Xbox 360 Games Do-It-Yourself Kit

Microsoft allows the the general public to create their own Xbox 360 games with the release of XNA Game Studio Express.

Microsoft announced the release of XNA Game Studio Express which allows the masses the tools to produce video games for the Xbox 360. In more than 30 years of game development, only the largest companies with the biggest budgets were allowed the tools to develop video games. But with the release of this development tool kit, Microsoft is revolutionizing the industry. This will allow hobbyists, students, and game studios alike the ability to produce games and by so doing, Microsoft may just be expanding the pool of capable game developers. In fact, more than ten esteemed universities are planning on adding XNA Game Studio Express and Xbox 360 game development to their curricula as early as this fall.Chris Satchell, the General Manager of the Game Development Group at Microsoft, addressed the audience at Gamefest 2006. This is a game developer event hosted by Microsoft in Seattle. It was to this group that Satchell announced the details of this new technology which will be available this holiday season. NA Game Studio Express will be available for free to anyone with a Windows XP-based PC and will provide them with Microsoft's next-generation platform for game development. By joining a "creators club" for an annual subscription fee of $99 (U.S.), users will be able to build, test and share their games on Xbox 360 and access a wealth of materials to help speed the game development progress. This will be the first time that novice developers will be able to make a console game without a significant personal investment. The XNA Game Studio Express beta will be available Aug. 30, 2006, as a free download on Windows XP, for development on the Windows XP platform. XNA Game Studio Express will give anyone with a Windows XP-based PC access to a unified development tool that liberates the creation of great Xbox 360 and Windows XP-compatible games, providing a new alternative to the existing multithousand-dollar development kits that many console games require. The final version of XNA Game Studio Express will be available this holiday season. Chris Satchell said, "XNA Game Studio Express will ignite innovation and accelerate prototyping, forever changing the way games are developed." Satchell further stated. "By unlocking retail Xbox 360 consoles for community-created games, we are ushering in a new era of cross-platform games based on the XNA platform. We are looking forward to the day when all the resulting talent-sharing and creativity transforms into a thriving community of user-created games on Xbox 360."