GDC08: Mysterious shroud hides XNA secret

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Feb 18th 2008 at 7:18PM }

An enigma awaits GDC attendees who waltz into the Moscone Center's North Hall, the current home of Microsoft's XNA display. Placed amongst the various screens and demo stations running independent, XNA-powered Xbox 360 games is a sheet bathed in purple lights and mystery. "Coming Soon! Wednesday February 20 11:30AM" declares a nearby sign.

If the sign is to be believed (it seemed friendly enough), something is set to be unveiled at the conclusion of John Schappert's keynote, "A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community." If that's what lies beneath the sheet, it's fair to say that a future wide open is a lot smaller than we imagined it to be. Maybe you have a better idea*?

* Full disclosure: We could make out what appeared to be some widescreen displays. Will they display a new independent game or some new XNA features?

Tags: GDC08, John-Schappert, XNA

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Fernando Rocker (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 7:21PM

A PS Home rip off.

Raikage (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 7:29PM

NO! It's Ludwig in robot form!

Or, MS substitute for ROB

Mr.ESC @ Feb 18th 2008 7:35PM

Okay since when Fernando supports Sony?

Did the SDF broke into Fernado's house tied in a chair in the basement and stole his account or what?

Damn those Sony fanboys are psychos I mean.....Urggg...
hey what the s.....

I mean good job "Fernando" the SDF salutes you.

Sony is the best company evar,I can't wait for Sony conference and I'm totally saying this by my own will and there is no gun poitning at my head at all.

Fernando Rocker (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 7:37PM

Lol... I'm not supporting Sony... what I meant was that maybe a Xbox Home (of course, way better than PS Home).

Fernando Rocker (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 7:38PM

I'm kidding.. of course Sony is the best company evar... and PS Home will be the best...

*Barely can watch the keyboard with a laser sight between my eyes...

rom @ Feb 18th 2008 7:39PM

You know what would be really cool.

A PSP-like device made specifically for XNA homebrew games and apps. I'd buy 2 of those suckers.

But, I doubt anything that cool is in the works though....*sigh*

Robo-Ludwig it is then!

Matt B @ Feb 18th 2008 7:43PM

Um... Did someone crack FR's blogsmith account's password of wii60rulz???

I almost don't buy that it is him.

flYY @ Feb 18th 2008 8:29PM

Wow ludwig is quite the schmexy south african. where do i sign up for the LDF? (not london dispersive force)

ThornedVenom (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 9:04PM

@Matt B

That's because you haven't witnessed the holy powers of Ludwig yet.

It changes a man, you know. Even a rocker.

PSN: KillaKornbread @ Feb 19th 2008 5:18AM

ugh! you guys are so confusing now with your LDF club gear lol. plus Fernando has changed his avatar like twice in a week! he never does that! lol it is a bit of hilarious though honestly.

dan stabbingworth @ Feb 19th 2008 8:48AM

If only this constant trolling ever had anything to do with the articles you guys commented on. Way to spam the threads constantly. Can we get some ban action please? I'd like to read actual discussion.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 19th 2008 9:06AM

Then scroll down past the off topic threads. If you want constant banning for OT discussion, go to Kotaku.

NATO_Duke @ Feb 19th 2008 10:06AM

Fernando - what were you thinking?

ssuk @ Feb 19th 2008 11:09AM

rom: I believe you may be interested in the gp2x

If you're interested, Play Asia has them for import:
http://tinyurl.com/2hzkfj

rom @ Feb 19th 2008 11:20AM

@ssuk

Holy crap! That thing is awesome! Thanks for the link. I might have to buy it. (When I can afford it anyway.)

copa @ Feb 18th 2008 7:22PM

Inside lies the only third-party PC Games publisher dumb enough to sign up for Games For Windows Live.

The Eighth Wonder Of The World!

copa @ Feb 18th 2008 7:23PM

Just kidding. It's actually a bunch of UT3 maps that you will never be able to play on XBox 360 because Microsoft doesn't have a strategy for distributing user-created content over Live.

Tiptup300 @ Feb 18th 2008 8:52PM

Does anyone even realize what this is about?

XNA, yah know coding your own games. When they say youtube of games, they mean a marketplace over live where you can share your xna games with anyone. You people are dumb.

Kapitan Kramer @ Feb 18th 2008 7:22PM

Lud!!!W!!!ig, you're tiny, cant you just sneak under the rope and check? or will the Microsoft Ninjas slice you in half..

if so, can I have your skin? (I KID!)

ThornedVenom (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 9:05PM

I will not bite the bait.

rom @ Feb 18th 2008 7:22PM

Disappointment.

It's always disappointment.

Prove me wrong, MS!

Organic_Shadow @ Feb 18th 2008 7:23PM

Me thinks they will try to get on the LBP-esque bandwagon with some sort of "make and share" type of functionality in XNA. Possibly running directly on a 360 without a PC needed.

A youtube type deal, yes, but since I think it will be a disappointment I chose that instead. :P

PSN: KillaKornbread @ Feb 19th 2008 5:23AM

thats what i was thinking. i wouldnt go so far as to call it copying LBP but i wouldnt be surprised if it was some kind of youtube like gaming network. that would be admittedly awesome after you sort through all the crapware that would get put up there (but i guess thats true of any social networking deal).

samfish @ Feb 18th 2008 7:28PM

Disappointment.

Mr.ESC @ Feb 18th 2008 7:29PM

Oh em gee M$ sicrit,it has two bE Heilo fUr!!

mike @ Feb 18th 2008 7:30PM

I also voted disappointment. Whenever there are announcments about announcments, 99% of the time its just BS that no1 really cared about. Remember when pacman ce was announced and for a couple days before we where lead to believe it would be the next best thing since sliced bread?

Mr Khan @ Feb 18th 2008 7:44PM

Agree

We should all be wary about unwarranted hype, lest an incident with a former joystiq blogger be repeated

baby sea tuna @ Feb 19th 2008 6:35AM

...except that Pac-Man CE *was* the next best thing since sliced bread.

That said, I also voted "disappointment"

dan stabbingworth @ Feb 19th 2008 8:50AM

You mean like almost every Bungie announcement?

Mr.ESC @ Feb 18th 2008 7:31PM

My initial response was one smaller, slightly less mysterious shroud but at the end is probably going to be disappointment.

So when is MS going to announce Halo 4 and that new Blu-ray add-on?

Dyranios @ Feb 18th 2008 7:43PM

HD DVD's secret weapon

finnith @ Feb 18th 2008 7:54PM

Maybe it will be that last minute ball-punch that some fanboys want so bad.

Brian @ Feb 18th 2008 7:51PM

It must be a Prince cameo...

Mr Khan @ Feb 18th 2008 7:53PM

It's Shane Kim, who will reveal to us an Earth-shattering secret

Resident Evil 5 will be a video game.

DangerMouse @ Feb 18th 2008 8:00PM

It's Jeff Bell doing that soulja boy crap.

Shmil @ Feb 18th 2008 8:04PM

GABBO! GABBO! GABBO!

MJ @ Feb 18th 2008 8:06PM

A rrod hulahoop? Or a smaller, slightly less mysterious shroud with a card underneath with an announcement of an announcement on it.

Truepatriot @ Feb 18th 2008 8:08PM

its youtube of games.if anyones listens to one up podcast a few episodes back they talked about ms releasing it during gdc.but that was a rumor but i want it to be true so much my pores bleed

Mr.ESC @ Feb 18th 2008 8:17PM

"youtube of games".

God I hope not.

Youtube is 20% cam whores,50% stolen property,20% flagging,15% Rick Astley, Tay Zonday, Will smith and 5% good material.

That means you will have to navigate to an endless sea of putrid puke until you reach the good stuff, that would be like using the internets(Is not a big truck is a series of tubes, that was send by my staff.) but worst because you can’t use a keyboard or a mouse.

Truepatriot @ Feb 18th 2008 8:22PM

ok fine newgrounds of console games?

but idk i think id want to play a couple cam whore games....

Mr.ESC @ Feb 18th 2008 8:39PM

"but idk i think id want to play a couple cam whore games...."

You'll regret that, they are all fat, fugly and shemales.

The good ones will either be expensive or you'll have to play in 4 player co-op mode if you know what I mean.

Also you already have access to that dirty rapist simulator, what was the name oh yeah Mass erect in the sexbox.

Saria the Cat @ Feb 18th 2008 9:01PM

Sounds like Youtube is giving it 110% effort!

Mr.ESC @ Feb 18th 2008 10:44PM

Um yeah it was a joke, yeah umm that was totally on purpose.

(Damn last minute edit)

Well I was hoping no one would notice that but now I’m afraid I’ll have to kill you.

*Boom headshot.

upz @ Feb 18th 2008 8:48PM

For the time being, nothing but an Ikea lamp. They're not going to assume that everyone's a non-peeking good Samaritan like our friend Ludwig here.

Zertoss @ Feb 18th 2008 8:55PM

Looks like most of us are expecting disappointment. Way to set the bar so high with Vista, Microsoft.

egoant @ Feb 18th 2008 9:29PM

Honestly I think that XNA has a lot of potential. The scary thing, for me, about their "YouTube" of games is the level of effort involved. I can make a YouTube video in a day or two, but a game can take a long time... I am hoping they have figured out a way to monetize their indie developer creations.