Will Turning Xbox One Owners Into Developers Turn The Tide For Microsoft?

NowGamer: "It’s no secret that Microsoft has found itself on the back-foot since unveiling the Xbox One back in May.

After being lambasted for their always-online DRM policies, mocked for their subsequent u-turns and derided for their focus on TV, the idea that Microsoft is a company out of touch has firmly cemented itself in the popular consciousness.

For Microsoft then, the challenge is as much about changing perceptions as it is about selling consoles. But, how can Microsoft persuade consumers that they are not the stiff, out of touch and closed corporate body that many think they are?"

[TimmyShire]

I think until we know the full details of ID@Xbox, this is just a pipe dream for Microsoft. Hopefully not though, because Xbox Indie Marketplace had some gems in it (and a lot of crap too, mind! :P)

[cleft5]

It's not going to turn the tide, but it is a cool feature that I hope Sony implements in some form for the PS4.

[lokirevamped]

With your fan-girl glasses on, one side can never lose/win. If you take them off you will see that nothing stays on top, meaning anything can happen. Gamers are on top, I am enjoying them both.

[Dark_king]

@cleft5 Im just hoping we get a new LBP that let's us make full games.LBP 2 you could make a game but small mini games anything to big would strain the system(unless you put it into multiple levels but you couldn't get data to carry from one to the next).So now we got a new more powerful system and it should be able to handle far more.Sure you can't sell your levels/games but other then that would be similar.

[Volkama]

@Dark King,

Maybe keep an eye on Project Spark if the One or Windows 8 is an option for you. It's also likely Sony will use LBP for the PS4 at some point, if PS isn't an option for you.

[DeathOfTheFanBoy]

I am pretty meh about indie titles, I have a phone and tablet that can handle those types of games (most of them) If you paid £350 or £430 for a next gen console I honestly don't understand why anyone would be that excited to see anything less than AAA titles...
That's just my opinion obviously.
At the same time it's awesome for people who ARE interested in this side of things... just not me.

[ABizzel1]

No, because the majority of XBO owners aren't game developers.

Look at the people who tried to get backwards compatibility running, and bricked their console.

It's great for anyone interested in developing a game, students, and small indie teams with extremely low budgets.

[Mikelarry]

^^^ THIS THIS THIS

[P0werVR]

Yet it is by far one of the best features added to a console. They already stated they might have toolsets for would be developers, aside from Project Spark.

[Aggesan]

Exactly. Everyone already have a pc, why haven't they started developing games there if they wanted to? After all, pc is where games are actually being developed.

[sprinterboy]

@abizzel

Agree dude, I think it's a cool feature for a small minority of xbone owners but for the masses it's just a lol moment. I couldn't wait for lbp to arrive and even had drawings made up ready for levels but soon found out I don't have the time to game and design a level at the same time lol, as cool as it was though. Certainly be interesting to see what some xbone owners do with it though.

[rainslacker]

Bravo, thank you. Even the stuff that makes it simple doesn't mean it's going to make everyone into a game developer. Even LBP has it's meh levels.

I applaud anyone who wants to try their hand, but I encourage them all to really study up on game design, and not just programming/art. Design is where it's at, and it's what separates the fodder from the true geniuses. After you get the design stuff down, the rest is just learning how to do programming/art.

@Aggesan
I believe most people who are seriously interested in game design actually do use PC. There are thousands of outlets to get your game out there, and the indie community is much more mature there.

It is pretty cool having you're game running on a console though. Was awesome the first time I played one of my games after porting to the Vita on PS Mobile.:)

[imt558]

Well, i got a job. When i coming home, working around the house's enviroment. When i take a break, go play games for a few hours.... I don't have a time to make games, just play it.

[lets_go_gunners]

The fact that any one who has 500$ can be a creator is never bad thing. Though just like the app store it's gonna be a cluster fk for the first year. Then we are gonna actually start seeing what people can come up with.

I'm waiting patiently for specifics before I jump on that bandwagon but still optimistic.

[Aggesan]

If you have 500$ and want to learn game development, buy a pc, not a xbox one.

[lets_go_gunners]

You're missing the point of this program. It's not just making a game on Xbox one it's selling it on it also. You can make it for your pc re-code and restructure for xbox one and you sell your game for your price and obviously ms gets a cut but it's amazing. I was reading about it after I made my initial comment. It's legit.

[rainslacker]

So do you want to make a game, or do you want to make money? The money is nice, don't get me wrong, but people that try to just make money generally don't make very good games. Not a coincidence limited indie devs I'd like to add.

Minecraft, Braid, etc didn't set out to make money. They set out to make a great game. They made money in the process.

Besides, PC offers a hell of a lot of places where you can monetize your game. A lot more than just the one Live market. The advantage to Live/PSN is exposure, and getting the game out to more people. But even then, the PC market dwarfs the console market by a large margin for indie games.

Most indie games of the level we're talking about here start on PC and become popular there. Very few set out to go directly to console.

If you end up being good and making money in the PC market, the console market will come to you. You don't have to go to it.

[heliumhead2030]

im kinda confused on this. does this let you run game developement software on the x1 or do you still need another comp and are just able to test on the x1?

[Kayant]

No one really know at this point but I guessing even though all XB1's can be devkits that's not really a good idea if there's no access restrictions in place as it could give pirates the access they need for pirated games or it could cause some XB1 owners to misuse it and brick their console like the bug recently found that allows enables devkit mode but sends your console into a endless bootloop.

So iirc you still need an ID@Xbox account to really do anything once this mode is enabled.

But this feature is a great thing for devs as it's allows them to have both a debug/devkit console as well as a retail console to test their game.

OT - No this wouldn't turn XB1 owners into devs but it helps developers and gives XB1 owners more games :)

[rainslacker]

You would have to use a development tool suite, likely MS visual studio on PC, with the proper SDK and then you could upload it to the console itself for testing. Developers still use PC's to create their games, as doing it on a console is limiting and not really conducive to a working environment.

I find it highly unlikely that MS will offer complete access to the hardware like they do for liscensed developers. As Kayant says there is a lot of protected information that MS would not let the public have for a measly yearly subscription fee. It'll likely be a lesser version of the full developers tools, and most of the support will likely be community based, as opposed to directly supported by MS.

I really think it's going to be more akin to PS Mobile for the Vita. Although it may have a more robust toolset and use more tools that are included in their full dev kit solutions...which obviously cost a lot more, and require strict NDA's and qualifications to use.

[JackVagina]

Xbox people be like...

http://makeameme.org/media/...

[ziggurcat]

No.

[Gabenbrah]

It'll certainly create some very interesting applications with the Kinect, I'm excited to see what's made, especially considering what PC Gamers did with OG Kinect, I can only imagine what Kinect 2 applications will be.

[Godmars290]

At the very least it will entrench the system among owners.

[WeAreLegion]

I think that depends on many things, including ease of use.

Move.me is great, but nobody bought it and I'm pretty sure the only games that came from it haven't released yet.

[ninjahunter]

Considering what most people consider to be good ideas for game development, no.

[Funky Town_TX]

A $350 price tag ASAP will turn the tide. The 360 and X1 are extremely over priced.

[MorePowerOfGreen]

"Turn The Tide For Microsoft?" WTF? LMAO

Yes. More consoles will be sold because of it being a Dev Kit. More consoles will be sold because there will be some creative stuff because of the accessible program. More people will be prepared or at least interested because of software like Project Spark. We're talking more than just games but also Apps and Kinect.

Doesn't make sense to say this won't matter and then turn around and defend the Indie scene. The console can grow the industry by putting folks foot in the door in bigger indie studios and AAA big budget studios. This will cause an influx of XB1 purchases resulting in more content that has the potential to be good. As these people move on up the industry chain(Working on all platforms) new folks replace them.

Be like Youtube/Twitch of developing.

[rainslacker]

I don't think it will turn the tide for MS among the majority of people. I think it will have good things for the indie scene though.

The two aren't really connected in the way that you suggest. PSMobile has been available on the Vita for quite a while, yet it hasn't really "turned the tide" for the Vita.

It's great for all those indie devs that want to get their games onto the system, and for Xbox owners who want to play those games, but it's probably not going to have a significant impact on overall sales, since people that are truly serious about indie development know that it's not really the right place to start. PC is a much better place to start out ones indie career, as it's much more open, and has exponentially more resources available. There will always be exceptions to that rule, and good for them, but that doesn't mean the rules just disappear.

In any regard, saying how it will do anything right now is extremely pre-mature. At the present time too little is known outside of the indie scene to really say if it will ever become more than what PSMobile is now.

[HmongAmerican]

Even indie's developers have hard time with MS. I don't believes this none sense.

[GusBricker]

This is awesome, since I can be developer now, I can start a kickstarter to pay for my beer and snacks!

[Volkama]

Do it. You can even be honest about how you will spend the funding. I'll pledge.

[SynestheticRoar]

This won't matter. Sorry. It will be a nice feature to have.

[mhunterjr]

I don't think Microsofts tide needs turning... And if it did, this wouldn't do it. The xb1 is performing well, and honestly, beyond the hardcore audience, the indie scene isn't what sells consoles.

[christocolus]

It is a freaking great idea. If you do not want to start from scratch then you can go ahead and create something unique using project spark. If you are more of a programmer you could just go into the xbx ones dev section and start something new...i have friends who have been waiting for something like this for years..,those who do programming as a hobby would like the idea and This will actually make some talented guys who dont have the resources to take game creation serious.

Yes there will be a lot of crap out there but there will also be some great titles in there with the rest.i never read programming but if ms opens this up. I know i would want to try something. Luckily for me my brother is good at programming with c++ and as a gamer he too would be really interested in this.

[KingDadXVI]

I agree it is a fabulous idea. Obviously the majority of people will not bother to use this but even if you get 1% of owners to use this you will have potentially tens of thousands of people trying to develop games. Admittedly most will suck and that is where MS will have to use a good filtering system so you don't end up with a mess like you have with Android apps but in the end there could be some great things come out of this.

The only reason that you see negativity for this is the same reason there was negativity when the idea of Xbox Live came about. It was new and the other console was not offering it. There is never anything wrong with offering options to people. It just so happens that the option is being offered by MS and not Sony so you will see a ton of negativity towards this.

Good job MS, keep it up.

[rainslacker]

Does your friend not have a PC in which he could develop his game? Truth be told, that is the very best place to start learning how to design games.

Programming is only one facet of game development. I was always a programmer at heart. Always a hobbyist. But when I went to pursue serious development ventures, the actual game development part took me off guard. Even the most simple of ideas can fall apart if not thought through completely.

I don't mean to discourage your friend, or brother, but there is so much involved in making a game from start to finish. I seriously urge you, or anyone else who wants to do this, to look into what all it takes. Starting without knowing only leads to disappointment and not being able to finish your goals. Trust me, I know, and it's very discouraging.

However, the first time you get a piece of game code up and running on a device, and you see even the most simple of actions in motion, it is very rewarding. This is true regardless of platform.

@King
My only negativity for the moment towards it is that so little is known about it, and initial reports from devs haven't been too spectacular.

Sony offers something similar in PSMobile. MS offered something similar with XNA. My problem isn't who did it first, it's more about the fact that people are taking this as a good thing when it seems like something MS hasn't even thought through yet. This wasn't something MS had planned from the beginning. It was something they made in reaction to the extreme love that Sony was getting from indie devs. Everything about it screams, "Hey, look over here". And that to me, as someone who works on indie games, is worrying.

When it comes down to it though, I would use it if it were available, just because I would want my games to be out to as many people as possible.

[Agent_hitman]

Turn gamers to devs with ID@Xbox?. Seriously, I don't think that this will succeed.. X1 owners just want to play games

[Letthewookiewin]

No I just want to be a gamer.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

I want to play games not "waste time" creating a game. If i wanted that then i'll just look for work as a game developer. Some guys think its so easy to create a game. even big devs are having difficulty creating one. I don't see the point unless your an indie developer with a small team.

[rainslacker]

It's not really hard to get a small team together in the gaming community. The gaming community is full of artists and geeky programmer types. I could quite literally go on some forums and say I'm looking for a small group to do a game, and receive hundreds of responses in a day. I've done it on a few occasions when in school. I could probably even get some on here.

The harder part is getting them to stick around through an entire project. Even small games can take months, if not years, to get to a releasable state.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

and your reason still justifies what i said. Its difficult. and it takes money and time not only effort. you maybe the geekiest or the smartest gamer out there, but success doesn't choose anyone. there are a lot of talented devs and excellent games out there who did not do well in terms of sales.