How to Make a Video Game for your Xbox for Free
By Will Kalif
Microsoft has released a game making software suite that allows you to make a video
game for Windows XP and Xbox 360. You now have the power to make your own Xbox games at no
cost whatsoever.
There are plenty of free game making suites available to you but none of them work with
a console system. Microsoft has changed all this by making available a platform for making
video games that will play on your Xbox 360 system. That’s right; you can make a game and
play it right on the 360 you have at home. And one of the best things about this is that
it is totally free. As a little guy with big ideas you now have the chance to make your
game making dreams come true. This new software is called Microsoft XNA.
Making a game does take work of course and there are some software requirements needed
so let me review these. First off, you need a computer that runs Windows XP with service
pack 2 and you need to install a program called Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition.
(XNA is written in C# so that’s why this is required.) This software is also free to
download. You also need a graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0c and Shader Model 1.1.
There are some optional tools and requirements like an audio authoring tool called XACT
and if you want to use this tool you will need to install the .NET framework version 1.1
on your computer but this is not mandatory. You can create games without using the XACT tools.
XNA looks like it is going to be very popular and there are lots of websites springing
up that are devoted to it and Garage Games has already created a software utility that
will make game development very easy. There are also many tutorials and examples available
to help you through the learning process.
If you always wanted to make a video game for your Xbox now is the chance to get some
official software that will make your creative game ideas come true.
For more articles, information, product reviews, and tutorials on the exciting world
ofmaking video games for free check out the author’s website at:
make-video-games.com – Creative
resources for making video games for free You can also check out his other game making site at:
StormTheCastle.com
To get started with Microsoft XNA, visit
Your First Game: Microsoft XNA Game Studio in 2D
and XNA Creators Club Online a XNA
programmer's community site sponsored by Microsoft.
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