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Race your eyeballs to this Halfbrick Rocket Race trailer

by David Hinkle { Jul 1st 2009 at 5:15PM }

Click to fuel your eyeballs with more screens

The Brisbane-based Halfbrick Studios just sent us a press release informing us it has a new title on the way to Xbox Live's ~~Community Games~~ Indie Games section in Halfbrick Rocket Race. A racer with a twist, Halfbrick Rocket Race isn't all about getting from Point A to Point B ...

... okay, maybe it is, but there are subtleties here, like the boost you get from hitting your thrusters next to a wall. See what we mean in the game's first trailer, which is currently running qualifying laps past the break.

Gallery: Halfbrick Rocket Race

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Making an XNA game? Don't maim the poor Avatars!

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jun 22nd 2009 at 9:30AM }

It appears that a short while back, XNA developers were informed by the lordship at Microsoft of the things they can't have the Xbox 360 Avatars do in their games. The list is pretty much designed to stop some ambitious developer from making the most adorable Grand Theft Auto clone ever. Here's some of the rules:

Avatars can't engage in violence that causes "blood, gore, dismemberment, decapitation, maiming, or mutilation. ... Avatars can die temporarily to depict failure"
They can't talk.
Forget any sexual innuendo or "mildly explicit sexual descriptions or images or sexual posturing."
No bodily fluids can come from the Avatar.
Avatars can't go on glamorized crime sprees.
Avatars can't spend time with Mary Jane, shoot up, snort or do any other "controlled substances" ... they can't even smoke normal tobacco.

All use of Avatars must be approved by Microsoft -- and the full list is much longer. Check out the nitty gritty details here.

[Via CVG]

Xbox Live: 'Community Games' become 'Indie Games'

by Randy Nelson { Jun 11th 2009 at 11:15PM }

Microsoft has released version 3.1 of its XNA Game Studio software to independent developers and, in doing so, revealed that a name change is in store for what's now known as Xbox Live Community Games. Beginning in July, these indie games will be known as ... Xbox Live Indie Games. We like it! Though it's not fully spelled out in today's notes from XNA HQ, we'd expect to see Live's game downloads section update with the new name sometime in July as well.

Also incoming is the ability for Xbox Live users to rate the newly-dubbed Indie Games -- the lack of such functionality has so far made tracking down the really good indie offerings on Live a chore.

[Via Kotaku]

Kodu to infiltrate Xbox 360, your imagination this month

by David Hinkle { Jun 9th 2009 at 9:00PM }

We haven't had anything related to Kodu (not to be confused with Kudo) to excite us since early January, but, thankfully, we now know that this month is bringing us more than ridiculously hot weather. Courtesy of the Kodu dev blog, we know that the game will release sometime in June, however an exact date is something that needs to be ironed out.

If you're finding your memory of Kodu is a bit fuzzy, then refresh it with this video of Microsoft flagrantly ignoring child labor laws.

[Via Edge]

Ocean Scenes developer gives inside look into XNA platform

by Griffin McElroy { Apr 19th 2009 at 7:00PM }

We've heard from a number of XNA Community Games developers since the publication of GamerBytes' in-depth look at XNA sales statistics. While these indie devs have all provided some interesting insight into the infantile platform, we were curious to hear what a more casual member of the Creators Club thought about the service.

Adam Holmes, developer of the ultra soothing pseudo-game Ocean Scenes, provided us with just such a viewpoint. A self-proclaimed "hobbyist," Holmes' take on the XNA Community Games service is more optimistic than most. You can check out our entire interview (along with some tranquilizing images of lovely oceanic vistas) after the jump!

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Joystiq interview: Halfbrick Studios

by David Hinkle { Apr 14th 2009 at 3:21PM }

We recently fired off some long-distance questions to Halfbrick Studios, an independent developer located in Brisbane, Australia, about itself and its projects in the pipeline for Xbox 360 -- more specifically, for XBLA and XNA Community Games. Lead artist Matthew Knight generously accepted our assault and blasted back with his answers.

Warning: Stepping into our friendly exchange just might hit you like a ton of (half) bricks ...

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The brighter side of XNA sales

by Justin McElroy { Apr 1st 2009 at 8:50AM }

We brought you a lot of doom and gloom on the day that XNA Community Sales numbers were initially released, but some more positive accounts have arrived in our inbox, and we thought we'd share them. For instance, we got a note from Zoomaroom developer Four Bros., which said that its game had nabbed 4,700 trial downloads and around 400 purchases, good for a 8.46% conversion rate.

Adam Holmes, the man behind Ocean Scenes, was pleased with his 2629 sales, though they came from around 48,000 trials. And, finally, there was Blue Rose Games of Dr. Popper fame, which wrote it sold 2,200 copies of its game at a 12 percent conversation rate, and that it was "happy" with how the game had done.

Things are looking up for some of you out there, and we're glad to hear it. Of course, it looks like there are still plenty of ways to improve Microsoft's service and pave the way to those XNA riches.

GamerBytes study shows disappointing sales for XNA Community Games

by Griffin McElroy { Mar 30th 2009 at 4:30PM }

Considering certain independent iPhone App developers have been making towering mountains of cash, you'd think that the financial status of the XNA Community Games market would be just as favorable. However, according to a recent report from GamerBytes, who dug up the sales figures of a number of XNA titles, this couldn't be further from the truth -- the combined sales total of the 24 titles they tracked was a mere 23,907 purchases, with an underwhelming conversion rate (ratio of people who purchase a game to total demo downloads) of just 7.1 percent.

Of course, with no impetus on the developers to reveal their financial data, the report is far from conclusive. When queried about their sales statistics, many of the developers gave rough estimates (or no answer at all), and a few of the service's "high-profile" titles, such as Colosseum and CarneyVale: Showtime, are completely unaccounted for. Take GamerBytes' conclusions with a few grains of salt, but based on their research, it certainly seems XNA Community Games have gotten off to a molasses-slow start.

Pick some fresh Clover screenshots

by Richard Mitchell { Mar 30th 2009 at 2:00PM }

click to enlarge

Binary Tweed has released some brand new screenshots for its upcoming Community Game, Clover. The new screens feature a redesigned version of lead character Sam, who was altered as a result of community feedback. Also featured in the screenshots is a new, dynamic sky-blending system. According to the Clover website, this system assures that the "player's view of the game world is constantly changing." Regardless of what that means, we're digging the watercolors-meet-South-Park visual style of the game. Check out the screens in the gallery below.

Gallery: Clover (3/30/2009)

This Wednesday: Bust up fools in 'The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai' on XBLA

by Ben Gilbert { Mar 30th 2009 at 1:00PM }

Announced via Major Nelson's podcast last night, this Wednesday's "Days of Arcade" XBLA game will be the 2D, side-scrolling, three-player co-op beat 'em up (breath), The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. Coming in at 800

($10), you might remember Dishwasher from GDC 2008 when, among other XNA titles, it was featured as a free download, showcasing the XNA development tools. Be sure to keep a lookout for the X3F Podcast-born achievement that pays homage to Peter Moore's fake guitar playing prowess! And if you're like us and can't spare the extra spacebucks just yet, feel free to window shop in our gallery below.

Gallery: The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai (XBLA)

[Thanks Menno!]

Some creators disappointed with XNA Community Games sales

by Justin McElroy { Mar 30th 2009 at 12:30PM }

If indie devs thought that XNA Community Games would be the ticket to untold riches ... well, let's just say they may not want to toss their name tags and hairnets just yet. Mobeen Fikree, the force behind caffeine monster software, revealed his XNA sales numbers, which he deemed disappointing. Of the 7595 downloads his game DUOtrix had received, only 157 were converted into full purchases, a conversion rate of around two percent. Unsurprisingly, Fikree doesn't think its an issue with his game's quality, rather blaming the lack of a user-rating system that allows the best games to rise to the top.

Though it didn't disclose all the numbers, Mommy's Best Games agreed, saying that the sales of fairly well-publicized Weapon of Choice fell well below expectations. Are you an XNA dev with numbers to share? Let us know!

PSA: You're doing it wrong, community game teaches foreplay [Update]

by Xav de Matos { Mar 26th 2009 at 4:45PM }

Update: Community game, Break One Out, has been pulled from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're doing it wrong. After years of thinking we'd figured out every trick available from books and television, video games have revealed that the easiest method to get someone naked is by playing an Arkanoid clone over their (already naked) body.

How did we discover the answer to one of the world's greatest mysteries? The Xbox Community Game, Break One Out (yeah, that's the name) taught us, of course! The game features Kitty -- we're sure that's her real name -- covered with blocks that must be destroyed by sending balls flying toward her. In hindsight, we probably could have put that in a less "double entendre" kind of way ...

Even though the game doesn't feature any real nudity (naughty bits are covered up by black bars) it's surprising Microsoft wouldn't pull the content for fear of damaging its family friendly image. Thankfully, all Community Games are considered unrated content, which means the game isn't accessible when any of the Xbox 360 Family Settings are adjusted.

Here's the real PSA. Don't buy this game, folks. Not because it's a bad game (and it is), not because it's sad (and oh boy, is it) but because it's 200

($2.50) ... and the sequel will probably include co-op.

GDC09: The developers-only metallic blue Xbox 360

by Christopher Grant { Mar 26th 2009 at 10:15AM }

Click to enlarge (developers only!)

Hey game makers, we're writing this post just for you. That's right, regular people, you can tune right out starting now. Just turn it off. Zone out. Do whatever it is common people do.

Are we alone? Alright, here's the deal: this summer Microsoft will be releasing a new blue-tinted Xbox 360 XDK Development Kit for developers, which not only adds some cool blue styling to the extra-tall dev profile, but doubles the console's memory to 1GB (a just-for-devs feature, of course). Until you can totally get one of your own in a couple months, stare at some more images in the gallery below ... since you're a developer ... since everyone else stopped reading, just like we asked.

Gallery: XDK Unit Test & Development Kits

GDC09: MS announces new XNA features, Dream-Build-Play 2009, new dev kit

by Richard Mitchell { Mar 24th 2009 at 2:50PM }

Microsoft today announced an update to XNA Game Studio, its free Xbox 360 development tools. The update will allow Xbox Live Arcade or Community Game developers to include Avatar support in their games. The update will also include support for the Xbox 360's Party system. Additionally, the update gives professional XBLA developers the ability to release downloadable content.

Along with the new XNA Game Studio update, Microsoft announced this year's Dream-Build-Play competition. The contest charges developers with creating an XNA game and offers cash prizes to the winners as well as a chance to publish their games on Xbox Live Arcade. Joystiq readers may recognize CarneyVale: Showtime and The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai (pictured), both of which won previous Dream-Build-Play competitions. Dream-Build-Play 2009 will begin accepting submissions on April 6.

Finally, and much less interesting, Microsoft is previewing its latest development kit. The kit has "additional debugging memory" which should help developers "push the console to its maximum capabilities." Just don't push it too hard, mkay?

SXSW 2009: Games By the People, For the People

by Kevin Kelly { Mar 14th 2009 at 6:30PM }

So you enjoy playing video games, right? That's what probably brought you to Joystiq in the first place. But have you ever thought about making your own? Right now you're probably thinking, "But, Kevin... doesn't that take millions of dollars and a huge development team?" Well you happen to be in luck, because the answer is no. You can pretty much do it all on your own for pennies. But what's the secret to making it awesome? 5 out of 5 panelists agree: you need to have a good story, or a really interesting idea. Simple, right? Start thinking, and find out more after the break.

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