Game programming: XNA
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Any thoughts on the XNA project[^] announced yesterday? Basically, it's Visual Studio tools + CLR + Managed DirectX package, allowing one to build games for the Xbox360 and Windows faster and cheaper. MS has partnered with GarageGames, which just announced they've ported their Torque game engine (used in titles like Tribes II, Marble Blast) to C# and the XNA framework. XNA also includes some new tools for streamlining art and assets management, which is always a problem with game development where you've got hundreds of MB if not a few GB worth of art and assets. IMO, this is an excellent idea, as game development has become increasingly complex over the years, to the point where it takes big teams and big dollars to produce decent games, even casual games. And opening up the Xbox 360 to independent devs is a bold move by MS; up til now, console makers have historically charged $15k-50k for their proprietary development kits, basically removing all but the folks with big dollars behind them. Interesting move. It basically makes the Xbox360 another platform for developers at large, especially small dev shops or indie devs, to build games. :cool: The XNA package will be released August 30th.
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Judah Himango wrote:
And opening up the Xbox 360 to independent devs is a bold move by MS; up til now, console makers have historically charged $15k-50k for their proprietary development kits, basically removing all but the folks with big dollars behind them.
This is where competition rules, let's hope Nintendo and Sony follow suit. They'd probably have to rethink their business models, but still I doubt they'll let this be ignored. Something is gonna have to happen because of this I'd think.
Jeremy Falcon
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Judah Himango wrote:
And opening up the Xbox 360 to independent devs is a bold move by MS; up til now, console makers have historically charged $15k-50k for their proprietary development kits, basically removing all but the folks with big dollars behind them.
This is where competition rules, let's hope Nintendo and Sony follow suit. They'd probably have to rethink their business models, but still I doubt they'll let this be ignored. Something is gonna have to happen because of this I'd think.
Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
Something is gonna have to happen because of this I'd think.
Yep, agreed. It'll be interesting what Sony and Nintendo will offer to simplify the complexity of most modern games, assuming they won't use CLR. :) Sony + Java? We can only pray that evil alliance will never happen. ;)
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Jeremy Falcon wrote:
Something is gonna have to happen because of this I'd think.
Yep, agreed. It'll be interesting what Sony and Nintendo will offer to simplify the complexity of most modern games, assuming they won't use CLR. :) Sony + Java? We can only pray that evil alliance will never happen. ;)
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Judah Himango wrote:
Sony + Java? We can only pray that evil alliance will never happen.
:omg:
Jeremy Falcon
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Any thoughts on the XNA project[^] announced yesterday? Basically, it's Visual Studio tools + CLR + Managed DirectX package, allowing one to build games for the Xbox360 and Windows faster and cheaper. MS has partnered with GarageGames, which just announced they've ported their Torque game engine (used in titles like Tribes II, Marble Blast) to C# and the XNA framework. XNA also includes some new tools for streamlining art and assets management, which is always a problem with game development where you've got hundreds of MB if not a few GB worth of art and assets. IMO, this is an excellent idea, as game development has become increasingly complex over the years, to the point where it takes big teams and big dollars to produce decent games, even casual games. And opening up the Xbox 360 to independent devs is a bold move by MS; up til now, console makers have historically charged $15k-50k for their proprietary development kits, basically removing all but the folks with big dollars behind them. Interesting move. It basically makes the Xbox360 another platform for developers at large, especially small dev shops or indie devs, to build games. :cool: The XNA package will be released August 30th.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: And in this corner, the Party of Allah The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
It's actually mixed news since you can't sell a product for XBox 360 produced with the $99 product. (You can apparently sell it for Windows, though.)
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
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It's actually mixed news since you can't sell a product for XBox 360 produced with the $99 product. (You can apparently sell it for Windows, though.)
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
Joe Woodbury wrote:
It's actually mixed news since you can't sell a product for XBox 360 produced with the $99 product.
:laugh: Well, that's a let down.
Jeremy Falcon
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It's actually mixed news since you can't sell a product for XBox 360 produced with the $99 product. (You can apparently sell it for Windows, though.)
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
I assume you could still distribute the XNA games as freeware for the Xbox though?
Jeremy Falcon
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It's actually mixed news since you can't sell a product for XBox 360 produced with the $99 product. (You can apparently sell it for Windows, though.)
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
Yeah, not initally. They'll be releasing the XNA Studio Professional eventually, where you'll be able to sell games made with that on the XBox360. Still, even then the Xbox360 deployment scenario sucks. They'll need to improve on that before this catches on big, IMO.
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I assume you could still distribute the XNA games as freeware for the Xbox though?
Jeremy Falcon
Yes.
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
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I assume you could still distribute the XNA games as freeware for the Xbox though?
Jeremy Falcon
Yeah, but the deployment scenario sucks from what I understand. And even then, you have to be subscribed to the $99/year creators group... obviously they'll need to make things right here before this is picked up.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: And in this corner, the Party of Allah The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
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Any thoughts on the XNA project[^] announced yesterday? Basically, it's Visual Studio tools + CLR + Managed DirectX package, allowing one to build games for the Xbox360 and Windows faster and cheaper. MS has partnered with GarageGames, which just announced they've ported their Torque game engine (used in titles like Tribes II, Marble Blast) to C# and the XNA framework. XNA also includes some new tools for streamlining art and assets management, which is always a problem with game development where you've got hundreds of MB if not a few GB worth of art and assets. IMO, this is an excellent idea, as game development has become increasingly complex over the years, to the point where it takes big teams and big dollars to produce decent games, even casual games. And opening up the Xbox 360 to independent devs is a bold move by MS; up til now, console makers have historically charged $15k-50k for their proprietary development kits, basically removing all but the folks with big dollars behind them. Interesting move. It basically makes the Xbox360 another platform for developers at large, especially small dev shops or indie devs, to build games. :cool: The XNA package will be released August 30th.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: And in this corner, the Party of Allah The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
Another technology with an 'X' in it. "too much XML", by the sound of it.
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Tree in C# || Fold With Us! || sighist -
Another technology with an 'X' in it. "too much XML", by the sound of it.
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Tree in C# || Fold With Us! || sighistI think in this case it is a mashup of XBox and DNA :)
regards, Paul Watson Ireland FeedHenry needs you
eh, stop bugging me about it, give it a couple of days, see what happens.
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I think in this case it is a mashup of XBox and DNA :)
regards, Paul Watson Ireland FeedHenry needs you
eh, stop bugging me about it, give it a couple of days, see what happens.
Ah well.. I could grump on and say "Too much 'X', then", but I just got fresh hot tea, and the rain kind of stopped. :)
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Tree in C# || Fold With Us! || sighist -
Any thoughts on the XNA project[^] announced yesterday? Basically, it's Visual Studio tools + CLR + Managed DirectX package, allowing one to build games for the Xbox360 and Windows faster and cheaper. MS has partnered with GarageGames, which just announced they've ported their Torque game engine (used in titles like Tribes II, Marble Blast) to C# and the XNA framework. XNA also includes some new tools for streamlining art and assets management, which is always a problem with game development where you've got hundreds of MB if not a few GB worth of art and assets. IMO, this is an excellent idea, as game development has become increasingly complex over the years, to the point where it takes big teams and big dollars to produce decent games, even casual games. And opening up the Xbox 360 to independent devs is a bold move by MS; up til now, console makers have historically charged $15k-50k for their proprietary development kits, basically removing all but the folks with big dollars behind them. Interesting move. It basically makes the Xbox360 another platform for developers at large, especially small dev shops or indie devs, to build games. :cool: The XNA package will be released August 30th.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: And in this corner, the Party of Allah The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
Makes me slightly more interested in the xbox 360 (which has been a little ho hum and i'm waiting to compare the ps3 and wii offerings), but it might be an opportunity to play with some C# code for possible inclusion with our normal development environment (healthcare), or rather, an excuse for some fun R&D :) things like real-time mapping of facilities (think infection control, tracking bug outbreaks) using an existing engine in a .net managed environment. As always, will depend on the license. Worth a look though.
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Any thoughts on the XNA project[^] announced yesterday? Basically, it's Visual Studio tools + CLR + Managed DirectX package, allowing one to build games for the Xbox360 and Windows faster and cheaper. MS has partnered with GarageGames, which just announced they've ported their Torque game engine (used in titles like Tribes II, Marble Blast) to C# and the XNA framework. XNA also includes some new tools for streamlining art and assets management, which is always a problem with game development where you've got hundreds of MB if not a few GB worth of art and assets. IMO, this is an excellent idea, as game development has become increasingly complex over the years, to the point where it takes big teams and big dollars to produce decent games, even casual games. And opening up the Xbox 360 to independent devs is a bold move by MS; up til now, console makers have historically charged $15k-50k for their proprietary development kits, basically removing all but the folks with big dollars behind them. Interesting move. It basically makes the Xbox360 another platform for developers at large, especially small dev shops or indie devs, to build games. :cool: The XNA package will be released August 30th.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: And in this corner, the Party of Allah The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
This is great news!
When was the last time you poured some wine for you and your sweetie and went out on the front porch to watch the geometry frolic on the lake?--Rebecca M. Riordan, Designing Effective Database Systems
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Any thoughts on the XNA project[^] announced yesterday? Basically, it's Visual Studio tools + CLR + Managed DirectX package, allowing one to build games for the Xbox360 and Windows faster and cheaper. MS has partnered with GarageGames, which just announced they've ported their Torque game engine (used in titles like Tribes II, Marble Blast) to C# and the XNA framework. XNA also includes some new tools for streamlining art and assets management, which is always a problem with game development where you've got hundreds of MB if not a few GB worth of art and assets. IMO, this is an excellent idea, as game development has become increasingly complex over the years, to the point where it takes big teams and big dollars to produce decent games, even casual games. And opening up the Xbox 360 to independent devs is a bold move by MS; up til now, console makers have historically charged $15k-50k for their proprietary development kits, basically removing all but the folks with big dollars behind them. Interesting move. It basically makes the Xbox360 another platform for developers at large, especially small dev shops or indie devs, to build games. :cool: The XNA package will be released August 30th.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: And in this corner, the Party of Allah The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
Hrm, I doubt microsoft is going to let anyone release anything they want. Remeber all executables on the X360 are encrypted and have to be signed in order to run and microsoft is the only one who can sign them. It will allow smaller development studios to be able to develop for the x360, but don't expect a plethora of "Free" software/games for your xbox since microsoft still has to approve what gets released. -djenkins
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Any thoughts on the XNA project[^] announced yesterday? Basically, it's Visual Studio tools + CLR + Managed DirectX package, allowing one to build games for the Xbox360 and Windows faster and cheaper. MS has partnered with GarageGames, which just announced they've ported their Torque game engine (used in titles like Tribes II, Marble Blast) to C# and the XNA framework. XNA also includes some new tools for streamlining art and assets management, which is always a problem with game development where you've got hundreds of MB if not a few GB worth of art and assets. IMO, this is an excellent idea, as game development has become increasingly complex over the years, to the point where it takes big teams and big dollars to produce decent games, even casual games. And opening up the Xbox 360 to independent devs is a bold move by MS; up til now, console makers have historically charged $15k-50k for their proprietary development kits, basically removing all but the folks with big dollars behind them. Interesting move. It basically makes the Xbox360 another platform for developers at large, especially small dev shops or indie devs, to build games. :cool: The XNA package will be released August 30th.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: And in this corner, the Party of Allah The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
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Reports also state that the price would be around $100.00 per year! to get started. A little steep for the hobbyist developer.
Programit wrote:
$100.00 per year! to get started. A little steep for the hobbyist developer.
lol what? $100/year is too steep for a hobbyist? That's < $10 a month. About 1 trip to McDonalds/month. 2 trips to the gas station. If you can't afford that, you're not a hobbyist, you're a starving hobo. :)
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: And in this corner, the Party of Allah The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
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Jeremy Falcon wrote:
Something is gonna have to happen because of this I'd think.
Yep, agreed. It'll be interesting what Sony and Nintendo will offer to simplify the complexity of most modern games, assuming they won't use CLR. :) Sony + Java? We can only pray that evil alliance will never happen. ;)
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: And in this corner, the Party of Allah The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
Let's be serious! There is no way you can make a decent performing game in Java. I use Java for my research and the head aches lately have been endless.
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Let's be serious! There is no way you can make a decent performing game in Java. I use Java for my research and the head aches lately have been endless.
I would agree. Like I said, I can only hope there won't be a Sony + Java. Who knows, though. Maybe those crazy performing Cell processors will run Java content fine. ;p
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Yeah, I agree! It is just too much work and expense to put out a retail game nowadays. I use to follow the industry a bit, but when they switched to teams over over 100 developers just to produce a single game, I lost interest. Would really be cool to have on online area where MS sells your games for you on both PC and XBox and pays you royalties. I personally would rather see more games at a drastically reduced price (under $5 each) which can be downloaded and played.
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: ASP.NET HttpException - Cannot use leading "..".. Latest Tech Blog Post: Anti-Spam idea - Help!
Rocky Moore wrote:
I personally would rather see more games at a drastically reduced price (under $5 each)
CodeMasters in the UK started by selling games for the ZX Spectrum and Commadore 64 for 1.99 GBP. Loo where they are now. OK, there 1.99 games where crappy but affordable and everyone with a Speccy or C64 purchase titles from their range. Steve Jowett