Developing Games for Xbox, Windows (PC/Tablet), Web, and Windows Phone

Retail and Kinect Game Development on Xbox 360

Microsoft Studios is the leading publisher of Kinect titles on Xbox 360 including Gears of War, Forza, Fable Journey, Kinect Star Wars, Kinectimals, Dance Central and more.

Kinect Game Development on Windows

The Kinect for Windows sensor and SDK give you the tools you need to develop innovative applications that harness speech and human tracking. Now, the power is in your hands to enable people to interact with technology in completely new and exciting ways.

Xbox LIVE Arcade Game Development

Xbox LIVE Arcade offers downloadable high-quality games through Xbox LIVE Marketplace with the ability to create connected experiences across multiple Microsoft platforms (Xbox, Windows (PC/Tablet), Windows Phone).

Xbox LIVE Web Game Development

The Xbox LIVE Web Game platform allows you to distribute free-to-play web games on Xbox.com and Bing which include Xbox LIVE integration and the ability to create connected experiences across multiple Microsoft platforms (Xbox/Windows (PC/Tablet)/Web/Windows Phone). 

Registered Developer Program

The Xbox 360 Registered Developers Program licenses independent professional development companies of Xbox 360 Retail and Arcade titles to obtain full Xbox 360 Development Kits. These development kits help to create innovative new games on Xbox 360 as well as affording an opportunity to present their ideas to publishing partners in a timely fashion.

Tools and Middleware

The Xbox 360 Tools and Middleware Program licenses the Xbox 360 Development Kit to professional software developers working on tools and middleware for games. Once accepted into the program, these companies are allowed to share and distribute their Xbox 360 technologies with other licensed Xbox 360 developers.

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Xbox LIVE on Windows (PC/Tablet) Game Development

The premier source for all-up entertainment, the Xbox LIVE on Windows (PC/Tablet) Game Marketplace features the best game, video, and music experiences with Xbox LIVE integration and the ability to create connected experiences across multiple Microsoft platforms (Xbox/Windows (PC/Tablet)/Web/Windows Phone).

Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone Game Development

The Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone Game Marketplace features a select portfolio of games for next generation smartphones, which include Xbox LIVE integration and the ability to create connected experiences across multiple Microsoft platforms (Xbox/Windows (PC/Tablet)/Web/Windows Phone).

Introducing Xbox SmartGlass

Entertainment is more amazing with Xbox SmartGlass

Xbox SmartGlass turns your mobile phone or tablet into a second screen that intelligently interacts with your Xbox 360 to elevate your entertainment experience. Xbox SmartGlass allows for your devices and TV to talk to each other to enhance your favorite TV shows, movies, music, sports and games.*

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Control at your fingertips

Use your phone, tablet, or Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets and PCs to control your living room Xbox experience. Navigate the Xbox dashboard, pause and rewind your favorite movie, swipe, pinch, and tap to surf the Web on your TV, and use your device's keyboard for easy text input and search on your console.

Don't just watch your TV. Interact with it.

Your phone or tablet transforms into the ideal second screen companion to your TV as it automatically serves up extended experiences of your favorite TV shows, movies, music, games and sports. Interactive companion guides, behind-the scenes commentary, and real-time game strategy are just a taste of what you can unlock with Xbox SmartGlass.

Discover more. Easier.

Intelligently connected devices allow you to watch one experience on your TV, while simultaneously controlling what you’re watching. Get relevant immersive details about a movie, TV show, or game. Even browse the entire Xbox catalog – all from your phone or tablet. Your Xbox devices talk to each other to make things easier for you.

Features

• Your device is your remote control

  Use your tablet, PC, or phone to control the movies, TV shows, music, Internet, and games you experience on your Xbox 360 console.

• Get around quickly

  Quickly jump to recent console activities with the simple tap of your finger.

• Move your media

  Effortlessly move your purchased movies and TV shows between your tablet or PC and your Xbox 360.

• Gesture navigation

  Use your tablet, PC, or phone to navigate your Xbox LIVE with simple swipe and tap gestures.

• Explore the web

  Lose the keyboard and mouse and explore the Web on your TV using your device to easily navigate.

• Immersive companion

  Use your device to enhance your entertainment experiences with rich, immersive extensions of your media or games.

LiveSide first reported a rumor that Microsoft is working on a gaming tablet called Xbox Surface. Whilst we got the “Surface” part of the name right, Microsoft instead announced two tablets based on Windows 8 and Windows RT on June 18, not exactly an Xbox gaming tablet. However, it appears the report did seem to have some truth to it, and today The Verge reported that they have confirmed via multiple unnamed sources that the 7-inch Xbox Surface is indeed in the works:

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The Xbox Surface will likely include a custom ARM processor and high-bandwidth RAM designed specifically for gaming tasks. We’re told these specifications could be altered to accommodate an unannounced Intel SoC and that the Xbox Surface is being developed independent of specific hardware architecture. Microsoft’s Xbox Surface won’t run a full version of Windows, rather this 7-inch tablet will run a custom Windows kernel. Messaging and other tablet functions may be supported, but the focus is on gaming.

Microsoft has developed a secret hardware production process for its Surface tablets that is separated from partners that traditionally manufacturer the company’s Xbox console. We’re told that the Xbox Surface will likely be manufactured in the same factory, but that any future “Xbox 720″ console will be manufactured in mass quantities by companies like Pegatron or Foxconn.

We’ve learned that part of the Xbox Surface is being developed at Microsoft’s offices in Silicon Valley. The software giant recently locked down several Xbox-related buildings, limiting employee access to the company’s Interactive Entertainment Business division. The lock down is likely related to Microsoft’s increased testing of the tablet, providing a way for other parts of the Xbox team to build games and software for the device.

The Verge also mentioned that the initial specifications that was leaked earlier in June were accurate, which includes a 7-inch multi-touch LED screen, 1280 x 720 resolution, SD card support, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and a rechargeable battery with up to 7 hours of use. Below is the detailed specification sheet LiveSide reported earlier:

Note that the specification sheet above does mention a separate stationery console unit, which could potentially be specifications of the next Xbox console. According to The Verge, it is possible that the Xbox Surface may debut ahead of Microsoft’s future Xbox console.

Xbox Surface: Microsoft chasing Wii U with next console?

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Rumors of an Xbox Surface tablet device are surfacing again today, with The Verge hearing from several sources that Microsoft's making progress on a 7-inch tablet device.

But I'll bet this isn't just another challenger to the 7-inch Kindle and Nexus tablets and the iPad Mini.

Instead, it looks more like the controller and auxiliary display for the next Xbox.

That would mean that Microsoft's following the path of Nintendo's multiscreen Wii U, which is starting the next console generation off with its launch next week.

The Wii U includes a stationary console plus a wireless controller with a 6.2-inch touchscreen display.

Console game developers are already starting to build titles that take advantage of this sort of display.

Microsoft is now offering the SmartGlass application on phones and tablets as a bridge between touchscreen displays and its current console, but it's a more complicated approach and doesn't offer developers a fixed platform.

An Xbox tablet could be sold as part of a console bundle and also as a standalone accessory. Like the Wii U's tablet, it would work as a super remote control and device for watching video streamed via the console.

The Xbox Surface is described as a "stationary computing device" or console with an auxiliary "tablet computing device" with a 7-inch touchscreen.

The tablet has a "custom IBM engine for scale-out workloads," according to the spec sheet. Today's report says the Xbox Surface tablet will have a custom ARM processor, which would be a cousin to the tiny ARM processors used in Microsoft's Surface Windows RT tablet.

The Surface console has two six-core IBM processors and a custom AMD graphics processor that drives ultra-high-def displays with up to 1440p resolution. Also listed is a 250-gigabyte spinning hard drive. No optical drive is mentioned, so the console won't howl like a hairdryer and games will be distributed digitally.

Microsoft's skipping the Consumer Electronics Show in January - where the original Xbox was unveiled in 2001 - so the E3 game conference next June appears to be the likely place for Microsoft to roll out the new hardware.

Xbox Surface gaming tablet reportedly in the works

The device, as the name implies, would feature a 7-inch display and focus largely on gaming, The Verge reported, citing unnamed sources.

The Xbox Surface would follow its larger brother, the recently launched Surface, which features a 10-inch display and runs a stripped-down version of Windows called Windows RT. The Xbox Surface would reportedly run on its own version of Windows as well.

Microsoft declined to comment. "We don't comment on rumors or speculation," according to a company representative.

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An Xbox Surface would follow up to one of the hotter brands in Microsoft's stable. The Xbox 360 remains a powerhouse in the video game industry and continues to be a draw for consumers. The tablet would also be consistent with Microsoft's transformation from a software company into one that juggles both hardware and software, as illustrated by the Surface.

The rumor of a gaming tablet isn't new with the first word of such a device flaring up in June. ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley wrote a few weeks ago about the possibility that the Xbox Surface could be Microsoft's first entry into the 7-inch mini-tablet segment.

A tablet could take advantage of the move by consumers to mobile games played on smartphones and tablets, which have steadily taken market share away from the traditional video game consoles.

The Xbox Surface gaming tablet would likely include a custom ARM processor -- the same kind used in other tablets and smartphones -- and more RAM to handle more intense games, The Verge reported, adding the specifications could be changed to include an Intel system-on-a-chip processor instead.

Microsoft is developing at least part of the Xbox Surface in the company's offices in Silicon Valley, adding that the offices have recently been locked down, likely for increased testing of the tablet.

Xbox tablet, RISC on Raspberry Pi, how Google shares the Nexus love Read more: Breakfast Briefing: Xbox tablet, RISC on Raspberry Pi, how Google shares the Nexus love

In today's top technology stories, Microsoft's plans for an Xbox tablet, a step back to the 80s with Raspberry Pi, voting machine fallibility and Google's Nexus largesse.

Next up: the Xbox Surface?

"Multiple sources familiar with plans within Redmond have confirmed to The Verge that initial hardware planning for an Xbox Surface is underway." Yes, the rumour mill is once again suggesting Microsoft will be producing its own 7in gaming tablet, and it won’t be running the full OS, instead preferring a "custom Windows kernel". Rumours like this have surfaced (sorry) before, so The Verge makes sure to point out that we can expect to see it ahead of the next Xbox, provided "the project doesn't get killed in favour of a full 7in Windows tablet, in the same way Microsoft axed Courier".

Raspberry Pi takes a RISC

Good news for all those Raspberry Pi owners who like to make things even more complicated for themselves: you can now go back in time. Says the official blog, "we’re very pleased to announce the immediate availability of RISC OS for the Raspberry Pi. First released in 1987, its origins can be traced back to the original team that developed the ARM microprocessor."

Why Google spreads the Nexus load

The New York Times has an interview with Google's John Lagerling, director of business development for Android, covering all things Nexus and drawing comparisons between Google's offerings and Apple's similarly-sized range. With a different manufacturer so far picked for each Nexus, some have suspected the company was trying to keep its partners sweet, but Google says it was just a happy coincidence.

"It's not so much fairness as it is to sort of work with partners who happen to be in good 'phase match' with us in what we’re trying to do. So Samsung just happens to be in a good phase match on a high-end display, which is exactly what we wanted to do at a low cost," Lagerling said. "It’s just more about the timing being right."

And that subsidiary, Motorola? "They stand where Sharp would stand, or Sony would stand or Huawei would stand," Lagerling said. "It would bid on doing a Nexus device just like any other company." Feeling the love, Motorola?

Polling station machinery glitch

Apparently there's been some sort of election going on, and it provided another example of why people fear technology in the polling station. According to The Telegraph one voter using an electronic reader found the technology overriding his selection on numerous occasions, switching his mark for Barack Obama into a vote for Mitt Romney in a software glitch.

The voter tried to explain the issue to the polling room attendant, but they were less the proactive. "I initially selected Obama but Romney was highlighted. I assumed it was being picky so I deselected Romney and tried Obama again, this time more carefully, and still got Romney," the unnamed voter reported. "Being a software developer, I immediately went into troubleshoot mode. I then called over a volunteer to have a look at it. She said 'It's nothing to worry about, everything will be OK,' and went back to what she was doing." That's tech support straight from the manual.

Gabon blocks plans for Megaupload II

Lawyers for Megaupload mega-mouth Kim Dotcom have accused Gabon of breaking the net neutrality ethos after the African state said it would stop the entrepreneur's latest web plans. Dotcom, who's fight accusations his Megaupload service was an illegal download site, had intended to open a new service based in Gabon, where presumably he thought the music and film industry lawyers would have less impact. According to CNet, however, the country's communications minister has put paid to such plans, saying the country "cannot serve as a platform or screen for committing acts aimed at violating copyrights, nor be used by unscrupulous people".

Xbox 360 "SmartGlass" turns phone or tablet into second controller

SmartGlass, isn't Windows-only, as it was promised for the iPhone, iPad, Android devices, and Windows phones and tablets. One demo showed how a tablet will add to the experience of playing Madden on Xbox, as you can use the touchscreen to diagram plays with your fingers. Another demo involving Halo showed the use of a tablet to modify the player's gun and manage the players in a multiplayer game.

We immediately imagined simultaneously manipulating a controller and phone or tablet, but the scenarios shown by Microsoft have players switching between the different inputs. Additionally, with Microsoft's Kinect, you'll be controlling many more aspects of games with just your voice. Football legend Joe Montana came on stage to demonstrate calling plays and audibles in the huddle for an upcoming version of Madden with just his voice rather than a physical controller.

Beyond games, if you're watching a movie on your tablet and want to resume on a TV, SmartGlass would allow that too. It would also push sports stats and updates to you while you're watching a game, or provide cast information about the movie or show you're viewing.

Microsoft is pushing as many entertainment options into the Xbox 360 as possible, with new content deals, the arrival of Internet Explorer on the Xbox, and more and more use of the Kinect.

A ton of new games were previewed, including one from the creators of South Park. No one summed up Microsoft's strategy better than South Park Co-Creator Trey Parker, who said, "How many times have you been watching an episode of South Park and thought, 'I'd like to be able to watch this on my television while hooked into my mobile device, which is being controlled by my tablet device, which is hooked into my oven, all while sitting in the refrigerator?' Well, we're not doing that. We're just doing this game."

SmartGlass will be coming later this year, as will Internet Explorer for Xbox. While Bing already lets you search the Internet on the gaming console, this is the first time Microsoft's standard Web browser hits the Xbox. IE for Xbox will take advantage of Kinect and SmartGlass, letting users surf the Web on their big-screen TVs using both their voice and mobile devices.

Game controllers and TV remotes aren't great for the Web, and keyboards aren't meant for the living room, Xbox Live VP Marc Whitten said. That's why Microsoft wants both voice and touchscreen control for Internet Explorer on Xbox.