Microsoft Unveils XNA News

Microsoft took the opportunity at yesterdayâ??s Game Developers Conference, to announce the development of XNA, a powerful next-generation software development platform.

Microsoft claim that XNA will allow developers to harness next-generation power during the development of titles for future iterations of all Microsoft game platforms (Windows, Xbox, Windows Mobile Devices) while combating rising production costs and ever-increasing hardware complexity.

Claiming to be the â??catalyst for a new ecosystem of interchangeable, interoperable software tools and technologies from Microsoft, middleware and development companies.â? The aim of XNA is to free up developer time and resources, by forming a common environment that liberates developers from spending too much time writing mundane, repetitive boilerplate code; allowing developers to focus their efforts on creativity.

â??Software will be the single most important force in digital entertainment over the next decade,â? said Bill Gates, founder and chief software architect of Microsoft. â??XNA underscores Microsoftâ??s commitment to the game industry and our desire to work with partners to take the industry to the next level.â?

â??Silicon advancements and new features like high-definition and pervasive broadband will send game development costs skyrocketing,â? Bach is expected to tell conference attendees. â??The video game industry must band together to find a solution that ensures vitality and sustainability for years to come, while responding to consumer desires for bigger, better games.â?

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

• In response to strong customer demand, Xbox Liveâ?¢ development tools for functionality such as billing, security, login, friends and matchmaking will be made available to Windows developers. The tools will make it easier to create the same social, unified online gaming experiences on Windows that game players have come to expect on Xbox.
• On the input front, as part of XNA, Microsoft will develop a common controller reference design and unify input APIs and button standards across multiple platforms. The result will be a family of common controllers for Windows and Xbox game players. In addition, the move will fuel a whole new wave of compelling, cross-platform input devices from peripheral manufacturers.
• In graphics and audio, many tools such as PIX (an analysis tool) and XACT (an audio authoring tool) â?” previously available only to Xbox developers â?” now will be available on Windows as part of the XNA development platform. Likewise, innovations from Windows such as High-Level Shader Language (HLSL) will come to Xbox. The DirectX® API and the Visual Studio® development system will continue to be the baseline environment for both platforms. Collectively, these tools and technologies will enable movie-quality graphics while forming the impetus for new software that will help developers cope with the looming complexity of high-definition video and audio.

â??On the PC we have tools like HLSL. On Xbox we have tools like PIX. These are both really powerful, and XNA combines the power of the PC and the power of the console into a best-of-breed platform,â? said Gabe Newell, founder and managing director of Valve Software LLC.

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