And now for some idle speculation...

Given that the main DBP contest details haven't been revealed yet it seems unlikely that this year's contest will be timed so that the winners can be announced at Gamefest (as they were last year).

My guess is that the DBP details will be released as part of the XNA 3.0 CTP/Beta launch. If that's correct, I'd further guess that the contest will be timed so that they can announce the winners as part of the XNA 3.0 RTM launch and, if not that, then at GDC 2009, where I'm sure they'll be making a big splash with XNA 3.0 as the "YouTube" of Video Games. I wouldn't be surprised if the contest had a Zune category as well.

Obviously, no one who knows anything official can post here, but I'm wondering if anyone else has a pet theory that they'd like to share.

How about it?

 

I am constantly tempted to post things like this (after my daily check of the forums to see if anything exciting has started).

I am really split, as on one hand, I appreciate that they can't reveal any details till it launches, on the other hand, I really want to know when it's going to start!

I agree that it will in some way be tied in with the youtube of games, but that troubles me a bit, as if that where the case I might not expect it to start too soon.

I don't suppose anyone from MS could give us any vague statements like.

"It should happen this year.. or it should start before august".

(I know the answer to the above question, I just cannot stop myself from asking it!)

Anyhoo, everyone should stop reading this, and get back to working on their games.

J.

 

Indeed. The key is rather than wait, just jump in with making a game. Consider it a head start over the people waiting. There will be a Dream Build Play this year. I'd suggest taking advantage of the longer time so that you can get something really cool going for it.

The MVPs did ask about this at the summit this week and we got confirmation that there IS a DBP, there is NO announced date and you SHOULD get coding on a game rather than wait and see... that is all I can say without David Weller removing body parts that I may need.

i had the exact same thought process as you, after the announcements about what to expect from xna game sharing, that ms will tie the dates. it doesn't strike me as a useful way to run a community who are constantly pressing, rightly or wrongly for a date. i guess there are a bunch of folk who really like to plan toward a date and they're not getting much slack from ms, not even a season. not to mention that the rules and type of game criteria are unknown so you can't exactly blame folk for holding off. i have started a game, but i know if i knew a timeframe it would help me plan my time and spur motivation :)

Given that:

Amount of time taken to write game > Amount of time you thought you had to write the game
(Zman's 4th rule of game development)

the longer they take to announce, the longer you have. If you insist on waiting for the rules and times then you will be no worse off than all the other people who waited and 6 months behind everyone else. That alone should be motivation for you.

I'm not sure why its such a big deal to people - just becuase you know the dates from last year doesn't mean that they will be even remotly the same this year.

If you need a date to motivate you here is one - May 10th 2008. The forum will expect to see a playable demo of your game linked here by then and we will make sure to be merciless if you miss the deadline ;-) We can keep giving you deadlines and motivation till the real competition starts!

The ZMan [MVP/Moderator]:

[...] May 10th 2008.

No time zone?

Björn Graf:

The ZMan [MVP/Moderator]:

[...] May 10th 2008.

No time zone?

Dude if I had $10k and a xbox livepublishing contract I would send it to you right now.... that's the funniest post all year.

 

Hahah. The old quote trick :)

On a side note, MS better hurry up with the details because GTA IV is coming out next week and my priorities may shift ;)

Knertified:

Hahah. The old quote trick :)

On a side note, MS better hurry up with the details because GTA IV is coming out next week and my priorities may shift ;)

Sounds like either way your priorities are going to shift. If you can't muster up the motivation on your own I don't think any official announcement is going to help all that much. Again, the ones who win these contests are the ones who, instead of asking for the official date, are sitting there working on their game.

I was only kidding man. Although I still have a lot to learn before I enter a contest, I have dedicated a lot of time to XNA in the recentl months... almost nightly. I honestly wish I had more free time so I could learn faster.

Nick Gravelyn:

 ...Again, the ones who win these contests are the ones who, instead of asking for the official date, are sitting there working on their game.

And those are the ones who wait and wait and wait and wait for their prizes. ;)