build an xbox live arcade game and win prizes

December 11th, 2006 post a comment stumble it! by: technabob

A while back, we reported on the availability of Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio Express, which allows you to roll your own homebrew games for the Xbox 360 and the Xbox Live Arcade.

Starting on January 2, 2007, you’ll be able to participate in Dream Build Play, a competition offering a shot at prizes including a chance to distribute your gaming creation on the Xbox Live Arcade. In order to play your creations, you’ll probably want to join the XNA Creators Club. The Club is sort of like an MSDN-lite for aspiring game developers, providing access to game assets from Microsoft and some third-parties, as well as white papers, specialized starter kits, samples and technical product support. Membership in the Club costs $99 per year or $49 per quarter, and registration is available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Now before you script-kiddies get too excited, you’ll need to know how to program in C# before any of this will make sense to you. If you’re feeling up to the challenge, you can download Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio Express here. Be sure to read over the prerequisites before you get started.