Developers, Kids Can Now Make 360 Games

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08-31-2006 | 12:58 PM

Sly Raskal

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Developers, Kids Can Now Make 360 Games

http://blog.wired.com/games/index.blog?entry_id=1548223

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Developers, Kids Can Now Make 360 Games
Topic: Console Games
Get ready to rock. Microsoft has announced that as of right now you can hit up the XNA development environment home page and download XNA Game Studio Express, which will let aspiring developers get to work on creating Xbox 360 games.

Uh, eventually. As of right now, you can only build Windows binaries with the beta version of the software. But Microsoft says that, "this holiday season," you'll be able to "migrate" those games to Xbox 360 if you "pay them some money":

The games built on Windows can be migrated to the Xbox 360 console system starting this holiday season as part of the XNA Creators Club subscription for $99 a year, or a four-month trial cost of $49, opening up retail console game development to anyone for the first time.

But that's not the best part of this announcement. Microsoft also announced that they'll be working with Redmond, WA game development school Digipen to let kids as young as ten years old develop Xbox 360 games over the summer:

Through its ProjectFUN software running on XNA Game Studio Express and summer workshops starting in 2007, DigiPen will bring Xbox 360 console game development for the first time ever to thousands of children ages 10 through 16.

"XNA Game Studio Express is an incredibly accessible tool for making games for Microsoft's game platforms and will provide our university students with modern tools and console development experience," said Claude Comair, founder and chairman of the board at DigiPen Institute of Technology. "And now with our ProjectFun for XNA Game Studio Express, we're eager to extend our educational offerings on Windows and Xbox 360 to include young children."

Seriously, how awesome is that going to be.

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