80°

Xbox SmartGlass: Small, indie developers need not apply

SmartGlass is a cool technology, but it won't be available to the smaller publishers who've helped turn the Xbox platform into a home for innovative indie games.

Blankman854192d ago

I'm glad SmartGlass wasn't around when GTA IV launched. Can you imagine? Your actual phone "ringing", you answer it and on the other end you hear "Niko, it's your cousin! You want to go see some titties?"
On the plus side, if they implemented some basic voice and word recognition then you could tell Roman to screw off cause you're busy being riddled by police bullets.

Actually not a bad idea come to think of it

4192d ago
bubblebeam4192d ago

Sucks. In Australia we don't get the 'indie' games. Hopefully next gen Microsoft stop giving the US and UK everything. I'm talking about all the sales and specials and what not.

Australia always gets shafted.

Somebody4192d ago

XNA was also supposed to help the development between the PC and X-Box to be smoother. Any X box games made with the XNA should be able to be ported to the PC with little hassle and vice versa. Instead we years of X-Box only XNA indie releases and then we see them struggled to get any recognition when MS put the indie market way deep inside obscure menus of the X-box where no one would think of going and made the certification process a hellish experience. This caused a lot of indie companies to turn to Android and Steam in the last couple of years.

I guess this new announcement is not that surprising since the indie game makers have served their purpose and the rest, who still believe that MS might give them another chance, are harshly shown the the exit.

nukeitall4191d ago

Have people really forgotten that MS was and is the only one that really supports indie development. Who else gives you access to publish games on a console for $100?

Heck, MS even gives it away free to students.

Try that from Sony or Nintendo?

The reason why indie-games is obscure is for the same reason neither Nintendo nor Sony allows it on their platform. Keyword quality games. There aren't exactly many jewels in the pile of shit.

Personally, if I went online and all I saw was shit, then you know what I do. I turn it off and do something else. So if you want indie games to be successful, make quality games and stop feeling entitled! You aren't entitled to shit, just what you earn.

There are examples for indie game studios using XNA that graduated to be a high quality studio with publishing through MS:

http://ska-studios.com/

All through indie games using XNA! Earn it, don't demand it!!!

Somebody4191d ago

So those indie game makers graduated to be high quality studios all thanks to XNA...so why is MS slamming the door on the rest of the pack its new roadmap?

It's not about being entitled to something. It's about restricted opportunity. You are right about earning your place in the eyes of MS but how can you do that when there is no way for you to show your potential? Have a great idea how to implement a Smartglass for the RPG your indie group is developing? Let's show it to MS...oh,wait...Smartglass is not for indie developers. Too bad.

As for shit...it happens. You can't have diamonds without shit alongside them to balance out the equation. I have played numerous games that reviewers called shit and yet when I played them personally, I was hooked.

Anyway, the backlash that I can see from is that some disgruntled indie developer out there would make an Android or an iOs app that would emulate Smartglass capabilities for those devices. Then we would see MS suddenly opening the closed garden and trying to entice the indie studios to enter.

nukeitall4191d ago

@Somebody:

"so why is MS slamming the door on the rest of the pack its new roadmap?"

Like anything, money is the source of everything. If MS can't profit, they shut it down. It is up to indie-developers to show it is profitable.

Case in point, MS is the only one really catering to indie developers on console, yet they everybody complains. I don't hear any complaints about the PS3/PS Vita minis. You know why? Cause Sony doesn't cater to indie game developers and demand around $10k for a dev kit. Indie developers, the sort of people that provides little value, yet complain a lot.

If I was a business, I'm not sure I would cater to indies either unless I got something back worthwhile. It doesn't need to be profit, but it certainly can't be bad reputation for my goodwill!

The sort of thing that happens with small time developers.

DivineAssault 4191d ago

unless ur phone/tablet is docked & used as a real time map or inventory setup screen, i think it would be a bit distracting.. putting the controller down just to grab something else for a few seconds n putting it back down to grab the controller again doesnt seem fun.. Thats just me tho..

I have 3DS/DS & played many games with em & its annoying when your forced to use the touchscreen then go back to playing.. & the 2nd screen on there is in field of view.. I cant imagine it being separated & being better.. Even owning a vita, i wont use it as a method of control w a 2nd screen for my games.. Unless its something casual, i dont plan on using it for anything other than HUDs or inventory..

110°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein6h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno2h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k41h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson1h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu2h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson1h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -

130°

Looking Back At 2008, An Unbelievably Incredible Year Of Video Game Releases

Huzaifa from eXputer: "2008 was home to the likes of Call of Duty: World at War, Dead Space, GTA 4, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, and many other hits, which is outright remarkable."

ChasterMies8h ago

Some of these low paid video game “news” writers weren’t born before 2007.

just_looken4h ago

Here here

Those that were around before 2000's i am sure are like me that think we entered a world of non readers or those that follow without question.

I can not wait to see fallout 3 a goty game even though it was about water with non content until you add the dlc/updates then you got the performance/crashing

CrimsonWing6919h ago

I don’t think anything can compare to 2023

lucasnooker19h ago

1998 - the best year in gaming! Metal gear solid, crash bandicoot 3, medievil, half life, ocarina of time, thief, tenchu, resident evil 2, Spyro, tomb raider 3, oddworld abes exodus, banjo kazooie.

It was a different breed of a gaming era. You’ll never understand what it was like back then. The aura of gaming, it was different!

KyRo19h ago(Edited 19h ago)

I second this. Gaming was a lot more varied and fun than it is today. I'm 35 so getting on compared to some here but I got to see all the changes from NES up to now but I've never felt so disappointed in any generation than I have this current gen. I was expecting more from this generation rather than prettier versions of games that came before it. Game mechanics have become so refined that alot of games feel the same and has done for a while now.

Maybe it's time to have a break for a while. I love gaming but I don't feel I get much fun in the traditional sense out of it anymore.

CrimsonWing6919h ago(Edited 19h ago)

Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, Abe’s Exodus, and Ocarina of Time are the only things from that list that I liked.

Here’s the 2023 game releases that I personally liked… and big releases that I didn’t care for:

- Dead Space Remake
- Wo Long Dynatsy
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Diablo 4
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Hogwarts Legcay
- Street Fighter 6
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Like a Dragon: Ishin
- Octopath Traveler 2
- Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters
- Final Fanatsy XVI (actually ended up not liking this, but it was still a big deal release)
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
- Lies of P
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Starfield (Ended up hating this one, but big release)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (I’m an old-school Zelda fan, but didn’t really enjoy this game)
- Alan Wake 2

I mean, honestly I’ve never seen a year of major IP releases like that, ever.

Profchaos16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

Isn't it just a generational thing realistically.

I've been gaming since way back and I some of my favourite games go as far back as the late 80s for me each generation has a year or two of game changing releases one after another before an inevitable dry spell.

I kind of agree gaming had a different feel games hit different because we didn't have the internet nothing got spoiled and you really had to put in the effort to beat a puzzle which could set entire groups of people looking for a solution. But most importantly games were experimental and not as cookie cutter as today even basics like controls were not universal today r2 is shoot l2 is ads garunteed you can't deviate from that in a shooter back then it could of been square, R1 or R1 and circle nothing was standard.

But as time moves on a new generation picks up their controller they are going to be interested in different things that PS1 demo disc with the t Rex blew our primitive 16 bit brains back on launch but to kids today it's laughable.
The new gen of kids coming into to hobby seem to value different things to us there seems to be a huge focus on online play, streamers, gaming personalities, and social experiences, convience of digital downloads. To me I value none of that but that's ok like my parents not liking the band's I would listen to its just the natural cycle.

Gameseeker_Frampt7h ago

Just about every year in the 7th generation was great and something we most likely won't experience again.

2009 for example had Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age: Origins, Uncharted 2, Halo 3: ODST, Killzone 2, Borderlands, Bayonetta, and Demon's Souls to name a few.

just_looken4h ago

It still amazes me we got over 7 rockstar games ps2/ps3 but 3 for the ps3/ps4/ps5

Dragon age 1-3 and mass effect 1-3 in 7ish years what a generation.

120°

6 Fun Games Where You Actually Play As The Bad Guy

While the mainstream media always sees things turning in favor of the hero, here are 6 games that own being a bad guy.

Profchaos1d 1h ago

Pretty much all of these games listed are based around a morality system you don't have to be bad and you don't have to be good.

It seems to have left out some real amazing games like red dead redemption 1/2,ass effect and true crime la/ny

Tacoboto1d ago

Armored Core VI?

Ok, I'm really missing something here. Just beat chapter 3 earlier this evening, unlocked A-rank Arena fights. I'm not seeing or sensing any branching paths or morality system and I've done every side mission and arena fight available to me up to that fight.

Is something big coming soon to branch the story?

banger881d ago

No mention of Grand Theft Auto? Saints Row (original trilogy), Manhunt? Also The Suffering (depending on the ending you get).

ChasterMies14h ago

Trevor in GTA 6 is a sadist and psychopath who dabbles in cannibalism. Should be top of the list. These game “news” sites should hire people that know games.