exclusive build-your-own-platformer Little Big Planet, yet woefully unable to afford the hardware necessary to play it. If you find yourself in the same position, you may find hope in Boku, a new programing tool from Microsoft. Boku allows users to create entire games using an entirely icon-driven system which can be controlled using only an Xbox 360 controller. In other words, Boku offers the promise of XNA (on which the tool is based) without the need for programming knowledge, allowing users of all ages to create their own games.Most impressive is that it appears Boku can be used to create all kinds of games, including overhead shooters, 2D action, and even 3D platforming. Check out a video of it in action after the break.The details of exactly how Boku will be released remain unclear, though it's expected launch in some form in 2009.
Boku, Microsoft's 'LittleBigPlanet' heading to 360, PC
Little Big Planet captured players' hearts and free time with its unmistakable mix of ingenuity and cute. Now it appears that Microsoft has its own plan to tap into players' creative wellspring with Boku, a new XNA project billed by The Seattle Times blog as a "visual programming language for kids." Hello World.Following a previous demonstration of the project in 2007, Boku was officially unveiled this week by project lead Matthew MacLaurin during Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. The effort looks to build upon Microsoft's ongoing work with the more complicated XNA Game Studio, allowing players to program their own games using a more inviting set of icon-driven instructions on either the PC or Xbox 360. Sort of makes us want to go back and revisit Carnage Heart. No official release date has been announced yet, though MacLaurin noted during his presentation that players will be able to start playing with Boku sometime "early next year." Until then, check out a video of it in motion after the break. [Via Gamasutra]
Xbox 360 community games: 48 hours from submission to release
In its latest developer diary, Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog highlights the NXE Community Games Channel, which we've heard about since February 2008. The separate channel will let theoretically anyone who submits a game and passes peer review to sell their title to other Xbox 360 owners (with Microsoft, unsurprisingly, taking a little bit off the top). What is surprising to us is that the peer review process there's only 48 hours between the time of submission and release on the channel, a much shorter time frame than Microsoft's weeks-long certification process for Xbox Live Arcade games and title updates. Video embedded after the break; the New Xbox Experience launches November 19.
Video: XNA community games on the NXE
Just posted over on Major Nelson's website is a fresh New Xbox Experience video that takes a look at community games and the system that'll be used to bring content to the Marketplace. In the vid, Major sits down with the XNA community team's Kathleen Sanders to discuss the process, who can create games and what we should see heading into November 19th. It looks to be quite the democratic process and one that should bring new experiences and possibilities to the 360.
Plain Sight is all about robot killing and points
Developer Beatnik Games just announced their latest project that's set for release to the PC and onto the Xbox Live Arcade sometime in Q1 2009 and it's a robot rich, violent and bombtastic project called Plain Sight. And, wouldn't you know, it was developed using XNA. Joy! In Plain Sight, you control a robot who starts out with one point. Seeing that "one point is rubbish", your goal is to kill other robots to increase your points. The more points you acquire, the bigger, stronger and more powerful you become. But you'll have to bank your points and to do that you have to detonate yourself. If you kill other robots in your detonation, your multiplyer increases. Once exploded, repeat the process. Check out a few screenshots below and a rather delicious Plain Sight trailer after the break.%Gallery-31413%
MS to take larger cut of best-selling Community Games
GameDaily BIZ got some details on the revenue sharing structure of the recently detailed Xbox Live Community Games. While we reported that developers could receive "up to 70%" of sales, Microsoft's Chris Satchell clarified the structure this way: "The better you're doing, the more we'll take." Sure, this sounds pretty cutthroat (newsflash: Microsoft is a business!) but the relationship here isn't dissimilar to traditional retail arrangements.If your Community Game performs well, it will be plucked from the crowd and placed in the "storefront" where it should enjoy a great deal of promotion and, in turn, sales. Satchell says, "The game will spend most of its time at 70%, but if we're promoting you and you're getting more traffic, there will be a 10% to 30% marketing fee." Once it's out of the storefront – bam! – "you're back to 70% again." In other words, if you want more of your hard-earned ... uh, Microsoft Points to go to Bobby Developer and not Johnny Microsoft, wait until things have settled down a bit and the game has left the storefront for the relative anonymity of the crowd. Then, swoop in, make your purchase, and consider The Man stuck.
JoystiQ&A on Xbox Live Community Games
Following the official unveiling of the Xbox Live Community Games channel, we had the opportunity to speak with Boyd Multerer, general manager of XNA at Microsoft, about the initiative. We've assembled our questions and his answers into the eminently readable Q&A format, below, where we cover everything from cost to availability of trials to file size limitations to release scheduling to delisting to achievements and more. Read on!How many games will be available on the service at launch? It's "a different type of game in a different channel," Multerer told us. Since "nobody has ever done this before ... there's very little data to go on." In the first few weeks of the beta, over 100 games were submitted and over 60 games were passed through the peer certification, if that's any indication. In other words: You'll just have to wait for any kind of specific number, but you can probably assume several dozen games would be in the service on day one.Will games still be able to graduate from Xbox Live Community Game to full-blown Xbox Live Arcade title?"Yes," Multerer told us. "In fact, I hope to see more of it. Community Games is like the minor leaugues in baseball" where young talents can show off what they've got before making the jump to the majors. This wasn't the last time Multerer used the baseball metaphor.How much will Xbox Live Community Games cost? How large will the files be? Either 200, 400, or 800 Microsoft Points (that breaks down to roughly $2.50 to $10). The 200 point games will be limited to 50MB downloads, while the 400 or 800 point games will be limited to 150MB. Will there be any free Xbox Live Community Games?Nope. Multerer said that if a creator wanted to share his game for free with friends and family, he can send it to their Windows machine for free, "no problem." However, in "opening up that platform to a new market, [Microsoft] needs to prove that [they] can sell things on it." He did want to point out, though, that because they're not offering free games now, that "doesn't mean [they] won't ever look at making that happen."
