Microsoft Unveils Unified Development Technology

Speaking at GDC, officials from Microsoft have unveiled a new development platform named XNA, which will be used across all future game platforms, including the next generation Xbox, PCs and mobile devices. The company claims that XNA will allow developers to combat rising production costs and increasing hardware complexity. The main benefit of the platform for Microsoft is that it ensures that developers can simultaneously develop games on the PC and Xbox, although up till now there has already been a large amount of crossover between the two formats. Microsoft has also made a series of announcements about its own tools and technologies, with plans for Xbox Live-style functionality for billing, security, and matchmaking being made available to Windows developers; the introduction of controllers that are compatible with all Windows and Xbox game players; and a number of graphics and audio tools such as PIX and XACT, which have been previously been available only to Xbox developers, being made available for developers on Windows-based platforms. Source: GameSpot