First ID@Xbox developers revealed - "thousands" of indies flock to Xbox One

Mikeha

 

 

 

Microsoft has announced the first developers who will publish games for Xbox One under the manufacturer's ID@Xbox program, unveiled at Gamescom this summer. According to the program's director Chris Charla, "thousands" of developers have expressed an interest, and Microsoft has now shipped development kits to more than 50 companies.

"At ID@Xbox, we're as happy as anyone that Xbox One has shipped, but we still have our game faces on because there's still a lot for us to do," Charla wrote in an Xbox NewsWire release. "We've had thousands of developers express interest in ID@Xbox and we continue to make some big strides to lower the barriers for independent developers to self-publish on Xbox One.

"Unity will be free to Xbox One developers, we're continuing to hold developer events (ID@London is next week) and we're also working behind the scenes to set up the system that will enable any retail Xbox One to serve as a dev kit," he added (links inserted by myself).

 

Zoom

"We've shipped dev kits to more than 50 studios and, as we said at gamescom, this first wave of developers is just the start. We want to make Xbox One a great platform for developers of all scales and sizes for years to come. We've been amazed at the response from developers to ID@Xbox, and we really appreciate their patience as we ramp up the programme."

I've rounded up all the developers now confirmed to have joined the program below, along with a few of their best-known games. Bear in mind that certain studios may have collaborated on titles that were primarily developed elsewhere.

- iNiS (Lips, Elite Beat Agents, Gitaroo Man)
- Comcept (Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, Soul Sacrifice)
- Vlambeer (Serious Sam, Ridiculous Fishing)
- Double Eleven (LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, PixelJunk Shooter)
- Slightly Mad Studios (Need for Speed: Shift, Project Cars)
- Born Ready (Strike Suit Zero)
- Crytek (Crysis, Ryse: Son of Rome)
- Happion Labs (Sixty Second Shooter)
- Team 17 (Worms, Alien Breed)
- Panic Button (Kinect Star Wars, Injustice: Gods Among Us)
- Double Fine (Brutal Legend, Psychonauts)
- Drinkbox (About a Blob, Guacamelee)
- Team Colorblind (Aztez)
- Signal Studios (Ascend: New Gods, Toy Soldiers)
- Zen Studios (Castlestorm, Marvel Pinball)
- Bongfish (Motocross Madness, Harm's Way)
- Half-Brick Studios (Fruit Ninja Kinect, Raskulls)
- NinjaBee (A Kingdom for Keflings, Dash of Destruction)
- Zeboyd Games (Cthulhu Saves the World, Penny Arcade Adventures)
- Nicalis (Cave Story, VVVVVV)
- The Men Who Wear Many Hats (Organ Trail, Max Gentlemen)
- Iron Galaxy (Divekick, Wreckateer)
- Jackbox Games (You Don't Know Jack)
- High Voltage Software (The Conduit, Kinect Star Wars)
- Capybara Games (Below, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes)
- Behaviour Interactive (Naughty Bear, MySims SkyHeroes)
- Hidden Path (Defense Grid: The Awakening, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
- Gaijin Games (Bit.Trip series)
- The Odd Gentlemen (The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, Slap Happy Sam)
- WayForward (Adventure Time: ETDBIDK, DuckTales: Remastered)
- Other Ocean (Iron Brigade, Stacking)

Developers can apply free of charge to the ID@Xbox program, and those who successfully register are entitled to two free Xbox One development kits. Where games for Xbox Live Arcade aren't able to make full use of the Xbox 360's capabilities, ID@Xbox members "have access to the same great benefits that existing Xbox developers have today, including the full power of the console, cloud services, Kinect and Xbox Live toolset such as Xbox SmartGlass, multiplayer, Achievements, Gamerscore and more".

http://www.oxm.co.uk/67511/first-idxbox-developers-revealed-thousands-of-indies-flock-to-xbox-one/

 

 

Remember the four new games in development at Microsoft's new Lift London studio, the ones that will apparently "redefine what triple-A represents"? You can expect to lay eyes on three of them in the not too distant future.

That's according to studio head Lee Schuneman, who spoke to OXM as part of the London Calling feature in our Christmas 2013 issue. "We've got a high bar for innovation," he said, during an interview recorded in November. "We have three cool titles in development that we'll reveal very soon."

 

As to what those titles might consist of, all we know is that they're free-to-play games for "connected platforms". Addressing audiences at the Develop conference this spring, Schuneman highlighted the need to "build universes that will grow with the audience and follow them onto whatever device they own". Something in the vein of the (excellent) cross-platform Skulls of the Shogun seems probable, then.

It's also likely that the new games will follow in the footsteps of Remedy's Quantum Break, which seeks to collapse (or at least, make an artistic point of) the "barrier" 'twixt games and non-interactive media. As Schuneman puts it in the new issue, "we want to create new experiences that join TV, gaming and so on, and bring it into something unique."

In other news, Microsoft is currently "incubating" a number of "primarily cloud-based" Xbox One titles. Any hopes and dreams to share as regards any of this? Don't forget to pick up a copy of our Christmas 2013 issue - the full feature includes an illuminating set of chit-chats with Microsoft exec Phil Harrison and the teams at Rare, Lionhead and Soho Productions. Oh, and we're giving away free FIFA 14 Ultimate Team Gold items. Not too shabby.

 

 

VLC Media player is a popular free media player that is nearly used by everyone these days. Sporting a lightweight size along with the ability to playback almost all the media formats, VLC Media Player has become one of the fastest and best media players.

A programmer on VLC’s team, Jean-Baptiste Kempf, wrote in his blog post about the readiness of VLC for Windows Runtime or WinRT port. Surprisingly his list also contained Xbox One which many give a hint that the VLC Media Player app might make an appearance on the Xbox One very soon. Since Xbox One’s dashboard and UI are very similar to Windows 8′s Metro style UI, porting the VLC Media Player using WinRT won’t be difficult and that the next major update of VLC Media Player might bring the app to Xbox One.

Kempf states:

So, here is an update about our port on WinRT platforms.

I now say WinRT platforms, but that means:

• Windows 8/8.1 ModernUI Metro
• Windows Phone 8
• XBox One? (who knows?)

One major thing about VLC Media Player is that it can playback the popular .mkv files. Xbox One, on its own, cannot playback .mkv files natively but if VLC Media Player pops up on the Xbox One then we can be sure that the .mkv file compatibility will be present on the Xbox One and with the app it would be able to play .mkv files natively, without any streaming from any PC or app.

Stay tuned with us as we bring you more information as the story develops.

http://gearnuke.com/vlc-media-player-maybe-coming-xbox-one-according-teams-programmer/

 

Nadia

good info - thank you

 

related article

Indie game developers warm to Xbox One, but can Microsoft catch Sony?

http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/4/5151428/xbox-one-vs-ps4-next-gen-indie-games

The best PlayStation 4 game was developed by a small studio in Helsinki. Retro shooter Resogun, from developer Housemarque, is easily the most impressive title in the console's launch lineup, with its addictive gameplay and tight design.

But the fact that the PS4's headlining experience is an indie game shouldn't be too surprising: the company has been actively courting smaller developers for some time now. And in the early days after the PS4 and Xbox One were revealed, it seemed clear that Sony's machine would be the place to go for cool indie games. Then, in August, Microsoft revealed its ID@Xbox program, designed specifically to bring these kinds of experiences to the One — and it seems to be working.

While the company has been relatively quiet about the program since then, today Microsoft is announcing an impressive lineup of developers that have signed up, including the likes of Guacamelee developer Drinkbox, Star Wars Pinball creator Zen Studios, and Tim Schafer's Double Fine. "This first wave of developers is just the start," says program director Chris Charla. Microsoft says that it has sent out more than 50 developer kits to studios, with more units being sent out daily, and has reiterated its goal of turning every Xbox One into a dev kit. The news isn't just important for games, but also the console's app ecosystem in general — Microsoft previously told us that ID@Xbox will "have some influence over how we think about apps too."

This newfound enthusiasm stands in stark contrast to the early days of the Xbox One, when many developers initially seemed cool on the console after Microsoft failed to provide many details on how it would support indie games.

..

Ouya's best game, would be making its way to the PS4, for example. Meanwhile, runaway Kickstarter success Hyper Light Drifter, the first game from developer Heart Machine, is coming to both the PS4 and Vita. And those are just some of the most recent examples. The key seems to be that Sony is being proactive, seeking out these games and offering developers the tools to bring them to PlayStation devices.

"Their team is extremely easy to work with," says Heart Machine's Alex Preston, "and they're all enthusiastic about independent games getting support on the Sony platforms." According to Towerfall developer Matt Thorsen, a member of Sony's indie team actually came to his house to play the game on Ouya shortly after it was released. "The idea of bringing it to PS4 gradually took shape over the following months," he says. "Our problem with Microsoft was that you dealt with a huge corporation," adds Ismail, "and our stance on business is that it should be between people."

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The Xbox One now supports self publishing, for instance, something the 360 never did.

"We're working to make the program as accessible as possible," Charla tells The Verge. "There're no fees to apply to the program, or to submit a game for certification, or to submit game updates.

We provide two dev kits to registered developers at no cost, and they also have free access to the Xbox One add-on for Unity and special Xbox One-only Unity Pro seat licenses." Indie games will also be featured alongside big-budget AAA games in the Xbox One store, making them easier to find. "We know that game discoverability has been an area of concern for developers in the past," says Charla.

However, Microsoft's efforts haven't yet led to many new game announcements.

The Xbox One's most notable indie title, Capy Games' intriguing Below, was actually announced prior to the ID@Xbox Program reveal. Today's announcement includes just two new games: Energy Hook from Happion Labs and a new Shoot Many Robots game from Demiurge. Those numbers will only continue to grow, however, as for many indie creators, the lure of a traditional gaming console is too strong. "There's no shortage of indies whose life dream is to release a console game," says Edery. Charla said only that they're "excited about what developers are creating and look forward to sharing more on specific titles soon."