{"51707":{"#nid":"51707","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Game Developer Revolution Begins","body":[{"value":"\u003Ch2\u003EMicrosoft Invites the World to Create Its Own Xbox 360 Console Games for the First Time\u003C\/h2\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EMore than 10 esteemed universities to add XNA Game Studio Express and Xbox 360 game development into their curricula starting this fall.\n\u003C\/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EATLANTA (Aug. 14, 2006)\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2014 In the 30 years of video game development, the art of making console games has been reserved for those with big projects, big budgets and the backing of big game labels. Now Microsoft Corp. is bringing this art to the masses with a revolutionary new set of tools, called XNA Game Studio Express, based on the XNA\u2122 platform. XNA Game Studio Express will democratize game development by delivering the necessary tools to hobbyists, students, indie developers and studios alike to help them bring their creative game ideas to life while nurturing game development talent, collaboration and sharing that will benefit the entire industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring his keynote presentation today at Gamefest 2006, a Microsoft\u00ae game developer event hosted by Microsoft in Seattle, Chris Satchell, general manager of the Game Developer Group at Microsoft, announced details of the new technology, which will be broadly available this holiday season. XNA Game Studio Express will be available for free to anyone with a Windows\u00ae XP-based PC and will provide them with Microsoft\u2019s next-generation platform for game development. By joining a \u201ccreators club\u201d for an annual subscription fee of $99 (U.S.), users will be able to build, test and share their games on Xbox 360\u2122 and access a wealth of materials to help speed the game development progress. This represents the first significant opportunity for novice developers to make a console game without a significant investment in resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring his keynote, Satchell talked about academic institutions that are lining up to include XNA Game Studio Express in their course offerings. Also showcased was the work of key XNA supporters Autodesk Inc. and GarageGames. Through the Microsoft XNA relationship with Autodesk, the leading provider of 3-D authoring software, game developers and enthusiasts can now more easily incorporate content into XNA Game Studio Express via Autodesk\u2019s FBX file exchange format. Joining Satchell on stage was Mark Frohnmayer, president of GarageGames, who showcased ports of its next-generation Torque tools and technology over to the XNA Game Studio Express platform.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EXNA Game Studio Express Opens Up Game Creation to the World\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003EBy providing an integrated, seamless development environment based on Visual Studio\u00ae Express and .NET that simplifies the integration and use of game content, XNA Game Studio Express makes game development easier to accomplish for smaller projects, strongly increasing the chance for great game ideas to make it out of the concept stage and into the hands of gamers everywhere.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 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.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cXNA Game Studio Express will ignite innovation and accelerate prototyping, forever changing the way games are developed,\u201d Satchell said. \u201cBy 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.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003ENot only will XNA Game Studio Express turn the community into creators, but a second XNA toolset geared toward game development professionals is scheduled to be available in spring 2007, fundamentally changing the way commercial games are developed.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Beginning of the Game Developer Revolution\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003EFrom students at colleges, universities and high schools of the future to the proverbial \u201cguys in the garage,\u201d Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express will liberate anyone with a great game idea to create titles for Xbox 360 and Windows XP simultaneously. More than 10 universities and their game development schools \u2014 including University of Southern California, Georgia Tech College of Computing and Southern Methodist University Guildhall \u2014 have already pledged to integrate console game development and XNA Game Studio Express into their curricula for the first time, and Xbox 360 will be the only console at the center of all coursework.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGreat game ideas are incubating in the minds of students everywhere,\u201d said Michael Zyda, director for Gamepipe Labs at the University of Southern California. \u201cWith XNA Game Studio Express, Microsoft is investing in these next-generation innovators, creating the canvas for dreamers to express their powerful game ideas. In incorporating XNA Game Studio Express and Xbox 360 consoles into our Gamepipe program, USC will be able to better provide game studios and publishers around the world with a newfound wellspring of talent and opportunity. It\u2019s ingenious.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003EIn addition, GarageGames, technology provider and developer of one of the most successful Xbox Live\u00ae Arcade titles, \u201cMarble Blast Ultra,\u201d has migrated both its Torque Shader Engine and new Torque Game Builder 2-D visual game designer over to the XNA Game Studio Express platform.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe GarageGames mission has always been to provide top-tier technology, tools and community to independent and aspiring game developers,\u201d said Josh Williams, CEO of GarageGames. \u201cWe are excited that Microsoft is demonstrating leadership by taking the revolutionary step of opening up game development for Xbox 360 to hobbyists and students. In aligning our tools and technology with XNA Game Studio Express, we\u2019re helping even more individuals with the creativity and drive to make video games bring them to life on both Windows XP and Xbox 360.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGamefest 2006\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003EMicrosoft leads the industry in helping game developers make amazing games for Xbox\u00ae and Windows. Today and tomorrow, Gamefest 2006 will feature nearly 100 sessions for game developers, producers and publishers to grow their skills, introduce them to new development techniques and deliver powerful tools to build the best games possible.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Microsoft\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003EFounded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq \u201cMSFT\u201d) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. For more information, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/presspass\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eclick here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Computing is among the first to include Microsoft\u0027s XNA Game Studio Express in\u00a0student course offerings this fall, forever changing the way games are developed.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27154","created_gmt":"2010-02-09 21:46:52","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:12","author":"Louise Russo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2006-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2006-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}