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.
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