Microsoft today announced that it will allow roughly 10 million Xbox Live members to play, rate and share community-created games “soon”. Microsoft expects the “open distribution” service will fuel the development of community-created games: By the end of 2008, the company expects that more than 1000 games will be available to Xbox 360 owners.
Seven such games became available today, including JellyCar, Little Gamers, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, TriLinea, RocketBall, ProximityHD and Culture.
Microsoft said that each submitted game has to undergo a thorough peer-review process and be evaluated for accuracy in representation and appropriateness. Community game developers will be able to beta test the process this spring and will be able to distribute their games on Xbox Live by the end of this year.
Source: TGDaily
Wednesday at GDC also saw Microsoft unveil a YouTube-like distribution system for independently created games. In a keynote address, execs said the service will allow anyone who uses the company's XNA toolkit, which enables amateur designers to make casual games, to offer their finished product to Xbox 360 owners via digital download. Service will start beta testing in the spring.
"We already have had lots of games made with XNA, but nothing to do with them," Chris Satchell, general manager of Microsoft's developer group, said in an interview. "This is the democratization of game distribution."
Company hasn't finalized plans for pricing. It's not clear whether all games on the service will be free or if designers will be able to charge for their work.
A suite of social media tools enabling users to share and rate games is expected. Microsoft will have active designers participate in a peer review process to ensure that submitted titles don't have pirated or obscene content.
If successful, the service could let amateur game designers showcase their work and launch their careers online, just as many filmmakers are now doing.
"This is a great way to give designers exposure and help them be identified by publishers," Satchell noted.
Online sharing of films of gameplay made in "Halo 3" is already extremely popular. Microsoft said in the keynote that approximately 100,000 videos from the game are being posted online each day -- about 30% more than the average for all of YouTube.
Later this year, Sony is releasing PlayStation 3 title "LittleBigPlanet," which will let users create their own levels. Microsoft's new service is the first to distribute amateur games onto consoles, however.
Microsoft also said XNA designers will be able, for the first time, to make their games for the company's Zune portable music and video player. It's the first sign that Microsoft is planning to make the struggling Zune brand its portable gaming solution. Device is more powerful than most cell phones, though not on a par with Sony's PSP or Nintendo's DS. It's not yet clear how Microsoft plans to distribute games for the Zune.
Source: Variety