Earlier this week (as in yesterday), Microsoft released an incremental update to its XNA software development kit -- software that enables virtually anyone with even a passing interest in computer programming to design games for the PC and (way more excitingly) the Xbox 360. This update enables XNA users to share the games they've created without having to give up the precious source code. So, I can hear you all sigh, what does this have to do with us hardcore gamers?
By and large, I imagine the answer is "not that much." But for a small group of young up-and-comers, this is a windfall for breaking into the industry we love so well. Here's the thing: You could be making games for your Xbox 360 right now, and almost totally free of charge. Can you make games for PS3? How about the Wii? PS2? Nintendo DS? No, no, no and not easily. With XNA and Xbox 360, the only thing standing between you and becoming a genuine game designer is a little luck, a lot of gumption, some imagination and about a hundred dollars. Truth, yo.
Now, most of us (myself totally included) probably don't have the grit to actually make 360 games, but throughout my years in this business the one most frequently asked question has been how can one break into the gaming industry. Any developer or publisher will tell you that the best way to get in is to hammer out a game of your own using whatever tools you have available (sock puppets generally excluded). Now, thanks in no small part to Microsoft, doing just that is easier than ever.
Of course, that's not to say that it is actually easy to design a game, as you can see if you watch this tutorial video available on the XNA website. What I want to highlight in this section of My So-Called Live is that even if it's not easy for the average Joe to design 360 games, at least it's cheap. The XNA software doesn't cost anything and the required system specs are fairly low. After just a bit of digging, I found that you could easily assemble all of the required software almost totally free of charge. The one monetary snag comes from the pre-requisite of purchasing a subscription to the XNA Creators Club (four months is $49 and a full year will run you $99) in order to actually put your games on your Xbox 360. Still, that's not too bad an expense considering that you'll be capable of creating games for a next-gen console.
I was able to find all of the necessary software (from 3D model creation to texture editing) completely free over the internet. For creating low-polygon 3D models, MilkShape 3D is a product that was originally created to edit Half-Life models and has been adapted to a wide variety of other applications (including the .fbx format used in XNA 3D models) and is free. Editing textures can be done with Adobe Photoshop if you're lucky enough to have access to it, or GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program -- leave it to software developers to nest an acronym within another acronym) which has lots of Photoshop's functionality but is free. The XNA development software can be acquired directly from Microsoft for free and only requires the download of Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition (which, awesomely enough, is also free). That's all you need; four programs and you're on your way.
Granted, all of these things are worthless unless you have some interest in actually putting in the hours to learn how all of these programs work and interact with one another, but the potential for those who dare is staggering. If you think you have the dedication, here's all the stuff I mentioned to get started with:
MilkShape 3D - chUmbaLum sOft's Site
Adobe Photoshop - Adobe's Photoshop Page
GIMP - Official GIMP Site
Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition - Microsoft site with a bunch of programming environments
XNA Game Studio Express - Main XNA Download Page
Thanks again for joining me on another installment of My So-Called Live. I hope you'll be back the week after next when I'll be covering all manner of Microsoft and Xbox-related news. In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can't carve out some time in my extraordinarily busy schedule to try my hand at Xbox 360 game design, though I doubt I'll have anything to show all of you for some time... wish me luck!
My So-Called Live is written by a woefully overworked Gabe Graziani who is quailing a bit at the thought of tonight's 'Spy-Hunter event. Losing more digital blood to GameSpy's readers yet again has him in quite a state. Shoot him an email here and offer some words of cheer, because he'll almost certainly need them in a few hours.
