Microsoft Unleashes XNA
So, for those of you who haven’t heard. Microsoft officially unveiled XNA today. This is undenyably a big deal. In fact, I can’t overstate how huge this is to thousands of developers and millions of gamers around the world. Think I’m overdoing it? Think again.
There are a lot of problems with video game creation these days. The largest is that it’s just so hard to really get a foothold into the industry. Most independant developers remake the same simple little puzzle games like Bejewled and Tetris because they are extremely cheap and easy to develop. Some companies can churn out as much as a dozen of these small games per year. Now, these smaller games tend to sell for $10-20 and if they become a hit, can be a great money-maker.
However, making a dent in the Windows game market is hard. With Flash games becoming somewhat comparable to normal games, the value propsition has gone down. Not only that, but support in PC game with the infinite combinations of hardware and software on a machine is incredibly difficult for all developers. To compound the problem, with thousands of games already out for PC’s how do you make something new and interesting that gamers want to play? Thus, making games for Windows PC’s isn’t always as great as it’s cracked up to be.
So, consoles would be a better choice right? WRONG!!!! Consoles are extremely difficult and expensive to develop for. Most console game budgets are in the hundreds of thousands or million dollar range. Each development kit usually costs $10,000+. That’s a very expensive cost of entry just to start making a game, let alone getting it published. Needless to say, it’s not exactly common for an independant game studio to really do much on any console without the backing of a major publisher.
Enter XNA. Microsoft’s XNA platform allows developers to make games on Windows or Xbox 360 using the same code. Not only can the same code be used, but the code is in .NET, so it’s a lot easier to code in than C++ is. That will literally save hundreds of man-hours per game. The best part? It’s only $99 per year to be able to build and test your game on the Xbox 360. That’s right, for under $100 you can make an Xbox 360 game and play it right on your very own Xbox 360.
As a programmer myself, I can’t tell you how excited I am. I’ve done some Java game programming and dabbled in C++ game programming, but both had significant drawbacks and neither allowed me to make games for a console. This opens up some very significant possibilites for me.
Here’s how big this could be for indie game developers. Geometry Wars has sold around 200,000 copies on XBLA thus far. At $5 a pop, that’s a million dollar game. It was made by basically 3 people over a span of a few months.
I don’t want to say that “anyone could do it”, but in a way anyone could pull off Geometry Wars. It’s a simple game that was done quite well. If 3 people can spend a few months to make such a game, imagine what could happen when thousands more are given the tools and the opportunity to do so. The possibilites of what is going to be made are absolutely stunning.
On August 30th, when the beta of XNA Studio Express hits, I’ll be there along with thousands of other independant game developers to start coding like a mad fiend in hopes of making a game that can be played by millions of Xbox gamers. I’ve got the ideas and now it’s time to make the games. Thank you Microsoft!
[tags]Microsoft, XNA, XNA Studio Express, .NET, Bejewled[/tags]
