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Microsoft Will Allow Indie Self-publishing, Debugging On Retail Xbox One
tlhIngan writes "Microsoft was the last platform manufacturer to require that all games go through publishers, a much hated policy. Indeed, their approval process was one of the harshest around. But now Microsoft will allow indie developers to self publish, and allow retail Xbox One units to serve as developer consoles. Previously, self-publishing developers were relegated to the 'Xbox Live Indie Arcade' section, as well as developer consoles often costing upwards of $10,000 with special requirements and NDAs. This puts Microsoft's Xbox One more in line with Apple's App Store, including Microsoft's new promise of a 14-day turnaround for approvals. Microsoft's retail debug console system is to work similarly to Apple's — that is, to run pre-release code, the individual consoles used have to be registered with Microsoft."
I've been looking for an opportunity where I can be assured of a level playing field with other developers. Now that we'll all be on camera together, I finally have one. Do I have to contribute directly to the hidden offline blackbox cache logging of user presence information in order to participate in the developer program?
Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
I can't see why anyone would bother with any of the new consoles. All of them are locked down, and all of them have at least some DRM.
If it's just games, that's nice for a lot of people but not as exciting in terms of something really new.
I don't think it's supposed to be new. It's aimed at indie devs and people like me who teach game development where we cannot justify real development kits to be handed to students (what could possibly go wrong? Oh.. right... students).
The thing is, the Xbox3 is basically a PC, so for anything really 'new' you have PC development to demo it, and then pitch that to someone who has money to let you buy a development kit if you want it. If you just want to make a game, this works well.
I can't see why anyone would bother with any of the new consoles. All of them are locked down, and all of them have at least some DRM.
Thing is if what you're interested in is playing games - which is what most people who buy games consoles are after - then it's not that much different on the PC, the games publishers are the ones that force the DRM and the platform is irrelevant, just look at EA and Ubisoft games on PC. If you're interested in tinkering (which let's face it, relatively not many people are) then you'd use a PC or an Ouya.
So I can see why people would bother with consoles, 'locked down' and DRM isn't going to be a problem for most people - check out the popularity of iOS devices as an example.
Ford Will Allow Indie Driving, Sightseeing On Retail Focus
"Ford was the last automobile manufacturer to require that all routes go through manufacturers, a much hated policy. Indeed, their approval process was one of the harshest around. But now Ford will allow indie drivers to self guide, and allow retail Focus units to serve as tourism vehicles. Previously, self-guiding drivers were relegated to the 'Ford Indie Car Track' section, as well as route design vehicles often costing upwards of $100,000 with special requirements and NDAs. This puts Ford's Focus more in line with GM's Chevrolet models, including Ford's new promise of a 14-day turnaround for indie route approvals. Ford's retail route design vehicle is to work similarly to GM's — that is, to drive pre-release routes, the individual vehicles used have to be registered with Ford."
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Question: Why are we letting computer manufacturers get away with something that automobile manufacturers could never get away with?