Thanks to both DerrickDS and Lucas for pointing out the new additions!

Plain Sight is a multiplayer action title for PC and Xbox 360. Players control cute little robot skeletons that fly around a stylized environment and hit each other with swords to amass points. To 'bank' your points, you must blow yourself up - taking out as many of your rivals as possible.

Yes, it is essentially a game about suicide bombing robots. But it's ok - they are cute! And the background looks a bit like Tron, which can't be bad.

[Plain Sight]

Owl Boy is a 2D platforming adventure for the Xbox 360 and Windows PCs. Go with Otus on a free flying quest into the clouds and discover the secrets of the floating islands while preserving the Owls' integrity...

Pretty much sums it up. Good news is it looks pretty great! Better news is it's being entered into the IGF, so hopefully it can pick up a little more exposure while it's there.
Owlboy [D-pad Studio, via TIGS]

Being an ex-XNA member, I can still say, without a shadow of doubt, that Microsoft is offering a groundbreaking game channel, and that some people stand a chance to make great money from the system. It's an exciting opportunity, but the danger for consumers lies in Microsoft's deliberate steps to avoid discussions regarding game quality, even during peer review.

It's similar, actually, to quality concerns about Xbox Live Arcade that ultimately led to Microsoft's announcement that underperforming titles would be delisted from the service.

Is it as big an issue on the separate community games channel? Said Weller:

I firmly believe that avoiding commentary/ratings on game quality will result in frustrated consumers, who will have no way to discern the quality of a game among (ultimately) thousands. Of course, the game creator has the option of offering a trial game, but it will be interesting to see how many developers take advantage of that path, as it is not required [Edit: Peter Hatch points to a Wired article where Chris Satchell states that a timed trial will be enabled by default, but my concern about te lck of quality indicators still stands]. I doubt consumers will get a refund for buying a sucky game either.

Microsoft's position has always been that the community is self-policing; current XNA manager Chris Satchell told GamesIndustry that, "When you look at strong communities there is always a core that will work really hard to make sure community standards are maintained... a lot of submitted games do get rejected at first, due to either bugs or rating descriptors being inaccurate."

Making money from your XNA game: The good and not-so-good [Let'sKillDave! via GamesIndustry]

Now, just about anyone can be a game developer — and get paid for it, too. At its Gamefest 2008 event today, Microsoft announced that community games made using its XNA tools will be downloadable via either PC or Xbox 360, and that the creators will get 70 percent of the revenues, as we reported earlier today.

We spoke to game developers' group general manager Chris Satchell about the new community initiative. "We realized there was so much creativity out there in the community," he said. "So many people had great ideas, so we needed to give them a toolset to express themselves… and then we had to give them that worldwide stage where they could show it. And then the final step is, why not let them benefit from it?"

Microsoft saw, Satchell said, that incredible innovation came from viral communities of indie game designers across the web, and hoped to capture some of that community for its users. Satchell hopes that community games will become viral in the same way:

"You'll be able to take the url from the Community Games page and forward to a friend… for the same viral effect you get on the internet and in general, as with movies and music, but with gaming through the service," he said.

So, like YouTube, only where people can be paid for the creations they upload? "Well, I think YouTube... and other film services are all very viral, and sometimes you do searches, but often it’s your friend just sends you a link. Also, what we realize is a lot of people just want to sit down at their computer, and browse and see what's cool and new."

You'll be able to browse community games by genre, and creators can price their work at 200, 400 or 800 Microsoft Points. Additionally, there'll be a front-of-store section that will feature popular or promoted titles, though being front and center comes at a cost — Microsoft will take a marketing fee of anywhere from 10-30 percent for the duration that a title is so visible, but the creator's take goes back up to 70 percent once it's out of the highlight section.

Community games will have a separate storefront from Xbox Live Arcade, but will still be available to the audience of 12 million Xbox Live users. "That's tens of thousands creating games for millions to download," Satchell said. "In some ways, a good way to think about it is using a baseball analogy. Think about the community games... it's really like the minor leagues. Cool new talent, new ideas... and Xbox Live Arcade is the major leagues."

In baseball, often a star minor leaguer catches the eye of a big-league team, and gets plucked out of the minors to bat for the majors. Does Satchell see the potential for standout innovation in community games to catch the eye of big publishers?

"I think that will absolutely happen," he said. "We sort of do that with Dream-Build-Play… but I think that other publishers will obviously be looking. Games that come up will be brilliant... but maybe not fully fleshed out yet, needing more hours of content and more features, but [publishers will say], 'why don’t we go and work with this person or indie studio and help blow it out to a major release,' and so I absolutely think that will happen."

The community games storefront will launch this holiday season, Satchell says, though an official date has yet to be announced. A thriving homebrew scene on a thriving console can only be a good thing for the industry, as high risk and rising budgets limit innovation somewhat among the major publishers, and we look to talented indies for brand-new aesthetics and game mechanics. Bored with this year's E3 slate? Go make your own.

Microsoft Transforms Community Game Developers Into Entrepreneurs

Xbox 360 creates marketplace for user-generated content with Xbox LIVE Community Games.

SEATTLE — July 22, 2008 — During the keynote address today at the Gamefest 2008 Microsoft Game Technology Conference, Microsoft Corp. revealed that it will allow anyone to turn the hobby of game-making into a full-fledged career. Through what is now officially called “Xbox LIVE Community Games,” Microsoft makes its marketplace of millions available to members of the XNA Creators Club to create, sell and share in the profits generated by their unique creations.

Microsoft has already opened up game development to the masses by offering the easy-to-use, affordable XNA Game Studio toolset. With this newly announced business model, Microsoft will have truly democratized game distribution by enabling XNA Creators Club members to participate in the multibillion-dollar-a-year console gaming industry.

Newly appointed to his role as Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business Group Chris Satchell said the business model was designed to create the best possible experience for both consumers and developers. Community games that have been submitted by XNA Creators Club Premium members and have successfully passed a rigorous peer-review system will be added to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace catalog for sale to consumers. Creators will be able to choose from three suggested preset retail price points varying from 200 to 800 Microsoft Points to sell their creations and will receive up to 70 percent of the total revenue generated by their game.

“Not only are we democratizing game development with Xbox LIVE Community Games later this year, but we’re creating an opportunity for aspiring developers to start their careers on the world stage,” Satchell said. “It is really a win for both developers and consumers because this will no doubt act as an incentive for game creators to continue to develop the best, most innovative games for Xbox 360.”

A host of new and creative ideas are already appearing on the Xbox LIVE Community Games beta. When the service launches for consumers this fall, community-created games on Xbox LIVE are expected to double the size of the Xbox 360 video game library, offering some of the most inventive, quirky and unexpected games ever seen on consoles. By the end of 2008, Xbox 360 owners are expected to have access to the largest, most creatively diverse game library across all next-generation platforms, with more than 1,000 titles spanning Community Games, Xbox LIVE Arcade and retail blockbuster titles.

When the bold new Xbox experience, a re-launch of the largest online social network on TV that is fun and approachable, is released late this fall, the Community Games storefront will be an easy-to-use addition to the existing marketplace on Xbox LIVE. The new Community Games channel is currently scheduled to launch in the United States, Canada and select European markets later this year. Other regions will be added over the course of 2009 and beyond. Consumers will also be able to view and rate community games on Xbox.com, watch trailers, and even play a trial of each game before buying it.

“Since first launching XNA Game Studio in 2006, we have been working hard on improving the toolset and building resources for the community, and the response has been amazing. To date, we’ve had more than 1 million downloads of XNA Game Studio and adoption in more than 700 universities,” said Boyd Multerer, general manager of XNA. “For some perspective, the incredible creative community we’ve unleashed worldwide is more than 25 times the number of professional developers in the industry.”

Microsoft also is giving aspiring developers a hand with the second annual Dream-Build-Play game development contest based on XNA Game Studio projects. The competition will yield prizes in excess of $70,000 and an opportunity for one of the winners to sign an Xbox LIVE Arcade publishing contract. Three of last year’s top performers and winners, “The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai,” “Blazing Birds” and “Yo Ho Kablammo!” from the United States, Canada, Sweden and United Kingdom, respectively, are all slated for release on Xbox LIVE Arcade in the near future. For more details and Dream-Build-Play Official Rules, see http://www.dreambuildplay.com/main/Rules.aspx. For more information on XNA Game Studio, head over to http://creators.xna.com.

Prices will be set at 200 MS points for games 50MB and under, with larger games priced at 400 or 800 MS points. Creators will receive 70% of the revenue generated mailed to them via check on a quarterly basis, though Microsoft will be randomly promoting XNA games, for which they will take an extra 10-20% based on traffic generated.

An interesting fact that is pointed out in the FAQ (linked below) is that even big name publishers can submit their games via the Creators Club, meaning a game that might not pass muster with Xbox proper could theoretically make it into the community section. Hit the link below for the full details!

Introducing Xbox LIVE Community Games [XNA Creators Club Online - Thanks Epsicode!]

Microsoft recently showcased the finalists at the 2008 Games For Change event in New York, and Mother Gaia took home the Game Development prize with City Rain, the company announced today. Australia's Team SOAK won the Worldwide Software Design invitational, and Singapore’s Team Trail Blazers won the Embedded Development invitational.

Said Microsoft:

A total of 370 students from 124 teams representing 61 countries and regions competed in the worldwide Imagine Cup finals in nine categories: Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Development, “Project Hoshimi” (Programming Battle), IT Challenge, Algorithm, Photography, Short Film and Interface Design. The student teams were asked to undertake a series of challenges relating to digital media or technology depending on the invitational.

Full announcement and details on the winners after the jump!

Microsoft Announces Imagine Cup 2008 Winners

Students address environmental sustainability with innovative technology; torch passes to Egypt for Imagine Cup 2009.

PARIS — July 8, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the winners of Imagine Cup 2008 at the Musée du Louvre, after a week of intense competition among finalists chosen from a pool of more than 200,000 students from over 100 countries and regions. Celebrating first place, Australia’s Team SOAK won the worldwide Software Design invitational, Singapore’s Team Trail Blazers won the Embedded Development invitational, and Brazil’s Mother Gaia Studio won the Game Development challenge. Imagine Cup, the world’s premier competition for technology students, gives students the chance to unlock their creative genius and build solutions that tackle real-world issues facing society today.

“Imagine Cup provides a forum for students around the world to explore new ways to use the power of software to help address some of the world’s toughest challenges,” said S. Somasegar, senior vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. “The high caliber of the students and their projects is evidence of the high level of innovation seen in the student community today, with a clear potential for real-world impact.”

The software design, embedded development and game development finalist teams created applications, devices and games using the Microsoft platform and Microsoft tools based on the Imagine Cup competition theme “Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment.”

A total of 370 students from 124 teams representing 61 countries and regions competed in the worldwide Imagine Cup finals in nine categories: Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Development, “Project Hoshimi” (Programming Battle), IT Challenge, Algorithm, Photography, Short Film and Interface Design. The student teams were asked to undertake a series of challenges relating to digital media or technology depending on the invitational.

The winners were announced in a gala awards ceremony this afternoon during the Imagine Cup World Festival, a celebration drawing Imagine Cup competitors, mentors and other key attendees. It featured keynote addresses from several dignitaries from around the world. The following are the top three finalists by invitational in finishing order:

Software Design

· First place: Australia — Team SOAK

Team Members: David Burela, Dimaz Pramudya, Ed Hooper, Long Zheng

· Second place: Slovakia — Team Housekeepers

Team Members: Marián Hönsch, Michal Kompan, Jakub Šimko, Dušan Zeleník

· Third place: Hungary — Team DigitalMania

Team Members: Ákos Kapui, Laszló Zöld, Bálint Orosz, Gergely Orosz

Embedded Development

· First place: Singapore — Team Trail Blazers

Team Members: Pinto James Dominic, Shi Ben Yong, Hu Shuhan, Denver Lim

· Second place: TIE

Ireland — Team AcidRain

Team Members: Brian Byrne, Aodhan Coffey, Karl O’Dwyer

China — Team Wings

Team Members: Shibiao Xu, Junjie Li, Zhongjie Wang, Lei Yan

· Third place: Poland — Team Aero@PUT

Team Members: Piotr Kryger, Mikołaj Małaczyński, Jakub Pawłowski, Piotr Slęzak

Game Development

· First place: Brazil — Team Mother Gaia Studio

Team Members: Guilherme Campos, Helena Van Kampen, Rafael F. Costa, Túlio Sória

· Second place: Belgium — Team Drunk Puppy Productions

Team Members: Kenny Deriemaeker, Filip Van Bouwel, Timothy Vanherberghen, Jeroen van Raevels

· Third place: Korea — Team GOMZ

Team Members: Kim Dong Hoon, Kim Ki Hwan, Park Min Kyu

“Project Hoshimi” (Programming Battle)

· First place: Russia — Team Red Devils

Team Members: Ilya Grebnov, Sergei Grebnov

· Second place: China — Team Zephyr

Team Members: Peng Guo, Jiaze Huang

· Third place: Ukraine — Team Dream Team

Team Members: Pavlo Liapota, Margaryta Skrypachova

IT Challenge

· First place: France — Jean-Benoit Paux

· Second place: Romania — Cosmin-Viorel Ilie

· Third place: China — Yan Liu

Algorithm

· First place: Ukraine — Roman Koshlyak

· Second place: Hungary — Szilveszter Szebeni

· Third place: Japan — Naohiro Takahashi

Photography

· First place: United States — Team Provisio

Team Members: Jennifer Hui, Melissa Hui

· Second place: Austria — Team Austria

Team Members: Rosa Maria Binder, Benedikt Wurth

· Third place: Croatia — Team Voodoo Delirum

Team Members: Duje Nebojša Pandžić, Martin Štokić

Short Film

· First place: Korea — Team NEIP

Team Members: Il Jin Joung, Seong Ran An, Yeun Jun Choo, Sung Wook Lee

· Second place: Mexico — Team Lava Lamp

Team Members: Grace Montoya, Aldo Murillo

· Third place: Canada — Robotree

Team Members: Drake Birmann, Ryan Morrison, Media Ridha, Dan Tran

Interface Design

· First place: United States — Team IU EcoVis

Team Member: David Roedl, William Odom

· Second place: Canada — TeamGreeNet

Team Members: Jin Fan, Kevin Muise

· Third place: France — Team Edelweiss

Team Members: Johanna Rowe, Steven Muhr

In addition to the category awards, five Achievement Awards were presented.

· The Rural Innovation Achievement Award, sponsored by Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Group, is designed to recognize the software solution that contributes toward a more sustainable environment and best helps promote the social and economic growth of underserved populations in developing countries and regions and best helps them better meet their basic needs. It was won by Indonesia’s Antarmuka: Arief Widhiyasa, Dimas Yusuf Danurwenda, Ella Madanella Dwi Mustika and Erga Ghaniya.

· The Accessible Technology Achievement Award, designed to recognize the interface design solution that makes it easier for anyone to see, hear and use a computer, and to customize their computing environment according to their own preferences, needs and abilities, was won by Jeffrey Bigham, a Ph.D. candidate in computer science from the University of Washington, United States, for Project WebAnywhere. An additional onsite challenge was won by France’s Team JivAd: Jivane Rajabaly and Adrien Ossorguine.

· The Interoperability Achievement Award, designed to recognize the software solution that best leverages Microsoft technologies to connect people, data or diverse systems to help address real-world customer needs, was won by India’s Team SKAN: Sameet Singh Khajuria, Karun AB, Amith George, Noel Sequeira.

· The Windows Live Achievement Award, designed to recognize the software solution that makes the best use of the Windows Live platform and adds new social dimensions to both new and old Web sites and Web projects, was won by Spain’s Windows Drive: Carlos Junquera Cachero, David Rodriguez, Héctor Juan and Miguel Llopis.

· The Engineering Excellence Achievement Award, sponsored by Microsoft’s Enterprise Engineering Center, is designed to recognize three outstanding teams from the Software Development category that have created solutions that demonstrate the potential to be developed to scale with focused guidance from a Microsoft engineer, was won by the following:

o Bulgaria — Team Atlas

Team Members: Boryana Miloshevska, Dobromira Ivanova, Martin Damyanov, Yordan Pavlov

o USA — Team Sparx

Team Members: Adam Risi, Zachery Shivers, Ziyan Zhou

o Russia — Team Ignition

Team Members: Anatoly Nikitin, Roman Belov, Daria Elkina

Furthermore, six finalist teams will have the opportunity to explore how their software solutions could potentially turn into business realities. The teams will receive intense business and technology training as part of the Imagine Cup Innovation Accelerator program, co-sponsored by Microsoft and British Telecommunications plc (BT).

“The creativity demonstrated by the competitors this year has shown that tomorrow’s technology leaders are ready to apply their solutions to real-world issues,” said Joe Black, director of Business Development for Emerging Technologies, BT. “The Imagine Cup Innovation Accelerator is an exceptional opportunity for young developers to explore the entrepreneurial possibilities of their software solutions. We are excited to offer our encouragement, guidance, and support to these talented students through comprehensive training sessions to help students bring their ideas to fruition.”

The six teams chosen to participate in the Imagine Cup Innovation Accelerator program are the following:

· Australia — Team SOAK (Smart Operational Agricultural toolKit)

Team members: David Burela, Dimaz Pramudya, Ed Hooper, Long Zheng

· France — Team Well K’Home

Team Members: Regis Hanol, Gauthier Chanliau, Sebastien Warin, Jean-Noel Gauthier

· Germany — Team PoinT-Power in Time

Team Members: Daniel Franke, Jörn Schindler, Vasilios Filippidis, Axel Ernst

· Hungary — Team Digital Mania

Team Members: Ákos Kapui, Laszló Zöld, Bálint Orosz, Gergely Orosz

· Slovakia — Team Housekeepers

Team Members: Marián Hönsch, Michal Kompan, Jakub Šimko, Dušan Zeleník

· South Africa — Team Smile

Team Members: Devin de Vries, Christopher King, Nabeel Nazeer, Nadeem Isaacs

Imagine Cup 2009 will be held in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt. The theme will be “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today.” Students will be asked to create software solutions that are aligned to one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The eight MDGs range from halving extreme poverty and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS to providing universal primary education. More information about the MDGs can be found at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals.

Registrations for Imagine Cup 2009 open today, July 8, 2008. More information about Imagine Cup can be found at http://www.imaginecup.com.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

"We have social causes we care about, but we don't have the means to connect with people who can do something about them. We're not there, but its a world that's possible to see unless actvities like we're doing here today really gain some momentum."

Satchell was at the 2008 annual Games For Change festival, discussing the ways Microsoft hopes its XNA development platform will help provide creative activists and educators the tools and opportunities to connect with the young, energetic audience passionate about new media and world issues.

"People will base their lives around gaming experiences; gaming experiences will permeate their lives," he said, stressing just how important it was for the culture to recognize games as agents of genuine social impact.

So what is Microsoft doing?

"We can't solve everything, and won't even try. But what Microsoft can do is can help with a couple of key issues," Satchell said. Creativity struggles to reach the masses, he said, because it takes a long time for a single idea to make it all the way to the top of the industry.

Instead, he said, "We took everything we knew about professional tools and put it in a free product, and made it easy to use."

Social change games need to be built on the same console that people are playing games on already, he said. XNA is "not a silver bullet by any means - it's just one tool they have now to teach sciences or to teach the science of gaming."

Last year Microsoft announced its Imagine Cup competition, challenging users to submit XNA-built games around the theme of environmental sustainability. Over100 submissions were received from 60 different countries, and the winner will be chosen during the finals in Paris later this year.

And at Microsoft's XNA Creators' Club, people can submit new creations or mod existing ones, and then the community moderates and reviews the material.

"You can have a great game that is fun but says something social," said Satchell.

The news sounds worse for Microsoft than Gamestop, though. It's 5,000 fewer stores through which Microsoft can grow sales of the Zune, and it whacks a natural cross-sell to Xbox gamers — who in the future might get exposed to XNA games on their console, and be interested in a portable device that plays them.

If you want a Zune, this really doesn't affect you. There's any number of big box retailers and online stores that can deliver it today or overnight. But long-term, it does speak to the health and adoption of the device and, ultimately, decisions that put features and content on yours.

GameStop to Stop Zune Sales [theStreet.com]

Announcing: Community Games on Xbox LIVE Beta [XNA Team Blog]

Earlier this year at GDC, we got to check out a little preview of what Zune XNA gaming might look like — check here for a refresher, and check here for what we've learned on how multiplayer might go down.

One of the things we talked about was the network play, and we've had people doing prototypes internally of multiplayer shoot-'em-ups both in versus and co-op.

I'm really looking forward to people using their networking ability to use peer-to-peer games...I'm sure we're going to see some peer-to-peer race games, kart-style games - those are going to be fun.

I think there's a potential risk on any platform where you're allowing...where you're running in what we call native mode, where you're writing straight to the metal, not a sandbox layer like XNA, and then that runs a script engine and you let people do that in that script engine.

Any platform that let's you do that, and doesn't have the right security measures in place - whether it's Sony, whether it's Nintendo, whether it's Apple, whether it's anyone - you're inviting trouble, because sooner or later someone will want to prove they can do it.

Eurogamer has a much longer interview with Satchell if you hit the link.

Microsoft's Chris Satchell [Eurogamer via DCEumu]

Being a contest, there were winners, with five titles singled out for praise from the 19 on show. The overall winner was the Okami-digging-minigame-looking puzzler Yamakake (pictured above), with other notable titles being gorgeous shooter Mazer Mayhem (pictured top) and mech combat game Armored Strider (below).

アマチュアクリエーターのアイデアと想像力が結実した"XNA Game Studio Japan 2008 Spring Contest"の授賞式が開催[Famitsu]

[Thanks, Epsicode]

DreamSpark is simple, it's all about giving students Microsoft professional-level developer and design tools at no charge so you can chase your dreams and create the next big breakthrough in technology - or just get a head start on your career.

Who can get this right now?

We are kicking this off in 11 countries/regions, giving DreamSpark to millions of students in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Germany, France, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium. If you are not residing in one of the countries listed keep checking back, we will be adding more countries throughout the year.

There's more information over at the DreamSpark website, plus you can find out if you're eligible and all that good stuff.

The Zune's touchpad will hopefully make for a decent controller, but we haven't gone hands on with it yet. Graphically, Zauri, the only game demoed via video, was simple in nature, but the addition of music library support could make for interesting shooter gameplay.

Using a peer review system to filter out copyright infringement and objectionable content, Microsoft plans to put game development and initial approval into the hands of its Xbox Live community, not to mention money into the hands of homebrew developers.

Satchell showed off a half-dozen titles that are planned for the service. Starting today, Live members can go to XBLM free trial downloads of games like Little Gamers, Dishwasher and Jellycar,

Oh Microsoft! That console prankster!

Conquerator
I won't tease you with my favorite pick. In my humble opinion, Conquerator (no, it's not some new Gawker blog) was simply the most fun of the finalists. Essentially Risk on crack, you drop new troops anywhere on the board in a real time battle against your opponent. But the game is so fast, the mere seconds it takes for your troop stock to reach its destination feel like an eternity. As you send troops to attack adjacent territories to vanquish your enemy—only to see a new wave of troops appear slyly across the map—you wonder why we haven't seen this fast-paced bastardization of Risk yet.

iSheep
Remember that herding game from Twilight Princess? This is similar. You are a dog that herds sheep against a time limit into a pen. iSheep's 3D design complete with controllable camera may indeed make it the most technically ambitious of the finalists, but I've just never been attracted to a vocation in herding (though Babe was an excellent film, nonetheless).

Specimen
Specimen wasn't the most fun game of the five Dream-Build-Play winners, but it wins hands-down for simple ingenuity. You are a scientist trying to figure out the nature of three different organisms (represented by red, blue and green blobs). By attempting to breed the specimens (through placing them in close proximity with tweezers), there's a lot one can learn about these seemingly dull organisms (like which are girls, etc). I'm not sure that the game will set the world on fire, but it presents fascinating mechanic that just needs more exploration.

Hive
Hive, like Conquerator, is a real time map-control strategy title. But Hive simplifies the idea of the map and focuses more on balancing three types of bugs to expand your colony (defensive, attackers and harvesters) and pretty much letting the game play itself from there. Your bugs will go about their way while you coax them (via cursor) to fulfill the particular occupation you most need. The idea is actually a bit enjoyable in its unabashed celebration of lack of control, but were the game to become bigger, I think it'd only grow frustrating.

Orblast
I'll admit it—I really phoned in my impressions with Orblast. Too impatient for the tutorial, I was a little lost while moving my marble-type-object through a dark maze to find power-ups and avoid the bigger, faster, meaner marble-type-objects that loved to kill me (apparently those enemies can be trained to do your bidding, but I missed this entirely). But what really limited my interest here was the generic tactile experience. When I roll a ball, I want it to feel like a ball (allowing me to, say, sense a real momentum). While none of the XNA games had that physics and animation polish we've all come to expect in Xbox LIVE Arcade or even Flash titles, this game is one that I thought suffered most from said lack.

Truth be told, however, these XNA titles are, maybe as a product of their more closed development nature, lacking in comparison to many of their Flash-based web counterparts.

Dream-Build-Play Finalists [microsoft]

So what's behind the curtain? Expect our best guess about what the company will be announcing for Live in just a bit.

One of the winners of Microsoft's Dream-Build-Play competition, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai will be making its way to an Xbox Live Arcade near you in the coming months. This XNA Game Studio Express hallmark was the fruit of James Silva's labor, a stylish, two dimensional action shooter with all the right shoot 'em up standards.

Thanks for the heads, up Epsilon!

"We truly believe that if you and a friend spend two minutes playing Schizoid, you are going to ignore food, drink, your job and your family and play until they load you up on a gurney and head to the hospital. Schizoid is that rare game that comes along once every few years and we are very proud to make it our first release for Xbox LIVE Arcade."

So it's World of Warcraft? Well not quite.

The mechanic is deceptively simple. One player is red, the other is blue. Enemies matching your color can be destroyed by you hitting them, yet enemies of other colors can kill you. Teamwork is the key to survival in Schizoid, taking co-op to a whole new level. Both players have to be on the ball to survive. It should be an excellent opportunity to call your friends 'fuckwads," which is important to any friendship.

PREPARE TO GO SCHIZOID™! TORPEX GAMES DEBUTS SCHIZOID™ FOR Xbox LIVE® Arcade AT MICROSOFT'S GAMEFEST 2007

Schizoid is First Xbox LIVE Arcade Title Built Using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express

BELLEVUE, Wash. - August 13, 2007 - The next game genre is here! Torpex
Games, a developer and publisher of addictive console games, announced
today the upcoming release of Schizoid™ for Xbox LIVE® Arcade and will
showcase the game during Microsoft's GameFest 2007. Possibly the
ultimate co-op game, Schizoid is an action game where teamwork equals
survival and players must team up to protect each other from a seemingly
endless stream of glowing enemies. Schizoid will be the first-ever Xbox
LIVE Arcade title built using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express, and
is anticipated to be released before the end of 2007.

"Every few years a game will come out that is so simple, yet so
addictive that it becomes a phenomenon unto itself," says Bill Dugan,
Torpex Games' President. "We truly believe that if you and a friend
spend two minutes playing Schizoid, you are going to ignore food, drink,
your job and your family and play until they load you up on a gurney and
head to the hospital. Schizoid is that rare game that comes along once
every few years and we are very proud to make it our first release for
Xbox LIVE Arcade."

Featuring addictively simple gameplay, in Schizoid one person plays
'red' and the other plays 'blue'. Each player moves his ship around the
level as a seemingly endless stream of enemies attack. Each player can
burst enemies of their own color merely through contact, but each player
can be bursted by enemies of the other color. Both players have to
"step up" on every level to handle the enemies of their own color, so
their partner is not destroyed.

"There are literally thousands of games released every year and yet very
few of them have the originality of Schizoid. It's amazing to me that
this game hasn't been invented before now," says Dave Mitchell,
Microsoft's Director of Marketing for XNA. "Schizoid demonstrates that
developers can really unleash an ingenious game with XNA Game Studio
Express."

Bryan Trussel, Microsoft's Director of Platform Game Services, added,
"Schizoid combines a very fun and innovative game mechanic with really
creative level design. Thanks to its cooperative game-play experience
and variety of scenarios, Schizoid is a great game to play with friends,
either on the couch or over Xbox Live. We're delighted to exclusively
add this creative and unique game to our incredible Xbox LIVE Arcade
library."

The other big improvement is that all users will be able to connect to LIVE with full matchmaking and voice chat support. Both moves seem positive for the development platform, with a strategy not unlike that used for quite some time in graphics development software.

Microsoft reveals XNA Game Studio Express 2.0 [develop]

It is heartening to see that the concept of corporate responsibility can, at time, ooze over into the gaming industry.

At today's 2007 Games for Change Festival Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge, a year-long game design competition for college students around the world aimed at tackling important issues through gaming.

For this first competition student developer groups will work on creating a game based on global warming using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express software. The competition's three finalists will receive "financial compensation for education" and the winners of the competition will land an internship at Microsoft Game Studios, Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, told me in a recent interview. He added that the final games could end up appearing on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade, Games for Windows Live Arcade or MSN Arcade, but that a final decision had yet to be made.

Bell said Microsoft officials had originally debating having several categories for this competition, ones that could explore such diverse topics as social conflict, world hunger and other global issues, but felt that the recent successes of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth had made the topic of global warming particularly timely and one that often spurs passionate debate.

"We have no forgone conclusions about the approach or conclusions (the games) will make," he said. "What we really want to do is to use the vehicle of games as a way to increase education and information and engagement on the part of all different constituents."

While the competition will include more than 100 universities worldwide, Bell said they did not yet know how many teams from each university would participate. The competition will kick off in August and run through next spring, with the winners being announced at an event in Paris in August, 2008, he said.

Bell said Microsoft decided to create this competition in part out of a sense of being a good corporate citizen.

"The gaming industry is clearly a large and profitable industry," he said. "We also want to try and promote the exploration of new genres and titles."

I hope Nintendo and Sony take that as a challenge. Brian Crecente

As for the games they demoed, there was Boom Boom Rocket (a DDR game for your fingers), Jetpac Refuelled (remake of Jetpac), and 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures (imagine Tiger Woods if he were high and eight). All of them were builds, but should be released some time this year.

Although Microsoft's been touting the XBLA as a great platform for independent developers and small-time guys to get their game out there, the average lifecycle of 6 to 9 months and the strict approval process could still be prohibitive. However, XNA's developers kit lets one guy create an actual Xbox 360/XBLA-quality game in 8 weeks. They're even going to release these XNA games' source code, tutorials, and various other assets into the community to help others.

If the games are "good enough", Microsoft's plucking them out of the XNA fray and working with the developers to make them into actual Xbox Live Arcade games. An example is the game they showed three slides of.

There's a "YouTube for games" that Microsoft is working on to develop and share XNA games, which should be out "when it's done".

As for Vista, Games for Windows Live is going to launch a bunch of XBLA games tomorrow (Wednesday). So far it's Halo 2 Vista and Shadowrun. Jason Chen

Fristrom had been trying various coding tools to try and come up with a game prototype for their new company, but found that many of the common tools available were too unwieldy or too difficult to allow him to quickly get something up and running. Finally he turned to C#, which is the langauge used in XNA, and within four days had a working prototype built.

These weren't four gamer days either. These were four real person days, which include eating, sleeping, taking a moment to check out what's on TV, etc. Granted, as Dugan pointed out during our meeting, Jamie Fristrom is a stud, but four days to a functional prototype is pretty spectuacular no matter who you are.

Fristrom figured they would have to take the C# code and port it over to something a bit more professional, but that's where XNA came in. With the code already in the correct format, XNA was simply the most logical and cost-effective choice for a small startup development studio finding their stride. While most big devs have to spend upwards of $15,000 or more per person for all the tools needed to create a title, XNA development costs next to nothing in comparison.

Fristrom likes to practice agile development, where instead of mapping out exactly what you want in the game and then implementing, you instead start the implementation and tweak it until it feels right. It's how he arrived at with the perfect swinging system in Spiderman 2, so the results speak for themselves. With XNA they can quickly tweak ideas, behavoirs, etc., meaning that when a revision is needed it came be performed not only quicker, but with less potential code screwup than programming in other languages.

Now Torpex Games is planning to release their new game, Schizoid, via Xbox Live by the end of the year. Overall development has been a mere two months, a fraction of what it might have taken them using more expensive tools. While the XNA team has provided them with special tools to incorporate Xbox Live hooks into the game such as leaderboards and online play, the rest of the game is purely a product of the XNA Studio toolset.

As to what exactly Schizoid is...well that remains a little fuzzy to me. What I saw was a balck backdrop where crafts very reminiscent of the critters from Flow manuevered about, and there were explosions. It looked rather beautiful, and I will be following up with Torpex as more information becomes available.

While I will touch a bit more on the potential of XNA to the development community later in the week, I thought it was quite interesting to see two great industry veterans embracing the technology that up until recently I attributed mainly with homebrew hobbists and weekend coders. Apparently you can teach old dogs new tricks, and Torpex is living proof. Michael Fahey

Hi - a good friend of mine has managed to get this working on XNA.... He's still got a bit to do but I thought I'd tip you before the other sites get wind of it! Sound is a problem at the moment due to the way XNA works (maybe this will change in the future).

Earlier this week Microsoft opened the gates to indie development on the Xbox 360 with the launch of the XNA Creator's Club.

While the free Game Studio Express development tool first hit the Internet in August, the key to getting games developed for the 360 onto the actual console didn't hit until this week with the launch of the club.

The club allows designers to push their games to the Xbox 360 and download free tutorials and starter kits to help them along the way.

I had a chance to speak with Chris Satchell, general manager of Microsoft's Game Developer's Group, about Microsoft's plans for buying user-created games and mods, Nintendo and Sony's version of the service and what this means for the Independent Games Festival.

Satchell explained that the club will come with access to a lot more than just the ability to test yours and other's games. You will also get access to forums, tutorials and even game development starter kits.

" We had this idea for starter kits," Satchell said. "Let's say you want to build a racing game but don't want to start from scratch, you can download a racing starter kit and mod it for yourself. It's lowering the barriers to making your own games."

But won't this, I asked, lead to a stream of cookie-cutter games, each based on these modular starter kits? Isn't that the exact opposite of what Microsoft is trying to do with the Creator's Club?

"I don't think it will stifle creativity at all," he said. "It will get more people started in it."

"Maybe their first game won't be groundbreaking, but it will get them into game design. Every time we see a roadblock we try to remove it."

Another thing that could help stoke interest in the development tools and creator's club is news that starting in January Microsoft will host a contest to find the best game created using the Game Studio Express.

But what the announcement doesn't say is what the developer will get out of having his or her game placed on Xbox Live.

Satchell said that's something they're still trying to work out.

"We still haven't announced how that side of it will work," he said. "What we will do, we will take the best entry and work with them to get their game on Xbox Live."

While I love the concept of the Creator's Club, I think the biggest hurdle it faces is making sure that the work budding developers put into a game is rewarded in a meaningful way.

I don't think it would be a very positive experience to create the next Geometry Wars and be rewarded with a handshake or free Xbox 360.

Satchell said his team understands that concern.

"We want to make (budding developers) successful," he said. "We aren't talking yet about details on the financial side, how we can get some revenue and flow it back to the creator."

One possibility, of course, is that third-party publishers could get involved, Satchell said. It's something that is, it seems, integral to Microsoft's plan for the service.

Satchell was as full of analogies as he was exuberance for the new service. He likened the service to Project Greenlight, Live Arcade to premium cable TV and the Creator's Club creations to the stuff that pops up on YouTube.

"What we are working on next year is creating the YouTube of games," he said. "We need to figure out how people who aren't in the development community, aren't in the Creator's Club, can get to these games."

"We need to create the community arcade. Give people tools so they can communicate on it."

But before they can open the floodgates to all of that original content, Microsoft has to figure out a way to allow people to sort through what will likely be a wealth of information. They will also have to figure out a way to make sure they can maintain security on the system while allowing for this free flow of user created content.

"Those are a lot of the problems we need to solve to allow effective sharing," he said. "Not only are we learning on the technical sides, but we are also learning how do you let people search a lot of content."

Once those problems are solved and user created games are available on Live, why not other user created content, like mods?

"At a platform level, I think modding could be interesting on the 360," Satchell said. "Certainly a technology like Game Studio Express points the way. So I think its interesting idea."

Developers too, it seems, are interested in the potential and possibilities of the new development tools, and not just for headhunting.

Some developers, Satchell said, like the idea of creating quick, easy, fun games using the tools, instead of just working on a game for a year with a team.

Even famed UK developer Peter Molyneux seems caught up in the excitement. He plans to make an appearance in the UK this week to talk about the development kit and its potential.

And in a few years, Satchell thinks that some of the games created using their tools could become the stuff of Independent Games Festival entries.

"It will be really interesting to work with the IGF in the future," he said.

While Microsoft was certainly the first out of the gate with this idea, they weren't the last. Both Sony and Nintendo have announced similar plans.

But Satchell says he isn't worried because neither Sony nor Nintendo have the same level of experience creating development tools.

"I think they are going to be really challenged to do it," he said. "From everything I hear from developers, I'd say (Sony and Nintendo) struggle to make compelling development environments for professional studios let alone for hobbyists and students."

For this to work, Satchell says, the development tools need to be easy and compelling.

"That's part of what we are good at doing, making great development tools,' he said. "I'm not too worried about our competitors' ability to produce that."

The XNA Creators Club went live today, allowing subscribers access to thousands of game assets, support and the ability to actually play the games you create using Game Studio Express on your Xbox 360.

The development software is free, but an annual subscription is $99, while a four-month subscription will cost you $49.

"The XNA Creators Club is really the first of its kind — an opportunity to join a community of other developers who are empowered to bring their game ideas to life on a next-generation console system," said Chris Satchell, general manager of the Game Developer Group at Microsoft. "When it comes to encouraging development on XNA Game Studio Express and through the XNA Creators Club, the limits are truly endless. What users will see today is just the beginning of the plans we have to revolutionize game development one creative game idea at a time."

I think the XNA Creator's Club could be the most significant development in console gaming this generation, though a lot of the potential will depend on how Microsoft handles the rights and distribution of games developed using their tools.

Your World. Your Game.

With today's release of Microsoft(R) XNA(TM) Game Studio Express and the launch of the XNA Creators Club, this phrase has never been more true. Based on the easy-to-use Visual C#(R) 2005 Express Edition and Microsoft .NET
Compact Framework, XNA Game Studio Express opens up the world of game development to the masses and is now available for free to anyone with a Windows(R) XP-based PC at http://www.msdn.com/XNA . With the release of XNA Game Studio Express, Microsoft Corp. unveiled the XNA Creators Club, opening up video game development to untapped creative minds, enabling anyone to affordably build and play amazing game ideas on Xbox 360 systems for the first time ever.
The XNA Creators Club is available on Xbox Live(R) Marketplace for $49 (U.S.) for a four-month subscription, or $99 (U.S.) for an annual subscription. Both subscriptions provide aspiring game developers with access to thousands of game assets from Microsoft and key supporters such as Turbo Squid Inc., as well as white papers, specialized starter kits, samples and technical product support to help turn Your World, Your Game into a reality.
"The XNA Creators Club is really the first of its kind — an opportunity to join a community of other developers who are empowered to bring their game ideas to life on a next-generation console system," said Chris Satchell,
general manager of the Game Developer Group at Microsoft. "When it comes to encouraging development on XNA Game Studio Express and through the XNA Creators Club, the limits are truly endless. What users will see today is just the beginning of the plans we have to revolutionize game development one creative game idea at a time."
In addition, to celebrate the worldwide launch of XNA Game Studio Express, the "Dream-Build-Play" contest will be open to XNA Game Studio Express customers on Windows as well as those on Xbox 360 through the XNA Creators Club membership. The contest offers the opportunity for the community to showcase its innovation and talent to the world, culminating in the incredible chance for the winner's game to be published on Xbox Live Arcade, the premier source for downloadable independent, retro and original games. The "Dream-Build-Play" contest will be launched in January. Additional contest details will be available at http://www.dreambuildplay.com .
"Xbox Live Arcade has opened up a wealth of new publishing opportunities for established and independent developers alike, so it made perfect sense to also extend this privilege to hobbyists and amateur programmers," said Greg Canessa, group manager of Xbox Live Arcade at Microsoft. "We have a tremendous
opportunity to shine the spotlight on up-and-coming talent through the 'Dream-Build-Play' contest, and we can't wait to share their creativity with our gaming community around the world."
To coincide with the release of XNA Game Studio Express, XNA supporter GarageGames has launched an open beta for its Torque X platform, including Torque Game Builder. Based on the XNA Framework, the easy-to-use Torque X tools bring drag-and-drop game development to Windows and Xbox 360. Final availability of the Torque X platform is scheduled for early 2007.

We managed to capture a bit of video of this neat looking Xbox 360 community game developed using the XNA development kit. Brian Crecente

The platform, which makes it easier for developers and hobbyists to build games and integrate their 3D content into Windows and Xbox 360 titles, is free, as are the additional software prerequisites. So what the hell are you waiting for? Why aren't you downloading this crap pronto? Oh, you say you want to read some corporate communication first? Okay.

Check out the full press release after the jump, with links to the download and FAQ pages.

Microsoft Kicks it Up Another Notch with XNA Game Studio Express Beta

Upgraded software toolset available as a free download today offers highly sought features that make game design even easier.

Microsoft today released the second major iteration of its XNA Game Studio Express beta, upgraded with full functionality for Windows and third party toolset support, allowing hobbyists, academics and independent game developers to more easily integrate game content into their creations. The pioneering technology has already opened the doors of game development to numerous audiences, and promises to ratchet up indie game development yet another notch with an expanded set of features.

Whether you've been tinkering for just a short time with XNA Game Studio Express or are completely new to the software, today's update maintains Microsoft's goal to empower the masses through offering easy-to-use and affordable tools enabling them to bring their creativity to life by offering:

* The addition of XNA Framework Content Pipeline, a feature set that makes it simpler and more straightforward for game developers to use 2D and 3D content in their game projects from third party digital content creation packages like Autodesk 3ds Max , Autodesk Maya and SOFTIMAGE |XSI .
* New content importers for .X and Autodesk FBX 3D asset format in partnership with Autodesk.
* Xbox 360 project system gives game developers the ability to preview game design specifically for the Xbox 360 and pre-compile games starting today, giving developers a head start in preparing their games for the XNA Creators Club availability in December.
* Improved game component architecture updated with a simpler design, adding increased usability based on community feedback.
* Overall performance improvements and optimizations - XNA Game Studio Express Beta 2 is a near final version of the tool.

In addition, the release of XNA Game Studio Express Beta 2 is occurring simultaneously today with a closed beta of GarageGames' Torque X, a toolset designed specifically for XNA Game Studio Express that combines Torque Game Builder, Torque Game Engine and Torque Shader Engine into one package on top of the XNA platform, giving even non-programmers a great set of tools and technology to easily create games using drag-n-drop interfaces. More information on the Torque X beta can be found on the GarageGames website at http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque/x/.

On top of these improved and added features, XNA Game Studio Express continues to gather a following among academics and hobbyists. The list of leading universities adopting XNA Game Studio Express into their curricula has grown to more than 30 worldwide. There have been 150,000 downloads of XNA Game Studio Express Beta 1, over 30 new XNA communities launched, 100 user generated tutorials shared online and more than 60 independent games already in development or completed.

The latest major adopter of XNA Game Studios Express is Giant Campus, a major provider of technology training, consulting, and staffing services to youth and education markets, the U.S. Armed Forces and the federal government. They will be featuring XNA Game Studio Express in their game design curriculum to be made available next summer.

Enthusiast game creators can download the updated software today from http://msdn.com/xna to develop games for Windows, at no charge. Furthermore, games built using Windows can be migrated to Xbox 360 console systems when the final version of XNA Game Studio Express is released. The XNA Creators Club membership will launch simultaneously with XNA Game Studio Express and be available for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace. The XNA Creators Club membership allows users to develop and play XNA Framework games on their Xbox 360 consoles and gives access to exclusive content to make developing games quicker and easier. A one year membership is available for $99 USD and a four-month trial is available for $49 USD.

Look for the final version of XNA Game Studio Express to go live on December 11 of this year, with XNA Game Studio Professional available in summer of 2007.

###

Download XNA Game Studio Express Beta 2 and read the FAQ while you wait! Michael McWhertor

Max Console managed to grab three screenshots showing off what looks to be some rather modest changes to the Xbox 360 dashboard come this fall.

The dashboard update, which they say hits in November, appears to include a new tab for XNA games as well as graphics for some of the marketplace tabs. Brian Crecente

EXCLUSIVE: Preview of Upcoming Xbox 360 Dashboard Update, Ready to Battle PS3! [Max Console]

Always wanted to make an impromptu vertical SHMUP but didn't have the skills? Microsoft's cookie-cutter XNA Game Studio Express is now available to play with, in beta form.

XNA Game Studio Express enables individuals and small teams to more easily create video games using new, optimized cross-platform gaming libraries for Windows and Xbox 360. This beta release targets the development of games for Windows. The final version of XNA Game Studio Express will be available this holiday season and will enable development of games which target Windows and upon purchase of a XNA Creators Club subscription, the Xbox 360 as well.

First person who can create a compelling game featuring Eliza eating her entire weight in deep-fried mayonnaise gets a no-prize. Florian Eckhardt

Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express (Beta) [Download Page]

The flotsam and jetsam of the Microsoft press conference in Leipzig:

• In an effort to expand the 360's market share in Europe, Microsoft will be launching the 360 in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia on November 3rd. Oh, Microsoft... what gray, war-torn ex-Soviet satellite will you take on next?

• XNA Curriculum courses are coming to Europe, just like the ten American universities that will be freakishly teaching it in courses on campus. Three of the schools are in the UK, and include Hull and Nottingham. The other two are in Germany, including the University of Munich and the University of Kulsruhe.

• Speaking of XNA, the XNA Game Studio looks very neat. Chris Satchell, General Manager of Microsoft's Game Developer Group, made a simple vertical SHMUP in about thirty seconds during the presser: he simply dropped in a background, a plane and some tanks, then started playing. Of course, that level of ease has to be the lowest level of the studio software, based off a standard SHMUP template. Otherwise, why would anyone pay $99 bucks to play games this simple? Florian Eckhardt

Crecente got on the intercom a few weeks ago and spluttered out something about Gamefest, a Windows-based gamedev conference happening in the Seattle quadrant.

"Get me a picture of Spiderman by the end of the day or you're fired!" he screamed, and hung up.

Crumbs, chief. This Fest of Games, as it is colloquially known, was particularly appealing to our rugged editor primarily for Microsoft's Monday-morning keynote speech, or so we thought.

During my Sunday-night preparations for the reportage of the "fresh haps" announced in this keynote, the continuous dot-matrix skreel from my Magical Feed Machine increased to an eardrum-leaking pitch: the big announcement had been made already, possibly over post-prandial bacon cupcakes at the pre-event dinner.

A new service/development solution for indie devs called XNA Game Studio Express. And what was worse, full reports of the thing were already propagating rapidly across all channels. Fuck! My feature story!

Talking on the eve of its Gamefest event in Seattle, Microsoft has revealed XNA Game Studio Express, a new product which will allow indie developers and students to develop simultaneously on Xbox 360 and PC, and share their games to others in a new Xbox 360 'Creators Club'.

The details of the new tech are as follows: XNA Game Studio Express will be available for free to anyone with a Windows XP-based PC, and will provide them with what's described as "Microsoft's next-generation platform for game development." In addition, by joining a "creators club" for an annual subscription fee of $99, users will be able to build, test and share their games on Xbox 360, as well as access a wealth of materials to help speed the game development progress.

Beleaguered by disappointment, the ghost of my snuffed feature trailing behind me like stink, I drove my Rascal down to the Washington Convention and Trade Center at dawn and prepared to listen to the keynote anyway.

Second gallery and even more text after the jump.

Since the specifics are available in far better detail elsewhere, I will give you my impressions of the presentation and the impressions I gleaned from other attendees.

Overall, it's immensely pleasing that such an apparently powerful tool is being provided for, nay, targeted at the wee developers. The example of "three guys in college" was used relentlessly.

However, as with all bar-lowering applications, this is going to let in more riffraff than talent. A quick glance at NewGrounds will tell you that any "community" of this type has to exist in a crippled state, dragged down by the lowest common denominator. The reward is that out of all this creeping muck, one or two truly incredible gems may surface and redeem the whole business. We'll see.

As an aside, one of the games used to demo the cross-platform capabilities, however, was Shadowrun. The room almost audibly groaned when the footage started to run. I talked later to several people about the game's massive failure to be at all interesting. Most of them had been drinking, and got visibly upset when the word "Shadowrun" was spoken aloud. That thing does not deserve the bear that skully logo.

After availing myself of the breakfast buffet leftovers, and then quelling the resulting gut pain with hardcore tea, I sat down in one of the sunny indoor patios and made some notes. A well-dressed group next to me leaned over and provided me with a printed invitation to the LucasArts pre-party, which I accepted graciously.

I arrived fashionably too late, and they were clearing away the piles of fruit and cheese already. This proved to be a theme: Eliza shows up, staff removes food. The Lucas soiree was held in a bar called Chapel, which is in what legend tells us was the city morgue. Sparingly decorated in cream and brown, with a playfully hand-lettered sign out front, the whole deal was extremely classy without being stodgy. As I had spent most of the night playing Sam and Max Hit the Road, this little get-together cemented my good Lucasy good feelings.

It was but a short taxi to SoDo for the big Microsoft party. I started laughing maniacally as soon as I got inside. Immediately greeting all arrivals was a fenced paddock filled with Segways. Backlit by spotlights, the tiny orange safety cones casting long shadows, gleeful geeks glided along the concrete. Some were actually wearing helmets.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what it looks like when geeks party hard. That braying voice you hear at the end is one of the bizarre characters walking around the place, presumably performing the same function as birthday clowns. I mean, I hope Microsoft hired this guy. You can see him in the second gallery below; he's the one with all the toothbrushes.

And this is what it looks like when doves cry: the White Boy Dance as seen in the wild.

A live band flanked by projection screens and honeycomb-motif standups provided the soundtrack while the finest in spray-tan go go girls shuffled and jiggled on lit boxes. The band was called Beehive, and did a fine job of rocking the joint. I spotted more than a couple attendees actually waving to the dancers. To what end, I'm at a loss to speculate.

I found the buffet as it was being carted off, got in the Segway line as they told everyone there would be no more Segwaying that night, and played Prey until the 360 I was on choked and died. My audience laughed and said it never would have happened if Joystiq had been playing.

I started to cry, and ran out. Eliza Gauger

Even MORE photos: