Reaching out to millions of aspiring game developers around the world, Microsoft was to announce a contest yesterday that will award US$10,000 and the opportunity to entice millions of eyeballs to the next great digital diversion for the company's Xbox 360.
In addition to the game console's snazzy graphics, the Xbox Live online service has been the key component of the Xbox 360's success since its debut in 2005.
And perhaps the most popular aspect of Xbox Live has been the service's arcade component, which allows users to download and play smaller, relatively simpler games like Uno and Geometry Wars that usually cost less than US$10. (By contrast, top-end games can sell in stores for around US$60.)
Xbox Live Arcade's popularity has in turn attracted the attention of game developers looking to create the next Minesweeper or Tetris. Late last year, Microsoft introduced a suite of software tools for making so-called casual games called XNA.
And so at a game makers' convention in San Francisco -- the 20th annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) -- Microsoft planned to announce a contest akin to the TV show Project Greenlight that will award a cash prize and a potential slot on Xbox Live Arcade to the best new game created with XNA tools.
The firm intends to announce the winner of the contest, called "Dream-Build-Play," in August.
"This competition highlights the power of XNA and the popularity of the Xbox Live Arcade service with its millions of users," Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft's group product manager for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, said in a telephone interview.
To help increase the popularity of casual games, Microsoft will also announce the introduction of a new 512-megabyte portable storage device for the Xbox 360.
The previous portable storage unit contained only 64 megabytes of data, and so Xbox Live Arcade games had been limited to an official size of 50 megabytes. With the new unit, Microsoft will also raise the official size limit on Xbox Live Arcade games to 150 megabytes, allowing enhanced graphics, sound and artificial intelligence.
The GDC is the largest gathering of its kind and is dedicated to the "art, science, and business of games," according to its organizers at CMP Technology firm.
It is expected to draw more than 12,500 people involved in creating or publishing video games.
Casual games are based on non-violent strategy, wordplay, puzzles or classic board games as opposed to warfare, racing or other action.
"The casual game market has grown to be an integral part of the videogame industry, making gamers out of anyone with a PC, a mobile phone or an iPod," conference manager Meggan Scavio said.
Serious games are those in which the main motivations are along the lines of teaching, healing or therapy instead of purely entertainment and profit, according to RealTime Associates president David Warhol.
A challenge facing serious games is a lack of funding from private publishers that routinely spurn educational or therapeutic games in favor of violence-oriented titles such as Grand Theft Auto, said developmental psychologist Melanie Killen, a University of Maryland professor.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique