MS Opens Xbox 360 Development to All

Got an idea for a game you simply have to get out of your head? Microsoft is going to make it easier for you to do it.

Game development is a tough racket, but Microsoft is planning to release a new set of tools to make it easier for smaller studios and amateurs alike to make games for PC and Xbox 360.

How long till we get another Geometry Wars?

The toolset, called XNA Game Studio Express, will be free to anyone with Windows XP. In addition, anyone who signs up for Microsoft's so-called creators club will also be able to build test and share their games on Xbox 360. That will set you back $99 (£52).

The XNA Game Studio Express is a game development toolset that works under Windows XP and the .NET framework and lets you make games that run on Xbox 360 and PC. A beta version will be available on 30 August, while the final version is expected around Christmas. Microsoft is also planning a more pro-level version of the tool for release next year.

Microsoft says opening up its tools like this will let game makers concentrate on their ideas, letting more of that stuff make it into the hands of gamers. Could this be the start of the developer revolution? Microsoft is hoping so, and universities are backing it.

"Great game ideas are incubating in the minds of students everywhere," said Michael Zyda of the University of Southern California's Gamepipe Labs. "With XNA Game Studio Express, Microsoft is investing in these next-generation innovators, creating the canvas for dreamers to express their powerful game ideas."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games