Pre-Gamefest XNA Game Studio Express Impressions

[JCalCGM]

FiringSquad reports from a pre-Gamefest presentation where Microsoft explained and demoed their newly announced XNA Game Studio Express game development tools (http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=11679) which will allow people to create simple games for both the Windows PC platform as well as the Xbox 360 platform. Here is a snip:
If you wanted to develop a game on a console like, say, the Xbox 360, you had to have an expensive Xbox 360 developers kit and a license from, say, Microsoft in order to distribute that game. Today at Microsoft’s Gamefest game developers conference in Seattle, the company will show off in its keynote address a different way to create console games that, if all the elements come together, will enable smaller developers, students and even game enthusiasts an easy and cheap way to make new games for its console.

[chowweekly]

Hey, if someone fronts me the money for one of these kits I'll happily make a game according to your specifications! Just be warned that our encounter may go something like this:

you - here's your money.
me - oh that's great, just fantastic. *rubs money lovingly*
you - so for the game, I have an idea. Get ready, this is going to blow your mind - Zelda: Future Perfect! So it's like Zelda but in the future! But not like orcania of time. NO. Like way, waaaaay in the future. AND THERE WILL BE MEGAMAN X! And Gannon is like all robotic and shit and has turned the cities all devoid of organic stuff. But not like in Beast Machines! Because Beast Machines sucked balls, all "I am transform" and shit; I mean what was that about? Anyway... that paves the path for like, RoboGannon being infected with the Sigma Virus. And Megaman dies and so does Zero and Link gets their weapons and stuff! ARE YOU GETTING THIS!
me - ...
you - hello?
me - *stops staring at money* oh right... yeah I wasn't listening to a word you just said... Now down to business, do you want pong or breakout? *gazes intently into your eyes and tents fingers*
you - um...
me - *continues staring*
you - *begins to feel unconfortable*
me - *blinks*
you - breakout I guess... But could the ball be like... Future zelda... or something?
me - I'll see what I can do. Bye. *exits hastily*

EDIT: Seriously though, I want one and only good things could come from this.

[Vandenh]

I still have a couple of games that I never released just waiting for something like this to happen ;) Hopefully I can find the time to finish them :)

[MrMeatshake]

another great idea from microsoft to get as much lock-in as possible to thier technologies while still making money around the edges.

to be fair, though, i want it... so i guess i should quit being such a big meanie.

[Vandenh]

>another great idea from microsoft to get as much lock-in as possible to thier technologies

Developing for a certain platform is always a kind of lock-in. Then again how difficult is porting? All depends on your code. These XBLA games are probably easy to port since they won't be gigantic in code size and will have to be a bit more "high level" anyway.

[Roc Ingersol]

I've said it a bazillion times: Microsoft knows that 3rd party developers are its lifeblood. This is kickass for the platform, for 3rd party developers, for garage developers, and for the indy scene.

awesome stuff.

[fatmalamute]

If you look at the XNA FAQ, content distribution looks like it will be a pain. Gamers wishing to play your game will also have to be members of the $99 annual content creators club and be live account holders.

From the XNA FAQ:

Q: How exactly can I share my 360 game to other 360 users? Will my game only be available to people with the XNA "Creators Club" subscription? Will it be available to all 360 users that have an Xbox Live account?
A: There is currently no supported way to share binaries on the Xbox 360. Currently, there are four requirements that must be met in order to share a game targeting Xbox 360 which is developed with XNA Game Studio Express.

1. The individual you are planning to share the game with must be logged in to Xbox Live and have an active subscription to the XNA Creators Club
2. The receiving user must have downloaded the XNA Framework runtime environment for the Xbox 360
3. The receiving user must have XNA Game Studio Express installed on their own development PC
4. The game project, including all source and content assets, must be shared with the receiving user. The receiving user then compiles and deploys the game to their Xbox 360.

Doesn't sound like anything to get that excited about, does it?

[kokyunage]

Not to mention that the development is done in C# without direct access to the API. Think of it as scripting language modding in a game only it's not a specific game but the Xbox with a high level (weak sauce) language.

[Serapth]

Not to mention that the development is done in C# without direct access to the API. Think of it as scripting language modding in a game only it's not a specific game but the Xbox with a high level (weak sauce) language.


You have extremely limited knowledge of C# dont you? C# is a full featured language geared more for productivity then performance. That said, you can get C++ level speeds out of it with sufficent work.

Also, its not a scripting language, it is an interpreted language and even that is a fallacy as it can be JITed. Also, given that the 360 is DirectX based and Express XNA is going to have major access to the DX layer, there is pretty much direct acess to the API. Except for the most powerful games out there, the 360 has more then enough power to compensate for a small decay in perfomance.

[pavlovscow]

It seems that is more of a PC thing, with the console being a nice secondary thing. Because Live is closely protected (they want to ensure a certain level of quality, so they say) I wasn't surprised to here of the many hoops it takes to share games on Xbox Live. But you still can see your game on Xbox 360. You can show other friends and more importantly developers (who would presumably have an account as well). And I'm sure that Microsoft will be watching closely for the next big hit idea to buy or steal.

[Mason]

You have extremely limited knowledge of C# dont you? C# is a full featured language geared more for productivity then performance. That said, you can get C++ level speeds out of it with sufficent work.

Also, its not a scripting language, it is an interpreted language and even that is a fallacy as it can be JITed. Also, given that the 360 is DirectX based and Express XNA is going to have major access to the DX layer, there is pretty much direct acess to the API. Except for the most powerful games out there, the 360 has more then enough power to compensate for a small decay in perfomance.
All very true. I'd be interested to hear how people think that high-level .NET code calling DirectX/XNA libraries is so much scarier than, say, UnrealScript (non-JITed, last I heard) making calls into UE. C# or C++/CLI are actually overkill for those purposes.

The biggest limitation is the inability to manage your own memory flexibly. I'd heard that XNA helped with this, but no real info there. If so, toss in some expanded generics (run into some painful limitations there) and some aggressive inference and I'll be in heaven.