Development

Sony have halved the price of the PlayStation 3 development kit in an effort to increase developer profitability, and bring in more small development companies. Development kits can be now had for 950,000 Yen in Japan, US$10,250 in North America and EUR 7500 in Europe. A company statement described the reasons for the price change:

“As more and more new titles are developed for the PS3 format, SCEI will significantly reduce the price of the Reference Tool in order to contribute to the cost saving measures of the development community.”

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Do you have grandiose plans of entering the game industry and selling millions of units? Don Daglow from Stormfront Studios, Julian Eggebrecht from Factor 5, Michael Capps from Epic Games and George Baker from Lionhead Studios have been there and done that - several times in fact. Only at GCDC will you see these people in the one room, talking frankly about their experiences and what they believe are the essential elements of a best-selling video game.

Microsoft have chosen four winners from the 4,500 entries to their Dream-Build-Play contest. The two first place winners received USD $10,000 and the two runners-up received USD $5,000 - all four titles will eventually be published on the Xbox Live Arcade.

First Place

Blazing Birds

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai

Second Place

Gravitron Ultra

Yo Ho Kablammo

View more screenshots and the sixteen runners-up at the official website.

Microsoft have announced the latest version of their XNA Game Studio developer tools for the Xbox 360. Originally planned as two separate packages - the flagship Game Studio Professional, and a lesser Game Studio Express for hobby developers, Microsoft have wisely decided against the distinction.

Chris Satchell, XNA General Manager said:

We made the decision to make one Game Studio. We think everyone should have access to the same tool. There should be no friction as you move from accessible development to professional development.

via Develop