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MS confirms indie program for XB1, was a big GamesCom surprise, angry at GI for leak

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
The very fact MS wanted to keep this non-total public knowledge for the dumb show oomph just goes to show why both Sony and Nintendo are ahead of them with regards to indies. When the info is available on such matters, push it out so that people can target your system as soon as possible! Don't keep it secret for months and then get mad you don't get your big "LOOK LOOK WE'RE MATCHING THOSE OTHER GUYS AND ALSO THIS DEVKIT ACTIVATOR!" moment like a brat.
 

PFD

Member
Good point, although announcing it at Gamescom has more impact I suppose.

But they need to announce this stuff as early as possible to get as many devs on board as they can and build strong indie momentum towards the launch. We're not talking about a sequel reveal here. That's how I view it anyway.
 

Raide

Member
There will be more limits unless they decide to go and add an additional amount of memory to par it up with current dev kits. There is definitely some fine print that us missing from this story.

Agreed. Maybe GamesCom will have the finer details appear but it is certainly an interesting step to take.
 
So they allowed Blow and Lanning to publicly slag them for months so they could hype "teh megatonz" at Gamescom?

Would it not have been smarter to share this information with developers earlier so they could, ya know, develop games?
 
He's throwing away free money. I mean, I know how badly MS burned him over the patch and all, but if the PS4 and X1 both have X86 architecture and AMD graphics, why cut off that revenue stream if all things are equal?

As long as it comes out on Steam, I won't miss a chance to play Fez II, but still, revenue streams.

Sometimes being exclusive makes something sell more than if it wasn't.
 

derFeef

Member
So they allowed Blow and Lanning to publicly slag them for months so they could hype "teh megatonz" at Gamescom?

Would it not have been smarter to share this information with developers earlier so they could, ya know, develop games?

Well, from that andymc tweet it sounds like devs knew already.
 

sunnz

Member
Where are all those who said " but but the ps4 will be full of shitty shovelware games" now?

Great news, the console being a dev kit is pretty awesome but something I am cautiously optimistic about.
 

Busty

Banned
While this does seem cool for all the small/bedroom developers out there I also have to wonder just how many people are actually going to use this?

I mean we could see a resurgence of the homebrew development scene of the Amiga days but just how many of the potential Xbone (or any console owner) customers are going to bother using their console as a dev kit?
 

Einbroch

Banned
Where are all those who said " but but the ps4 will be full of shitty shovalware games" now?

Great news, the console being a dev kit is pretty awesome but something I am cautiously optimistic about.

It will be.

Now they'll both be shit piles! :D
 

chubigans

y'all should be ashamed
He's throwing away free money. I mean, I know how badly MS burned him over the patch and all, but if the PS4 and X1 both have X86 architecture and AMD graphics, why cut off that revenue stream if all things are equal?

As long as it comes out on Steam, I won't miss a chance to play Fez II, but still, revenue streams.

MS still has terrible contract policies (exclusive 6/12 month window for XBL releases, or exclusive free DLC content for their platform if you release at a later date than PSN/PC/etc.) that I hope get torn to bits with this new program.
 
The fact that Microsoft thought this announcement was a good one to save for a blowout at Gamescom shows they are still wildly out of touch with reality.
 
So they allowed Blow and Lanning to publicly slag them for months so they could hype "teh megatonz" at Gamescom?

Would it not have been smarter to share this information with developers earlier so they could, ya know, develop games?

Perhaps, but this is maybe a case of some developers jumping on the 'lets all hate Microsoft bandwagon' and assuming the worst.

I for one will be glad to see Blow eat some crow, although he's probably too arrogant to admit any misgivings on his part.
 

szaromir

Banned
Pretty sure they're two different things. You don't need a dev kit to make W8 apps, but need one to make games. You don't need a publisher for either. They're two different points.
Yes, MS giving indie devs only a fraction of the system's power would just mean Xbone would not be getting multiplatform indie games. Capability to turn every Xbone into a dev kit might put similar limitations to XNA games on 360 (probably less harsh I would guess), not way bigger.
 

Garjon

Member
Well, from that andymc tweet it sounds like devs knew already.

Really? Because of the way so many indie devs were slagging off MS since E3, I'd say most of them didn't know anything at all. Well, anyway, based on what Notch has said, I dare say his will be one of the games showcased at GC.
 

Raide

Member
Sooooo... like Sony did at E3 then?

But MS might plan to actually have those games playable and part of the press event more? If they were saving this announcement for GamesCom, they probably had some devs up there as well to talk up their plans.
 
Depends what the games/devs are/were.

Sure, but then the big announcement would be that 'indie developer X is working on an Xbox One game', and this leaking isn't going to have any effect on that. This is just a very abstract behind-the-scenes type thing that's only of any sort of interest to the super-super hardcore nerds.
 

twinturbo2

butthurt Heat fan
MS still has terrible contract policies (exclusive 6/12 month window for XBL releases, or exclusive free DLC content for their platform if you release at a later date than PSN/PC/etc.) that I hope get torn to bits with this new program.
Maybe they'll have all that sorted out at Gamescom?

I really wished Phil didn't block me so I could try to calm him down. The other guy at Polytron, I'm following, though...
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
But they need to announce this stuff as early as possible to get as many devs on board as they can and build strong indie momentum towards the launch. We're not talking about a sequel reveal here. That's how I view it anyway.

I agree but it makes sense with Microsoft's current indie approach and highlights why I think it's a bit flawed. They like showing stuff from "big" indies like Minecraft and World of Tanks and just wait for everyone else to come to them while Sony shows stuff like Octodad on stage at E3. They'll probably never show any indie title that isn't one they think can get some serious hype behind it. MS has to learn that on top of making development easy, Sony genuinely seems like they're treating indie games the same as retail titles. That's a key difference.
 
Its kind of dumb they tried to save this kind of news for gamescom.


Still good news. I hope there are not any catches. I would not be shocked if there are but I hope there isnt.

Wonder what developers they got to be in the "look at all our games" showcase because god damn that community has been hostile towards MS.
 

Tan

Member
This is nuts and good news all around :D

Its kind of dumb they tried to save this kind of news for gamescom.


Still good news. I hope there are not any catches. I would not be shocked if there are but I hope there isnt.

Wonder what developers they got to be in the "look at all our games" showcase because god damn that community has been hostile towards MS.

Also wondering this. Why would you keep this a secret.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
Xbox One self-publishing won't be ready at launch, but will hit within the first year we're told sbn.to/18AdPca via @Polygon
 
How do we know it's months behind?

It was announced months behind another system which also isn't out yet.

It earns Sony 5 quabillion neogaf points and is a net loss for Xbone.

MS has lost so many neogaf points at this point, they might as well not release the new console.
 

Raymo

Member
He's throwing away free money. I mean, I know how badly MS burned him over the patch and all, but if the PS4 and X1 both have X86 architecture and AMD graphics, why cut off that revenue stream if all things are equal?

As long as it comes out on Steam, I won't miss a chance to play Fez II, but still, revenue streams.

We need more info. If the XBox One uses Windows App store program vs PS4's fully independent publishing program, then they are very different beasts.
 

Well so much for that. I'll wait for the ability to show up before I get too excited about it

Xbox One self-publishing won't be ready at launch, but will hit within the first year we're told sbn.to/18AdPca via @Polygon

Wow. This is bad. I don't care which console manufacturer you support, this is bad. This is a day one feature. Even Nintendo got this right
 

Dante316

Member
You have to bear in mind that the atrocious management staff responsible for fun activities such as

- Having an entirely inept first party portfolio
- Killing Halo and Gears
- Weaker system with heavier price tag
- DRM
- Always online
- Laughable indie treatment

Are still going to be at large making similar decisions over the next few years, any reasonable person
would acknowledge that unless Microsoft fire the entirety of the upper echelon that composes their management, that they are still set for an awful few years.
Well that is true, the price is just one factor. Games and especially exclusive features and exclusive games will decide. Competition is a thing that will or might push microsift to make better exclusives and diverdify. I am a gamer at heart, even though I play ps3 most and have paid off my ps4 :) I just want msft to do well so sony does well.
 

quickwhips

Member
I heard if it gets posted as a app like plex then its 3gb limited since your apps for windows 8 will work with it. I'm pretty sure that if your self publish then you get what the any regular x1 game is getting. I hear some of this from my bud who was at build conf. Just MS has no direction and I buddy didn't saying anything about x1 being dev boxes. This won't save them.
 
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