So you think you can create your own Video Game?
 

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- Hoping to spur interest among video game enthusiasts, creative types and students, Microsoft Corp. said it plans to offer a consumer version of the professional software tools used to create video games for its Xbox 360 console.

The XNA Game Studio Express program, an offshoot of the company's more robust XNA Framework, will be available August 30 for a $99 annual subscription, the company announced Monday.

The software, which requires a Windows PC to operate, will let anyone with the desire create their own video games and then share them on Microsoft's Xbox Live online game service, said Peter Moore, a Microsoft vice president. "It's our first step of creating a YouTube for video games," Moore said, referring to the wildly popular free online video sharing Web site. "It will give you everything you need to bring your game to life on Xbox 360." The program would be a first for consoles, which traditionally have been the exclusive domain of skilled programmers, artists and designers. Moore said the program is basic compared to the pro tools, which cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Though it's designed to eliminate much of the tedious hand-coding involved in making a game from scratch, some basic programming skills are still going to be needed for the consumer version. Analysts cautioned that making a game -- a multidisciplinary process requiring artists and animators, programmers and mathematicians -- will never be easy.

"It's going to allow very talented individuals to actually be able to do a game in a few weeks instead of taking years and spending millions of dollars," said Richard Doherty, research director at the Envisioneering Group. Moore described the games users would be able to make as rudimentary. He said future plans may include additional software packs consumers could buy to tweak their games.

Microsoft will regulate the content for appropriateness and intellectual property issues, but users will own their work, Moore said. Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, said such software could get younger people more interested in choosing video game development as a career.

"There's a problem where kids have stopped getting excited about getting into software development," he said. "One way to get kids excited about it is to give them something they want to do. A lot of kids play video games." Moore said several schools, including Southern Methodist University in Dallas, the University of Southern California and Georgia Tech, already plan to incorporate the software into their curriculum this fall. "It's a critical need in the evolution of how video games are made," said Peter Raad, executive director at SMU's Guildhall video game school.

Booyeah! Maximum Football now available on XBox 360!!!!!

I am going to make my own werewolf driving game!

EA better watch out!! :)

Does this mean we are getting graphics in FOF?

sounds to me like this won't be for the average joe. it evens mentions having to be a talented programmer in order to use it, which means David Winters will not have to buy this. also sounds like the games that the average joe will be able to make wouldn't be worth playing on a 360, i bet they're hardly an upgrade over anything you could play on a Genesis or even a NES.

Oh, great. As if we don't have enough werewolf games to begin with...

:D

This is a brilliant move by Microsoft. It's about time the average Joe can program a console.

Call Fox!

"Average Joe creates a video game"

There will be an explosion of XXX-Box games.

This could be huge!

My first screenshot:

Go back to your room and don't come out until you can at least equal Intellivision level graphics.:)

With a little work, that could easily become Maxmium FOF 360.

Until this line, I was assuming that 95% of the product would be low-quality pron sims. Now I'm assuming 95% of the product will Maximum Football sequels.

The 99 dollar pricetag will probably kill this idea before it gets much steam behind it.

seriously. i'm not interested in paying $99 to make games that look great on the Nintendo 64.

I don't think so. It may squash the casual guy who wrote "10 print "I am cool" : goto 10". But...small-time developers and the guys who make shareware will have no problem with the $99.

Also, I may have read this somewhere else (or dreamt it), but the $99 fee is only for those looking for documentation, etc. I think the development environment itself will be free. Don't quote me, however.

You asked for it!!

Ok, I'm beat. Jim and I have been working all day on FOF 360. I think we're close.



This is an "in game" screenshot. Instead of the scoreboard, plays actually play out like a "live" football game. You all already know what the stats and menus look like.. no need to go there. After the game plays, the game screen closes and the game looks just like FOF 2004 does menu wise.

Looks OK, but if you have the score overlay on the bottom middle of the screen, I'll close the application and never play it again.

No, the game will be viewed in it's own window.. separate from the scoreboard (on top) and stats (sides and bottom).