XNA games?

Hello everyone,

I was working as a programmer at Free Radical Design when they went into administration and I've been looking all year for a job with no luck, I'm feeling pretty down about it actually. So I've been thinking about alternative directions and I was considering maybe doing something for XNA?

Does anyone have any experience writing games for XNA? Is there a decent market for home brew games on XBox Live? I know nothing about the XBox, I've googled it but I was hoping someone had some first hand experience to help me decide if it's worth doing something for that platform. And where would be a good place to start?

I probably couldn't manage anything too ambitious since I'd have to do all the graphics and design work myself but a simple arcadey shooter game I reckon I could do.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Yes, if you're located at any of the countries that are suppported by xbox live, you can publish your games and earn some money. That is cool.

Unfortunately I myself live in Brazil and I still can't publish to the xbox live. That sucks.

I may be reverting back to C++ again, mainly because of that.

I haven't, just looked at it, but I think xbox live is one good bet. There's also Flash, getting an ad sponsor. It's an easier market, I think, but I don't think you make a lot of money. Something to try. If you have a Mac, there's also iPhone apps, which are selling pretty well. I think xbox might be the tighter market to actually make money. Still, any one of them would be worth a shot. If you are new and need to do your own art resources, then Flash or iPhone might be better with a 2d game. It's definitely nothing to count on, but if you're not working right now, why not? You can download c# express/xna for free and there are tutorials around the net. There are also some xna books out.

I've thought about iPhone stuff but there's too many apps to fight against, plus I don't have a Mac or an iPhone so it'd be a big investment (I know there's ways to get the SDK working on PCs but it sounds like a boat load of pain).

I'm not new. I've got 12 years experience in the games industry, been programming for 25 years, worked at a lot of places, got lots of published products. I can program assembler, c, c++, c#, java, python, whatever you like. I can model in Maya and Blender. I've done AI, rendering, audio, tools, just about everything. Developed on most platforms going right back to the ST and Amiga. I've written games on my own, worked in small teams, worked in big teams, done 2d stuff, 3d stuff.

And I still can't find a job. Right now the games industry SUCKS.

Anyway I was just hoping to get some advice from someone who's actually made an XBox live game. I would hate to spend 3 or 4 months writing something and only make $100.

There's a thread on XNA forum that should give you some idea:
http://forums.xna.com/forums/t/28044.aspx

From the sound of it a popular game can net in the thousands and it drops down to the hundreds. Nothing you would probably be able to make a living at. Still, considering the fact you aren't working, I think it would be worth the time spent. It can also add to your portfolio for job interviews. Your only real cost is the 100 dollar a year membership.

Hello Karligula,


I am in the process of putting a new project on the run, that will result in creating a totally e-company, or in other words, a company that will replicate what the opensource project are doing with firefox and other products.

I have already several ideas, and I will be starting to search for new e-employees in the next weeks. Would you be interested? If yes, message me.


Regards,
D.