Everything you wanted to know about XNA

"Software will be the single most important force in digital entertainment over the next decade. XNA underscores Microsoft\'s commitment to the game industry and our desire to work with partners to take the industry to the next level."

- Bill Gates, founder and chief software architect of Microsoft

XNA

Microsoft XNA is the catalyst for a new ecosystem of interchangeable, interoperable software tools and technologies from Microsoft, middleware and game development companies. By integrating software innovations across Microsoft platforms and across the industry, XNA forms a common environment that liberates developers from spending too much time writing mundane, repetitive boilerplate code. Instead, XNA frees game creators to spend their time where it matters most -on the creativity that differentiates their games.

The XNA development platform will serve as the foundation for future game platforms from Microsoft, including Windows, Xbox and Windows Mobile-based devices.

Games on future iterations of Microsoft game platforms will be powered by tools and technologies from the XNA ecosystem. XNA dramatically improves the way games are produced, helping contain skyrocketing development costs by reducing the amount of time developers spend writing mundane, repetitive boilerplate code for complex new hardware. The XNA ecosystem integrates new and existing tools and technologies from Microsoft and its partners so that developers can make better games, faster.

Illustrating the potential of the XNA development platform, Microsoft made a series of announcements about its own video game tools and technologies in four key areas: online, input, graphics and audio.


In response to strong customer demand, Xbox Live™ development tools for functionality such as billing, security, login, friends and matchmaking will be made available to Windows developers. The tools will make it easier to create the same social, unified online gaming experiences on Windows that game players have come to expect on Xbox.

On the input front, as part of XNA, Microsoft will develop a common controller interface and unify input APIs and button standards across multiple platforms. The result will be a family of common controllers for Windows and Xbox game players. In addition, the move will fuel a whole new wave of compelling, cross-platform input devices from peripheral manufacturers.

In graphics and audio, many tools such as PIX (an analysis tool) and XACT (an audio authoring tool) - previously available only to Xbox developers - now will be available on Windows as part of the XNA development platform. Likewise, innovations from Windows such as High-Level Shader Language (HLSL) will come to Xbox. The DirectX® API and the Visual Studio® development system will continue to be the baseline environment for both platforms. Collectively, these tools and technologies will enable movie-quality graphics while forming the impetus for new software that will help developers cope with the looming complexity of high-definition video and audio.

FAQ

Q: What is Microsoft XNA?
A: Microsoft XNA is a powerful next generation development platform that equips developers to deliver breakthrough games while combating rising production costs and ever-increasing hardware complexity. It integrates new and existing tools and technologies from Microsoft and its partners so that developers can make better games faster. Video games on future iterations of all Microsoft game platforms-including Windows, Xbox, and Windows mobile-based devices -can be powered by tools and technologies from the XNA development platform.

Q: What will Microsoft XNA do?

A: Microsoft XNA is an industry-wide initiative, and will be the basis for a software ecosystem where developers, tool makers and middleware providers profit and flourish by delivering better games faster. XNA arms developers to better cope with skyrocketing development costs, elevated consumer expectations and a growing list of feature requirements. XNA lets developers focus on game design, instead of writing mundane, repetitive boilerplate code.

Q: What does Microsoft XNA offer gamers?

A: Better games, better experiences, faster. Microsoft XNA lays the groundwork for enhanced, more unified experiences, including a common controller that can be shared between the Windows PC and Xbox.

Q: What does Microsoft XNA offer developers?

A: Microsoft XNA lets developers spend less time constructing and more time focusing on game creation. Microsoft XNA will:

- Enable developers to turn innovation into impact
- Help contain skyrocketing development costs
- Open up cross-device development opportunities
- Make it easier to make blockbuster games because Microsoft XNA is based on familiar development tools
- Allow game developers to focus on game design and spend less time fighting hardware complexity
- Enable life-like graphics, sound and movement
- Enable developers to design for Windows and Xbox simultaneously

Q: Why is Microsoft XNA needed right now?

A: Developers are demanding a better way to make games. They\'re inspired to deliver on new ideas but they\'re also limited by technology, tradeoffs, tight schedules and price tags. As a result, development costs are soaring while profit margins for developers shrink. The XNA software development platform makes working with cutting edge hardware easier, allowing developers to focus on game design, not "nuts and bolts" boilerplate coding.

Q: Does Microsoft XNA mean added costs for game developers?

A: No. XNA does not change the way that developers get tools from Microsoft today. The existing process for developers to get access to both the DirectX SDK and the Xbox XDK will remain the same. Costs for Microsoft XNA technology, tools, services and support will be the same as always. Microsoft XNA allows developers to put their money where it matters-making great games.

Q: Will Microsoft XNA drive the next generation Xbox or the next generation of Windows?

A: We believe fundamentally that SOFTWARE will define the next-generation. That\'s what XNA is all about. XNA is our next generation development platform that will drive games on a wide range of platforms. A focus on software provides continual innovation; we started that when we brought DirectX and Visual Studio from Windows with this generation of Xbox and with XNA we are taking that to the next level.

Q: What tools do developers get with XNA?

A: XNA tools will include DirectX and the High-Level Shader Language (HLSL), XACT, PIX and the Xaudio API, in addition to other development tools such as Visual Studio.

Q: Will developers be required to use every XNA tool?

A: All XNA tools are à la carte, meaning developers can use the parts and pieces they need to get their job done. These tools will allow developers to focus on writing the code that truly differentiates their games, and stop wasting time writing code just to get the basics up and running.

Q: Is Microsoft XNA the name of the next Xbox?

A: No. Microsoft XNA is the name of Microsoft\'s new software development platform that dramatically improves the way games are produced.

Q: When is the next generation Xbox shipping?

A: It\'s too early to announce future-generation Xbox products. That said, Microsoft XNA propels us ahead of Sony in the next-generation games race because the future of gaming is in software, not hardware. At GDC you are seeing some of the early possibilities of what the future will bring. Everything that comes to Windows and Xbox in the years to come is only going to get better and better in our never-ending quest to meet customer expectations and bridge the gap with developer realities

Q: What\'s the difference between Microsoft\'s XNA and Sony\'s Cell?

A: In the next generation, software-not hardware-will drive the games industry forward. Microsoft XNA software brings together chip and OEM partners to ultimately deliver thousands of integrated digital entertainment devices that work together and give consumers choice. Sony is talking about a fixed world of hardware that requires everyone to buy everything Sony. Sony\'s Cell is a hardware solution. This is a software revolution.

Beginnings
From GDC 2003

DirectX 9 will be the last DX release for a while, as Microsoft focuses resources on making bigger improvements for PC gaming in Longhorn, including introducing a standard controller.

At GDC, we had a chance to sit down with Dean Lester, the head of Microsoft\'s Windows Graphics and Gaming division, to hear about the software giant\'s major new project to make the PC a better gaming platform. Lester acknowledged that two or three years of the company\'s attention was focused on launching the Xbox, but he said that now it\'s the PC\'s turn. The PC gaming initiative has support from "Bill and Ballmer" on down, and it\'s enough of a priority that there are some 200 people working on it. Basically, Microsoft will make improving the PC gaming experience one of the central appeals of Longhorn, the next major version of Windows that\'s expected in about two years.

Before saying too much about where Microsoft is going, it\'s important to know where the platform stands. We\'ve seen major releases of DirectX nearly every year since the standard debuted in the early days of Windows 95. Lester revealed that DirectX 9 packs enough features to be future-proof and is a temporary stopping place for DX development. ATI, Nvidia, and other hardware companies have spelled out their road maps in enough detail that DX9 has previously unannounced support for all the next-generation graphics features, and as a result Microsoft doesn\'t expect to release another major DirectX update for a couple of years.

As has been rumored, Longhorn will likely include a major overhaul in Window\'s visual presentation, which may include 3D interface elements. Lester also said it would include a special "My Games" view that would centralize all the matchmaking, control panel settings, patching tools, and game lists and make such tasks much simpler. Microsoft is working on streamlining a number of current technical trouble areas, like the installation process and display drivers, and will centralize game updates through a Windows Update-like patch server. It\'s also looking into making it possible to run Windows games directly from the CD without installation. Somewhat more straightforward features include adding sophisticated matchmaking into Microsoft Messenger and parental controls over which users can play certain games.

There are a couple of parts of the initiative that will require wide industry support: new system requirements for retail packages and a standard for PC controllers. The current methods for listing system requirements are confusing and don\'t necessarily represent what\'s actually needed for a game to perform well. The plan is to set up a numerical system that categorizes and groups system levels, and when this goes into effect in 2005 or so, a level-1 system might represent the current or year-old value-priced PC configurations, while level 2 and level 3 group systems that define the mainstream and high-end performance of the time. As PCs progress, new levels will be added. Lester admitted that there were some challenges ahead to get the necessarily industry support, but he also noted that Longhorn would require the sort of general rethinking of PC standards that\'s accompanied previous Windows generations.

One of the bigger surprises came when Lester mentioned that Microsoft is working on a standard PC controller, which would allow a more seamless conversion of cross-platform titles and generally simplify the use of PC gamepads. To get the ball rolling, Microsoft will update its Sidewinder lineup with its own next-generation PC controller, but also expects other controller makers to follow suit. The heart of the controller initiative revolves around standardizing the number, type, and layout of buttons. In contrast to how it\'s now necessary to program PC gamepads for specific games, the standard should make things more plug-and-play.

Given that the gaming improvements will likely be touted as a reason to upgrade to Longhorn, Microsoft\'s business motivations for the project are fairly evident, particularly since the company\'s operating business is still it\'s most lucrative. But that in turn means there\'s some pressure for the initiative to be ready on time. Although all these elements are scheduled to be ready in time for Longhorn\'s roughly 2005 release schedule, Lester mentioned the possibility that some parts might be released at a later time.

GDC \'04 Keynote Transcript

Game Developer Conference

Robbie Bach, senior vice president, Home & Entertainment Division, Chief Xbox Officer
J Allard, corporate vice president, Xbox

March 24th 2004 San Jose, CA


Partners:
as of 3/24/04

epic games
pseudo interactive
criterion software
criterion games
MGS
tecmo
ubisoft
climax
lionhead studios
valve software
sigil games
argonaut games
sammy studios
ncsoft
codemasters
high voltage software
visual concepts
ketsujin studios
vicarious visions
crytek
ndl
Havok
ait
nvidia
alias
discreet
factor 5
quazal
right hemisphere
secret level
softimage
touchdown entertainment
virtools

tools:

Criterion(renderware)
Alias(maya)
Virtools
M$(pix,hlsl,xact,visual studio,directx,xaudio,live)
Softimage(xsi)
ATI
Nvidia
Secret Level(udn)
Right Hemisphere(deep)
Touchdown Entertainment(jupiter)
NDL(gamebryo)
Discreet(3dmax)

Engines & Engine Components(Physics,Lighting,Ai,Networking,Audio)
(potentially from all associated)

Epic(unrealengine2,unrealengine2x,unrealengine3)
Valve(source)
MGS
Crytek(cryengine)
Havok(physics)
Virtools
Quazal(networking)
Touchdown Entertainment(jupiter)
NDL(gamebryo)
Secret Level(udn)

Developers/Publishers:

Factor 5
Ubisoft
Codemasters
Epic
Valve
Vicarious Visions
Secret Level
Crytek
Ketsujin Studios
Sammy(sega)
Argonaut Games
MGS(bungie,rare,fasa,bighugegames,etc)
Climax
Visual Concepts
Pseudo Interactive
High Voltage Software
Lionhead
Tecmo
Valve
Sigil Games
NcSoft

GDC 2004: XNA Interview

Damn, that\'s good for Windows; damn, that\'s good for Xbox; damn, that\'s good for gaming.


March 24, 2004 - I\'ve chatted with Dean Lester a few times now. As the head man for Microsoft\'s Windows Gaming Group, he\'s talked with us several times in the past, outlining his plans for the next versions of Windows and DirectX. So when we heard that we\'d be talking to him about Microsoft\'s next big announcement, we weren\'t too terribly surprised. After all, the Game Developer\'s Conference is a great forum for Dean to evangelize his games on Windows message. But when J Allard was also mentioned to us, we knew something was up. As head of the Xbox side of Microsoft Game Studios, he\'s a big name in the console community but doesn\'t have much of a presence on the PC.

When we were given the chance to interview the two men about the upcoming (and highly secretive) keynote address at this year\'s GDC, we suspected something was up. After chatting with them both for forty minutes, we knew they had big news.

Without further ado, take it away, J:


J Allard: Basically the game industry has some real challenges on their hands. Game prices haven\'t changed in 25 years. A game is fifty bucks and that\'s not going to change. What has changed are the production costs. Production costs, with each successive generation of hardware have just skyrocketed. Pac Man in 1982 sold ten million copies and cost a hundred thousand to develop. Before that there was one guy in a garage who was the designer, developer, artist, composer and tester...and also the publisher of the game.

Now we\'re into five- to ten-million-dollar games on average. What\'s worse is that a lot of them aren\'t coming to life; a lot of these titles are getting killed millions of dollars into development. The reason for that is that we don\'t have a robust platform. The way that the game industry has evolved has been chaotic in nature.

If you think about the two-year production cycle, the developers are spending the first three-quarters of that trying to get their pipeline up and running in a way that really unleashes the artist to go focus on what\'s important to us, which is the game design itself. So when you compress a game design itself into such a short period of time, you end up with a bad result. If you spend too much time in that production phase with little to show for it, publishers get wary, particularly if you\'re not a big name and your last title was a smash success and you\'re a little bit behind schedule. Publishers loose confidence very quickly.

When you add that up you get this negative cycle going in the industry that leads to more killed or rushed-out titles because of that pressure. When you kill a title, all the pressure for that title to perform gets added to the titles that are going to ship. It\'s really a tough spot. We\'re starting a cross-industry initiative to tackle that problem and stabilize the medium. It\'s our vision that if we stabilize the medium , the craft can take off. Instead of worrying about how to load the camera, and how to process the film and edit it, we can worry about where to point the camera and deliver the games that consumers want.

IGN: So how do you do that?

J Allard: The initiative that we\'re announcing is called XNA. The "X" represents that it\'s a cross-industry initiative that\'s rooted in two technology sources from Microsoft. One is DirectX, one is Xbox. The Xbox was grounded in DirectX from the beginning. That\'s our heritage. The "N" is next-generation. Our view is that software is the fuel for the next generation. While hardware advances are going to happen, the most important and significant advance is going to be in software. The "A" is for architecture. How do all the tools plug in to one another in a way that allows the designers to take the best tools, assemble them into a pipeline, add specific things that they want to add into that pipeline and get going with confidence that that\'s going to stitch together well. It\'s more like LEGOS and less like cutting down your own timber and trying to make your own notches fit together.

IGN: Let me clarify. In your quest to develop XNA as a standard, you\'re not advocating a one-size-fits-all approach. You\'re allowing developers to choose a suite of tools?

J Allard: Yeah, you\'re my general contractor and we\'re building a house together. What do you do? You go down to Sears and you buy a Stanley hammer, a Black and Decker saw, you\'re gonna buy a MAKITA drill, you\'re gonna mix and match tools that are appropriate for you. When you walk out the door, hopefully you don\'t have to make another trip. If you\'re remodeling the kitchen instead of building a new house you\'ll make a different set of selections; your budget is different and the scale of your team might be different. Every GC\'s trip to Sears looks a little different but Sears arranges everything on pegs and you\'re guaranteed that your power tools will all work in a three-prong outlet. There are standards in terms of nails and hammers and weights and gauges that allow interoperability between the guys that make the screws and the guys that make the screwdrivers.

If the three of us want to make a game, where\'s Sears? There isn\'t. We send you out to the Black and Decker store, and Dean to the Makita store and I go to the Craftsmen store. When we come back, hopefully, we have enough stuff to build the house but we\'ll probably have to make a few return trips. And then none of the stuff plugs into the same outlets. We have to rewire the freaking house before we even start to remodel. That\'s what game development is like today.

Microsoft XNA Support Sheet

"Alias heartily supports XNA. XNA will pave a single path for deployment of rich content from Maya across multiple Microsoft game platform environments such as Windows-based PCs and the Xbox."

Geoff Foulds, Global Games and Interactive Marketing Manager, Alias Systems  

"Anything that makes the game developer\'s job easier, and removes some of the risk and some of the trial and error, is a good thing. We can concentrate on what makes a game good -- gameplay, content and visuals -- and not worry about fighting the hardware."

Jez San, Founder and CEO, Argonaut Games PLC

"We\'re excited to have been involved with XNA since its conception. We design hardware for developers so they get the high performance they expect under all circumstances, but it\'s equally important to provide software tools that remove the barriers to creating great content. The combination of ATI\'s hardware and Microsoft\'s XNA software will let game developers concentrate on what\'s most important: making blockbuster games."

Andy Thompson, Director of Strategic Marketing, ATI Technologies Inc.

"We are pleased to see that Microsoft shares our vision of helping developers make better games, faster, through use of their favorite middleware. We look forward to leveraging XNA in the RenderWare tool chain to implement Windows- and Xbox-specific features."

David Lau-Kee, CEO, Criterion Software

"XNA is a great software solution that provides efficient tools, middleware and production pipelines to create better games faster. We fully approve and support this next-generation strategy, as effectiveness has been our ultimate goal since the establishment of Crytek and the development of CryENGINE middleware."

Cevat Yerli, President and CEO, Crytek GmbH

"Discreet is excited to support game developers though Microsoft\'s new XNA initiative announced today. With the largest registered install base of 3-D animation software in the world, Discreet 3ds max software has been an integral creation tool for Microsoft Xbox game developers -- and the new XNA middleware platform will assist them in bringing high-quality games to market faster."

Marc Petit, Vice President, Product Development, Discreet (a division of Autodesk Inc.)

"It\'s the age-old problem of game development: how much time do you spend on your tools and technology and how much time do you spend on your game design? The better the tools and technology, the better -- and faster -- you can make your game. The more Microsoft does to provide developers with tools, the easier it is for game developers to develop better games."

Tim Sweeney, Founder and President, Epic Games

"We are extremely excited about XNA, both as a middleware provider and as a game developer. Tools are the only chance for future success in this industry, and never has this been more true than now. As we move into next-generation development, the expectations of gamers and the abilities of hardware open almost limitless possibilities for content creators. Without the right tools, developers will not be able to keep up with the pace -- XNA is what the industry needs right now.

Julian Eggebrecht, President, Factor 5 LLC

"Havok, as the leading supplier of physics middleware for the game industry, believes that only through increasingly sophisticated software components and tools that integrate seamlessly with each other can the power of the next generation of entertainment platform be leveraged by game developers. The XNA initiative is important for the industry in that it represents a commitment to providing the software infrastructure to make this happen. We are looking forward to leveraging XNA technology and participating in its success."

Dr. Steven Collins, Chief Technical Officer, Havok

"I want more of those up-front tools and more technology that we could use right away and learn from, because what we try to do is hire all creative people to figure out that answer. If I have to devote a lot of resources to technology, that\'s fewer resources that we can devote to creating a great game."

Brett Bourbin, Director of Technology, High Voltage Software

"If the right tools are available, we can worry about building the game and not building the software."

Marc Lutz, Chief Technical Officer, Ketsujin Studios

"XNA will enhance NDL in delivering Gamebryo\'s industry-leading cross-platform 3-D graphics engine and tools."

John Austin, CEO, NDL

"Microsoft\'s introduction of XNA presents an exciting opportunity for game developers to not only maintain a unified development environment while creating stunning content for multiple platforms, but to also focus on taking full advantage of the latest graphics technologies and shading effects to express their creative visions to the fullest. For NVIDIA, the availability of XNA presents a particularly exciting opportunity as our graphics technology continues to extend into new markets, such as handheld computing, where developers will be able to create and deliver 3-D gaming experiences like never before seen."

Mark Daly, Vice President of Content Development, NVIDIA

"The best thing a console provider can provide is a complete, robust environment where all the redundant generic stuff is taken care of. That frees us developers to work on the cool, specialized features that are going to make each of our games innovative."

David Wu, President and Technology Director, Pseudo Interactive Inc.

"We are extremely excited by the new XNA technology introduced by Microsoft. XNA empowers Quazal with tools to drive innovation even further on both Microsoft Windows and Xbox. In the end, Microsoft XNA is the starting point of a revolution that will bring game development to the next level."

Martin Lavoie, Chief Technology Officer, Quazal Technologies Inc.

"Developers have demanded an easier way to develop games, and Microsoft has responded. With HLSL and now with the XNA development environment, the process of writing shaders and creating visually stunning content is more accessible and simplified than ever before. Right Hemisphere shares Microsoft\'s goal to streamline the production pipeline for artists and programmers. Our Deep Exploration software is included in every Xbox developer kit so that assets may be created in most any application and previewed in real time on Xbox. What this does is allow for a smoother, less disruptive development process in which artists, engineers and programmers can focus on their core tasks and work more freely and independently of each other. Together, XNA and our WYSIWYG software take away some of the constraints and disruptions burdening the 3-D content creation process."

Michael Lynch, CEO, Right Hemisphere

"For tools and middleware developers like Secret Level, having our tools work across platforms is key. Good tools and middleware solutions will be vital on the next generation of game machines, and XNA is just what we need to support the development of cross-platform games simultaneously."

Reeve S. Thompson, Director of Production, Secret Level

"Today\'s developers demand the most advanced and flexible tools in order to produce out-of-this-world games. In unifying the Windows and Xbox development tools under the XNA software system, developers can now save time by designing multiplatform games, and focus on creating amazing content. Combined with SOFTIMAGE|XSI, they can make better games, faster than ever before."

Gareth Morgan, Senior Product Manager, Softimage Co. (a subsidiary of Avid Technology Inc.)

"At Touchdown, we have always been committed to providing tools that help developers focus on game content rather than technology development. We\'re looking forward to XNA, which will further expand the value of middleware to game developers."

Jeffrey Hutt, Technical Director, Touchdown Entertainment Inc.

"On the PC we have tools like HLSL. On Xbox, we have tools like PIX. These are both really powerful, and XNA combines the power of the PC and the power of the console into a best-of-breed platform."

Gabe Newell, Founder and Managing Director, Valve

"XNA allows us to leverage some of the great tools we\'ve come to rely on for Xbox development for PC games as well. We are excited about this, both as a developer whose games often bridge between the console and Windows worlds, and as a middleware licensor supporting teams working with both platforms. This is going to be a win-win for everyone."

Tobi Saulnier, Vice President, Product Development, Vicarious Visions Inc

"Virtools is proud to join the XNA program. We will provide even stronger middleware for the next generation, capable of dramatically easing the development effort and accelerating the time to market of high-quality games on powerful future platforms."

Bertrand Duplat, President and CTO, Virtools Canada Inc.

http://www.microsoft.com/xna/support_sheet.aspx

XNA Press Release

Microsoft: Next Generation of Games Starts With XNA

New Software Development Platform Integrates Innovations Across Industry

SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 24, 2004 - Microsoft Corp. today announced XNA™, a powerful next-generation software development platform. XNA empowers developers to deliver breakthrough games while combating rising production costs and ever-increasing hardware complexity. Games for future iterations of all Microsoft® game platforms - including Windows®, Xbox® and Windows Mobile™-based devices - will be unleashed by tools and technologies from the XNA development platform. XNA is the catalyst for a new ecosystem of interchangeable, interoperable software tools and technologies from Microsoft, middleware and game development companies. By integrating software innovations across Microsoft platforms and across the industry, XNA forms a common environment that liberates developers from spending too much time writing mundane, repetitive boilerplate code. Instead, XNA frees game creators to spend their time where it matters most -on the creativity that differentiates their games.

"Software will be the single most important force in digital entertainment over the next decade," said Bill Gates, founder and chief software architect of Microsoft. "XNA underscores Microsoft\'s commitment to the game industry and our desire to work with partners to take the industry to the next level."
The industrywide XNA initiative will be unveiled today in a keynote speech delivered by Microsoft\'s Robbie Bach, senior vice president of the Home and Entertainment Division, and J Allard, corporate vice president, Xbox platform, and chief XNA architect, to hundreds of game developers at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif. In the speech, Bach will outline some of the challenges that game developers will face in the near future.
"Silicon advancements and new features like high-definition and pervasive broadband will send game development costs skyrocketing," Bach is expected to tell conference attendees. "The video game industry must band together to find a solution that ensures vitality and sustainability for years to come, while responding to consumer desires for bigger, better games."

As part of the XNA unveiling, Microsoft also announced Allard\'s responsibility for overseeing and driving the XNA initiative companywide. "At the heart of XNA is choice. No game today is built with just one tool, and no game tomorrow will be either," Allard said. "By creating an environment where software innovations flourish and work together, XNA will allow game developers to redefine what\'s possible in games and give gamers the freedom to pursue their own paths. XNA closes the gap between what gamers want and what developers dream."

Illustrating the potential of the XNA development platform, Microsoft will make a series of announcements about its own video game tools and technologies in four key areas: online, input, graphics and audio.
In response to strong customer demand, Xbox Live™ development tools for functionality such as billing, security, login, friends and matchmaking will be made available to Windows developers. The tools will make it easier to create the same social, unified online gaming experiences on Windows that game players have come to expect on Xbox.

On the input front, as part of XNA, Microsoft will develop a common controller reference design and unify input APIs and button standards across multiple platforms. The result will be a family of common controllers for Windows and Xbox game players. In addition, the move will fuel a whole new wave of compelling, cross-platform input devices from peripheral manufacturers.
In graphics and audio, many tools such as PIX (an analysis tool) and XACT (an audio authoring tool) - previously available only to Xbox developers - now will be available on Windows as part of the XNA development platform. Likewise, innovations from Windows such as High-Level Shader Language (HLSL) will come to Xbox. The DirectX® API and the Visual Studio® development system will continue to be the baseline environment for both platforms. Collectively, these tools and technologies will enable movie-quality graphics while forming the impetus for new software that will help developers cope with the looming complexity of high-definition video and audio.
"On the PC we have tools like HLSL. On Xbox we have tools like PIX. These are both really powerful, and XNA combines the power of the PC and the power of the console into a best-of-breed platform," said Gabe Newell, founder and managing director of Valve Software LLC.

More than 20 game development and middleware companies already have recognized that XNA will drive advancements in the industry. David Lau-Kee, chief executive officer of Criterion Software, said, "We are pleased to see that Microsoft shares our vision of helping developers make better games, faster, through use of their favorite middleware. We look forward to leveraging XNA in the RenderWare tool chain to implement Windows- and Xbox-specific features."

"Because it\'s software, we can add new and improved XNA tools consistently, spurring continuous innovation in games. Developers won\'t have to wait for new silicon to enjoy the latest advances," said Dean Lester, general manager of Windows Graphics and Gaming Technologies at Microsoft. "The benefit to gamers will be dramatic leaps in production quality and gameplay for the next-generation Xbox and the next generation of Windows. And it starts today."

MS GDC Keynote Address

I have been hyped on XNA since it was first announced. I remember we had a discussion about it in the Main Forum and a couple guys swore up and down that it was the stupidest thing ever.

That is of course until Sony said something about doing pretty much the same thing. :rolleyes:

This is one of the best concepts in game desing in a long time. IMO, something like this could do wonders to pushing the whole video game industry to another level.

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

"Better games, better experiences, faster"


hmm, i donno.. I can see buggy, loss coding in future games. Meaning us needing more powerful hardware to run games on our machines that if done right a card for half the price could probably do.

hmm, i donno.. I can see buggy, loss coding in future games. Meaning us needing more powerful hardware to run games on our machines that if done right a card for half the price could probably do.

I can\'t make any sense of that.  All this is doing is reducing the time needed to set up the all important work pipeline, making it easier for people to work together without the hassle of having to set up their own means.  

Reading some of those comments it looks like this kind of thing is desired by quite a few companies.  Those are some BIG names backing XNA.

time will tell...

hype

[Evi]

Next time you post, try making it more than one word or sentence. It might be hard, but I think you can do it.

Playing WoW to much to care .

Originally posted by mm
hype

spammer

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

Originally posted by Ginko
I can\'t make any sense of that.  All this is doing is reducing the time needed to set up the all important work pipeline, making it easier for people to work together without the hassle of having to set up their own means.  

Reading some of those comments it looks like this kind of thing is desired by quite a few companies.  Those are some BIG names backing XNA.

time will tell...

u don\'t think pre-built sdks won\'t make gaming codes more crappy..  Just look at the difference between Opengl and D3d.

SDK imo make developers slack, all the major work is done for them so they slap together a game as quick as possible and sell it.   There a few companies that even bother to take the time these days.

agreed soulgrind.

Devs will get more and more Lazy with time. Why try to develop something new, when you can easilly use the already working XNA feature ?

Take weather effect rain. Is that mean that most game will have close to the same rain effect because Devs are too lazy to code new rain effect to their game? why spend 80 hours and 3 programmer to do it, when you can just  use the XNA feature that is already available.

It\'s all good in the end. Devs will probably use less ressources in the overall creation and will spend the money on better voicing /music talent or such other feature. But we will lots and lots of game using the same code.

Originally posted by Nolaws
Devs will get more and more Lazy with time. Why try to develop something new, when you can easilly use the already working XNA feature ?

Take weather effect rain. Is that mean that most game will have close to the same rain effect because Devs are too lazy to code new rain effect to their game? why spend 80 hours and 3 programmer to do it, when you can just  use the XNA feature that is already available.

That is the point. Why reinvent the wheel everytime you make a game when someone has already created a fully functional wheel? The whole point is that some companies will continue to work on their physics/graphic/sound/etc. engines leaving less work and resources for developers to extend and putting more time into the actual gameplay and story.

How good do you think movies would be if studios had to devote resources to designing new cameras/soundboards/microphones/etc before they could get around to making  the movie? They would cost A LOT more and be A LOT less quality.

You don\'t seem to understand the whole concept. It is not the developers using an XNA feature for rain effects. It is XNA making it easy for developers to use another company\'s better designed and fully functional graphics engine for rain.