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Will Every Xbox Be a Dev Kit?

Posted by samzenpus on from the working-it-out dept.

jfruh writes There were a lot of rumored features of the Xbox One that vanished after public outcry — that it would need an always-on Internet connection, for instance. But another rumor from that era was that every Xbox One sold would include a dev kit that would allow anyone to create games — and it looks like this is one dream that might be coming true soon.

16 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Reminds me of the old days by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Many computers back in the 80s contained a dev kit. Typically some version of Microsoft BASIC.
    Of course, we didn't call them game consoles. They were "microcomputers", but by and large they were widely used as games machines.
    Commodore 64, I am looking at you. :)

    Maybe we're coming full circle? If Microsoft provides an easy to use dev kit for casual users to create games, then we'll all be awash in thousands of games on that platform before we know it.

    How many of those will be pong clones, snake clones, tron clones, reversi clones, boulderdash clones, and versions of mastermind ? :)

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    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
    1. Re:Reminds me of the old days by i.r.id10t · · Score: 2

      Some of the games for the Odyssey2 console -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnavox_Odyssey%C2%B2 - had some (extremely) limited programmability to them. I remember making my own maps on the pac man clone, and programming in their flavor of basic which was different from the basic I knew from the TRS-80 series and hand no real way to save your programs

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
  2. How could this be? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are you seriously telling me that if you slightly de-cripple a general-purpose computer that it can be used as a general purpose computer?

    Truly, I am living in the goddamn future now...

    1. Re:How could this be? by tepples · · Score: 2, Informative

      Xbox 360's Xbox Live Indie Games environment and Windows Phone 7's third-party app environment were crippled to run only C#[1], probably because these platforms lacked a full MMU. The type-safe sandbox was the only security means that the things had, much as in the Singularity research operating system. That might also be part of why Windows Phone 7 devices cannot be upgraded to Windows Phone 8.

      [1] The actual restriction was "verifiably type-safe IL that uses the libraries available in the .NET Compact Framework", but in practice that meant C#.

  3. Apps... by zarthrag · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Apps are not games. I get the sneaking feeling that this is just a ruse to get people excited about W10 development. If you're expecting to build your own A/AA/AAA title on XB1 - I'd continue holding your money/breath. This could easily be a repeat of XNA.

    Personally, I have no intention of even *touching* an XB1 unless they open-up *native* development. (That means a full directx sdk, kinect, ...the works. None of this .NET second-class-partial access)

    --
    Why can't all fpga/microcontroller manufacturers just release free optimizing compilers???
  4. Installable devkits by tepples · · Score: 2

    Every PC running Windows, OS X, or GNU/Linux includes a rudimentary devkit comparable to the BASIC interpreter on early 1980s home microcomputers. It's called the JavaScript interpreter. Copy the following to a new text file called hello.html

    <!DOCTYPE HTML><html><body><div id="out"></div><script>
    document.getElementById('out').textContent = "Hello World";
    </script></body></html>

    And every general-purpose personal computer allows other developer tools to be installed, such as Visual Studio Express for Windows, Xcode for OS X, AIDE for Android, or the wealth of things you can apt-get install or yum install or emerge on GNU/Linux. (Did I miss anything?) The only publicly available devkits for major video game consoles have either been very, very limited (Dezaemon, RPG Maker, WarioWare DIY) or discontinued very, very quickly (PS2 Linux and PS3 Linux). The big draw of the OUYA console was its binary compatibility with Android, letting it use well-known tools such as Eclipse and Xamarin. Yet OUYA fizzled for some reason.

    1. Re:Installable devkits by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      The big draw of the OUYA console was its binary compatibility with Android, letting it use well-known tools such as Eclipse and Xamarin. Yet OUYA fizzled for some reason.

      Way too many glitches. Saw a keyboard as a game controller, and the keyboard would become controller #1 when the game controller went to sleep. But without a keyboard, life is bad, because you need to type stuff all the time. They kept changing the dashboard without fixing the stuff that was wrong with it. Support for third party controllers was poor, even though that was the whole reason for their controller library to exist. Then google announced that they were going to come up with a gaming hub app and more support for gaming controllers and that was pretty much the end. People returned them in droves. Then Mad Catz came out with an overpriced console which also sucked, only less, and now it'll be a cold day in hell before another android console which costs more than a couple of bucks is in any video game stores.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Installable devkits by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We both know what all you typed means.... but to the layperson who has no previous experience in computer programming, that explanation is way too much too soon.

      it's great that there is choice, but a lot of newbies need handholding, focus, and detailed explanations.
      Throw newbies in the deep end too soon and all you'll get is a situation analogous to a crying 4 year old who can't figure out why a university professor is angry at him for not understanding calculus.

      I remember the Commodore "Introduction to BASIC" series. Sometimes a more focused and hand-holding approach is all that's needed to spark the person's interest and build their confidence so that they seek out more detailed information and harder challenges. ;)

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      READY.
      PRINT ""+-0
    3. Re:Installable devkits by Blaskowicz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What the fuck is a div? where did that document.this_function().that_stuff got declared?
      How come that this html file works as well :
      Hello World

      Yea there are probably a lot of crappy tutorials on the internet, but there's no thick paper manual that came with the computer (CBM 64, Apple II, Amstrad CPC..) or a comprehensive help file integrated to the web browser (like in QBASIC) to explain all that crap in a friendly, up to date way.
      All I'm seeing is a blank page experience and a hello world.. It's like saying anyone can be a dev and make little games, because there's notepad and the Windows Scripting Host.

  5. Microsoft BASIC pre-1984 by tepples · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People were learning to program in Microsoft BASIC interpreters included before 1984. This means before Macintosh (the commercialization of ideas Apple bought from Xerox) and GNU existed. If you've ever keyed something like this into an 8-bit home computer, it was more likely than not in Applesoft on the Apple II or another Microsoft BASIC.

    10 LET M$ = "Microsoft"
    20 PRINT "Hello ";M$
    30 GOTO 20

    (In the line number era, BASIC string variable namess ended with $.)

    1. Re:Microsoft BASIC pre-1984 by inasity_rules · · Score: 2

      I am not entirely sure I would call making BASIC popular doing something for programming. It took me years to unlearn some of that rubbish...

      --
      I have determined that my sig is indeterminate.
  6. Every box IS a dev kit by He+Who+Has+No+Name · · Score: 2

    XB1 devkit functionality is in software, not hardware. And part of that is account access to parts of MS Corpnet that allow correct devkit functionality. We have to have the correct authorized user account and sandbox entered for devkit functions to work correctly.

    Our devkits at MGS are stock retail kits that are pulled off the line and loaded with in house SDKs.

    I have no idea what the plan is, if any, to roll that out widespread. I'm just a polygon slinger.

  7. Talk about burying the lede.. by Mike+Buddha · · Score: 2

    Sheesh. I'm surprised the original poster didn't point out that Microsoft was found to have abused monopoly power with Internet Explorer in the 90's in Europe in the summary.

    --
    by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
  8. "There were a lot of rumored features of the Xbox" by jfbilodeau · · Score: 2

    "There were a lot of rumored features of the Xbox One"

    They were not rumors, but facts. Microsoft backpedaled on most of them. Short memory span or shill?

    --
    Goodbye Slashdot. You've changed.
  9. Re:So much for our lord and savior by sosume · · Score: 2

    Don't forget streaming games between xbox and pc, the feature that will finish the steambox. Steam really should create an Xbox client.

  10. Microoptimization for microcontrollers by tepples · · Score: 2

    there is no need to squeeze code in a few kilobytes of RAM or hit the metal to get maximum performance.

    That was true before MCU kits such as the Arduino became popular.