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GDC08: XNA development for the Zune begins
iPod owners be damned, the Zune "media device" will be where all the cool XNA and XBLA kids play. Say hello to the Xboy Zuneboy!During yesterday's GDC keynote, Microsoft announced that later this year, XNA development would be opening up to the Zune allowing XNA developers to create XBLA style games for Zune devices. The games can then be shared from the Zune itself to any Windows PC and also to a 360. So, Mr. Allard ends up being correct about Zune - 360 connectivity, but totally dropped the ball on Zune gaming. Why fight it Allard, why fight? Also, those cool cats over at Ars Technica are reporting that the Zune will allow for multiplayer gaming via the device's built-in wireless capability. Zune XNA development should be rolling out sometime by the end of the year alongside the new XNA / Xbox Live community features.
GDC08: XNAnswers at the bloggers breakfast
Yesterday's announcement of XNA Community Games was exciting, but it wasn't exactly heavy on answers. Today we sat with a breakfast table full of Microsoft bigwigs and pummeled them until they gave us the information we crave, no matter how many pleas for mercy they offered up. ... Well, we pummeled them with questions. ... And what they offered up was delicious bacon, not pleas for mercy. Check out what we learned after the jump.
GDC08: XNA shroud vanquished, community games freed
Our old GDC nemesis, the mysterious shroud, can no longer be seen hanging around in Microsoft's XNA lounge. Having outlived its usefulness shortly after the conclusion of Microsoft's GDC keynote, the solemn sheet fluttered off to pursue other interests -- possibly in the lucrative illusion industry. Just click on the above image to view a gallery of the exposed XNA Community Arcade, including JellyCar and Culture (both of which can be downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace right now).
GDC08: How to download free XNA game previews
The mysterious XNA curtain has been pulled back revealing not only a new community friendly XNA / Xbox Live service, but also seven XNA game demos for everyone to enjoy. But you don't have to be on the GDC show floor to try out these little XNA gems, no sir. All you need to do is hop onto Xbox Live and get your download on. Though, the process for downloading XNA games is a bit different, so let us break it down for you.First, you'll have to download the XNA Game Launcher off the XBLM. You can find the this little doodad by going to New Releases > Game Content > XNA Creators Club. Once that 7MB file downloads, make your way to your XNA Game Launcher by heading to your Games blade > Games Library > My Games > XNA Creators Club. Here you'll be able to press "Y" and download all seven XNA trial games for free. Once you find a game and download it, you'll then be able to launch your demo from the same location. That's it, all done. And to get you started, we've posted a description of all seven downloadable XNA game demos after the break. Find something that appeals to you and give 'er a download. Oh, and have some fun too.
First Xbox 360 Community Games to hit Live "immediately"
It wasn't all Zune gaming at Microsoft's GDC keynote this morning -- a lot of time was spent discussing Community Games, the new official name for XNA-based games. Amateur devs will get "creator identities" along with their gamertags, and Live members can rate, grade, and discuss your efforts. Of course, as we've heard, games can move from the 360 to PCs to second-gen Zunes, which is definitely pretty cool, but it'll be interesting to see what that means for devs who want to try and take advantage of the 360's horsepower -- will they be restrict their code to a specific platform? While we wait for those answers, it looks like we'll be able to get a taste of what Community Games have to offer right away -- Microsoft announced that the first seven XNA-based games are available immediately, with an open beta to begin in spring and full-on launch by the end of the year. List of games after the jump -- but what are you doing reading this when you could be playing?Update: We just tried downloading RocketBall and the process is totally different than you'd expect. First you have to download the XNA Launcher, which is under New Arrivals in the Marketplace blade -- but you don't need a membership, so skip that, and the XNA ad that displays points you to the wrong thing, so ignore that as well. Then head over to the Games blade and select Games Library, but don't open the Launcher, cause it'll just kick you out. Instead, press Y to view the list of games and download one. So far the "YouTube of games" seems a bit convoluted -- hopefully the next Dashboard update makes this all a bit simpler.
Size increase coming to Xbox Live Arcade?
With the announcement of the Xbox Live Community Games feature coming to Xbox Live, one of our eagle-eyed X3F soldiers spotted an interesting tidbit while scrolling through the preview content on XBLM. TriLinea, one of the XNA preview games available to download clocks in at 190MB, 40MB larger than the allowed file size for Xbox Live Arcade titles. While this doesn't prove the size restriction will change, remember Microsoft selected specific titles to preview for this event and over Xbox Live. Size restrictions are already becoming an issue so if the limit is to be raised we think the best time to do it is before the XNA titles flood in at full swing.[Thanks, Tony]
GDC08: Microsoft brings XNA together with Live
Microsoft just announced plans to bridge the gap between the XNA development community with the Xbox Live community by allowing XNA games to be tested, tried and shared over Xbox Live. This new service will be rolled out "soon" and will allow Live members to access, rate, review and play new community created XNA Arcade games which will greatly increase the XBLA's current library. And, as a sampling of what's to come when the service debuts, Microsoft has just placed seven beta versions of XNA created games onto the XBLA so that the developers can get important feedback about their projects. Games including JellyCar, Little Gamers, TriLinea, RocketBall, ProximityHD, Culture and our personal love, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. Now THIS is what we call user created content. Bravo!
GDC08: What lurks behind the XNA curtain?
Apart from the fabulous iSheep, the most interesting thing in Microsoft's XNA lobby was the mysterious shroud you see above. What lurks beneath its silken folds? Honestly, we have no idea. All we do know is that a nearby sign declared that whatever hides behind the gossamer barrier will be revealed this Wednesday at 11:30am. As it happens, 11:30 is about the time that John Schappert should be wrapping up Microsoft's GDC keynote, "A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community." We're waiting with jaded bated breath.
GDC08: XNA booth tour
We've assembled a virtual tour of Microsoft's XNA bar slash lounge for you. Click on the picture to access it, and thank us for sparing you the pain of playing the actual games on show.
GDC08: Mysterious shroud hides XNA secret
An enigma awaits GDC attendees who waltz into the Moscone Center's North Hall, the current home of Microsoft's XNA display. Placed amongst the various screens and demo stations running independent, XNA-powered Xbox 360 games is a sheet bathed in purple lights and mystery. "Coming Soon! Wednesday February 20 11:30AM" declares a nearby sign.If the sign is to be believed (it seemed friendly enough), something is set to be unveiled at the conclusion of John Schappert's keynote, "A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community." If that's what lies beneath the sheet, it's fair to say that a future wide open is a lot smaller than we imagined it to be. Maybe you have a better idea*?%Poll-9947%* Full disclosure: We could make out what appeared to be some widescreen displays. Will they display a new independent game or some new XNA features?
XNA 2.0 release adds Xbox Live support and more
Yesterday, Microsoft lifted the veil and unleashed an exciting update to its XNA Xbox 360 development software by adding Xbox Live support. XNA 2.0 is available to aspiring game developers and now features complete Xbox Live functionality including matchmaking and co-op gameplay. Not only that, but more than 15 other tweaks have been released in this 2.0 update including Visual Studio support, enhanced project management, API updates and more. Also, Microsoft announced their second annual XNA Dream-Build-Play contest where they're calling on developers to create a game in hopes of getting it published to the XBLA. Our friend James Silva did it, so can you! More information about Dream-Build-Play 2008 can be viewed here and you can get the complete dish on XNA 2.0 after the jump. Start building fanboys, you have games that need creating and we have games that need playing.
XNA Game Studio 2.0 coming tomorrow, includes LIVE support
Aspiring game developers using Microsoft's free-to-use XNA development toolkit will be happy to know than an upgraded version, Game Studio 2.0, will be released early tomorrow, December 13. The new version sports a reported fifteen new features, among them online play through Microsoft's LIVE system. According to the press release, "The new version ... includes the ability to create online, cross-platform multiplayer games for Xbox 360 and Windows using Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows - LIVE, respectively." We think that means cross-platforms games and multiplayer games, not cross-platform play for Xbox 360 owners wanting to duke it out with their Windows cohorts - sorry, folks, go ahead and add that to your wishlist of Studio 3.0 features. Matchmaking features, however, are integrated.XNA Game Studio 2.0 "fully supports game development with all versions of the Microsoft Visual Studio product line." View the entire list of new features here.
Games on Zune? Don't hold your breath, says Allard
It seems as if everyone wants in on the gaming scene these days: jocks, cheerleaders, your mom. Even Apple wants a slice of the pie. But not Microsoft's J Allard, and in a recent interview the former Xbox zealot and current Zune front man shared his thoughts on why he feels Zune owners shouldn't expect to be playing Bejeweled or Pac-Man on Microsoft's iPod rival anytime soon. Granted he still has a full nine months to change his mind. Microsoft previously toyed with the idea of releasing games on the portable, though with a new line of Zune devices hitting retail shelves this week, Allard addressed his particular concerns with bringing games to the Zune format, specifically surrounding customer satisfaction and portability of purchased games as hardware advances from one generation to the next. While Microsoft's move into the portable gaming space has been long awaited, we agree that it's good that Allard is voicing these sorts of concerns up front, rather than carelessly jumping into portable gaming sight unseen.Still, the executive managed to leave the door open for Zune gaming by praising what Microsoft has managed to pull off in getting its XNA development platform to work with a variety of different types of hardware, though, Allard adds, "the Zune isn't playing Halo 3 anytime soon." Good thing, Allard my boy, since the idea of getting teabagged on the commute home is enough to ruin anyone's day.
MSFT wants to distribute XNA games like YouTube
In an interview with develop magazine, general manager of Microsoft games Chris Satchell confirmed that Microsoft is still working hard to create a service similar to YouTube for XNA developers to distribute their games with the Xbox 360 community.Since day one, Microsoft has openly talked about an Xbox 360 future where user created content and user created games would be shared and played across Xbox Live YouTube style, but nothing other than a paid yearly subscription to XNA has come to fruition. Satchell did sound optimistic in the interview going on to say that "we [Microsoft] need to provide people a stage to play on, a distribution medium so that they can show off their creativity to everyone. That's always been our vision and remains our vision". And we must say we agree with Satchell's optimistic vision. Talk about this YouTube style XNA has been floating around for ages, so let's get this service off the ground Microsoft and get motivated. We want to be able to see and play the gaming community's best work and be able to share (or possibly take over the world with) our uber secret X3F Goes to Space 4th person shooter that we've been diligently working on. When XNA YouTube goes live just be prepared guys ... be prepared.
Schizoid video is kind of puzzling
You may remember Schizoid as the first game set to officially make the jump from the XNA platform to the Xbox Live Arcade. Now, a snippet of video has emerged to help you put some gameplay to a name, as it were. Just because we've seen the game now though doesn't mean we're any closer to understanding it. It's a puzzle, really. We were all ready to dismiss it as just another multi-directional shooter until we noticed that there's no actual shooting. It appears that red and blue Spider-Man chest emblems are trying to destroy similarly-colored lobsters by tackling them to death. Ah well, thank goodness for demos.
Microsoft's Dream-Build-Play contest fulfills a few indie devs' dreams
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.%Gallery-5841%
New Xbox 360 bundles rumored, XNA games headed to Xbox live
There's a couple of developments in Xbox land today, one official and one decidedly less so. On the latter front are some rumored new Xbox 360 bundles that French website Gamick.fr claims to have caught sight of on a Microsoft marketing site. As you can see above, the bundle (in this case for the Elite model) supposedly includes Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance for "free." A Premium bundle with the same games was also spotted, but there's no indication of one for the Core model. According to Gamick, the only other information about the bundles is that they were labeled as "Holiday Value Bundles." In more official Xbox news, attendees at Microsoft's Gamefest 2007 got a chance to check out Torpex Games' "Schizoid," which is the first Xbox Live Arcade game to be created with XNA Game Studio (it'll be available later this year). What's more, Microsoft also announced that the top four winners of its XNA-centered Dream-Build-Play contest will be able to have their games published on Xbox Live, although there doesn't appear to be any word on exactly when they'll be available.Read - Gamick.fr, Rumored Xbox 360 bundles [Via Joystiq]Read - Microsoft XNA Games Press Release
Former EA exec joins Microsoft as VP of Live
Like Superman and Batman trading capes, or Aquaman borrowing Wonder Woman's uh ... invisible plane, EA and Microsoft have been awfully chummy lately. First, Xbox exec Peter Moore leaves Microsoft to be closer to his family in San Francisco ... and take a lucrative position at EA Sports. Of course, he was replaced with former EA exec Don Mattrick, ensuring the carefully balanced game of corporate Jenga wouldn't come crashing down.Today, Microsoft announced that EA executive vice president John Schappert has joined the company in the newly created position of "corporate vice president of LIVE, software and services." The one-time founder of Madden-dev Tiburon will oversee Xbox Live as well as Games for Windows Live, XNA and Microsoft Casual Games, which includes Xbox Live Arcade. He'll be reporting directly to his old EA compatriot – you guessed it – Don Mattrick. We imagine their meetings will involve reminiscing about that time they did that thing at that one group team building exercise in '99 and various ways they could spell Microsoft with a consecutive 'e' and an 'a.' Good times, good times.Now, to complete the circle, Xbox will need to sacrifice one of their own to EA! Let the ritual commence ...
Wiimote used in XNA dev presentation [update]
Microsoft's XNA development kit is showing some love to the competition, revealing at the Assembly summer event support for Nintendo's Wii remote. Microsoft's Chad Hower gave a demonstration of the support by playing a very basic tech demo with the wand. The picture contained in the slideshow also showed the nunchuk attachment, though we're not sure if that's also supported or if Microsoft simply went with the first stock photo they could find.Even though XNA is technically a platform for both PC and Xbox 360 support, it should be noted that the Wii remote support is only for the PC, care of the .NET framework, and those looking to truly bastardize the console wars by using Nintendo input with Microsoft's consoles can only shrug their shoulders, snap their fingers and go, "Aw, shucks." However, it now looks like homebrew enthusiasts can create games using the Wii remote while pushing PC hardware so far that the software couldn't possibly be played on the Wii itself.Update: As noted by Brian Peek of Coding4Fun, the Wii remote support is actually a facet of the .NET library (not inherent, but you can download the library made by Peek or others). And since XNA supports .NET, so too does it support the Wii remote. Here are some examples of applications made using Peek's Wii remote library. Peek also pointed to a post by Hower discussing the Wii remote and XNA. Thanks for the information, Brian![Via GamersReports]
Dream-Build-Play contest finalists announced
The XNA Creator's Club sponsored Dream-Build-Play contest, a contest in which XNA developers create a game in hopes of getting it published to the XBLA, just announced the twenty finalists moving onto the next round. Among the top twenty are some beautiful games (HurricaneX PC and Burning Angels), some that are quirky (Viduce) and some that are very jolly (Big Sky). And soon the top three winning XNA games will be announced on August 13th during Gamefest 2007 when we'll get to see which game will be making its way to the XBLA. Long live XNA, huzzah![Thanks, Cryovat]
