There's a rumor about
that later today at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose Microsoft will announce the availability of a
game development kit for the Xbox 360 that anybody may buy for
$100. That would be fantastic news for small, independent developers who want to break into the console market, and
I think it would make perfect business sense for Microsoft. But I'm not sure I believe it. I think that eventually the
big console manufacturers are going to have to come around to the fact that indie developers and the homebrew scene are
going to be around whether they like it or not, and offering cheap development kits is probably one of the best ways to
turn that in their favor, but somehow I just can't see Microsoft being this proactive. If they do indeed make such an
announcement later today, I rather expect it to be many-strings-attached, but I've got my fingers crossed for the
contrary.
Tags: 360, developer, development, gdc, hardware, kit, microsoft, xbox, xbox360, xdk
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Comments
7
Subscribe to commentsRuan CaimanMar 22nd 2006 1:33PM
Why not?
They give away DirectX SDK for Windows. They give away XNA platform for free download. All you need is Visual C++ or Visual C# (street prices around $100) and you can already make games for PC/Xbox. And you can buy a USB 360 Controller for PC. Packaging an Express Edition C++/C# with a controller - they could charge $100 and not lose money.
KRAZY2BHUMBL3Apr 13th 2011 1:27AM
@Ruan Caiman "WITH STRINGS ATTACHED!!!!" When you sign up for a program such as XNA... You Sign Contracts and if you've signed up for such program; did you read every contract you signed? You very well could have forfeited any and every game you'll ever create to the Shadow of MICROSOFT Corpo Exec's. Digital Signature My Azz!!! There has to be underground game developers creating games; without being forced into contracts before they're even capable of creating games. So that appropriations for Entitled "Game Rights" are accurately distributed; after an aspiring game developer has advanced their ability to create games using "programs" such as XNA.
Becoming part of a MOD Team is a good way to network and develop a community that could spawn Development Teams and the creation of some great games. Independently, Without the reign of Tyranny THAT IS GREED!!!
JasonMar 22nd 2006 1:47PM
This is a perfect way for certain cult games to make the big time. *cough*Alien Hominid*cough*
mangMar 22nd 2006 2:53PM
#1, you're forgetting the cost of the hardware! You can't make a game w/o the physical hardware.
KissTheRingMar 22nd 2006 3:01PM
Free and legal Xbox Media Center for the 360 to be developed!?
nemiMar 23rd 2006 11:11AM
There must be many strings attached or many geeks would get the xbox360 + dev and use it for computing farms, servers, MAME, LINUX and a host of other fulltime jobs that have nothing to do with buying Xbox360 games. Remember this is the Razor business model. Even with $100 more income for a Dev kit i doubt MS makes a profit if the owner then never buys a single 360 game or accessory.
parxieMar 29th 2006 2:58PM
You can't play retail games on the Dev kits. It would be for developement only.