*Sigh*

Me thinks not.

I think it could beat them easily. All the game news/blog sites are going to bring up the release, Microsoft will likely have an ad for it in the dash, etc. I don't know if it will do much help to make XBLCG popular in the longer haul, and I don't know if people won't get annoyed once they try to make something "large" with the engine, but from a pure sales standpoint I can see them trouncing the charts. That said it's probably to Shiatsu Massage's advantage that it's come out about the same time as Kudo, because more people will be looking at that new releases channel for now.

If they have an ad on the dash it wont help at all becuase people will download directly from the ad and won't have a clue they are getting a community game.

It looks great but I have only had a few minutes at it but I'm impressed.......Wow!
It is also likely to sell as you are only getting started in trial mode before the time runs out and your curiosity will easily get the better of you.
I'm definitley getting the full version when I get home from work later.

I hope the massage apps don't give community games the wrong image.

Georges Dad:

I hope the massage apps don't give community games the wrong image.

Uh, it's wayyy too late for that. Hopefully, there are at least some games in the top ten now for people to run across if Kodu happens to bring them there.

Kodu will be getting a lot of blog and article publicity so i think that it will definently beat out the massagers.

also, i would expect that some computer science teachers might use this in the classroom or something of that sort to explain pseudo code

I would be really shocked if Kodu isn't the most popular "game" for the forseeable future. Should have lots of press and push from Microsoft.

Just too bad Microsoft isn't doing more to advertise other games that aren't developed in-house.

Except Microsoft isn't the publisher of those other games...we are. So then shouldn't we re-phrase that "it's too bad I'm not doing more to advertise my games" or maybe "man, I wish I had the money to put an ad on the dahsboard for my game"?  :)

George Clingerman:

Except Microsoft isn't the publisher of those other games...we are. So then shouldn't we re-phrase that "it's too bad I'm not doing more to advertise my games" or maybe "man, I wish I had the money to put an ad on the dahsboard for my game"?  :)

Microsoft simply has resources that I don't and likely never will... I'll do as much to advertise my game as I can, but I won't be able to equal the push they can give to Kodu.

Right, that was my second statement, "I wish I had the money to put an ad on the dashboard" Microsoft has resources to publish their games, that's awesome for them but I'm like you and I don't have that kind of cash. But I also don't feel it's their responsibility. I get the advertising that I invest in and if Microsoft sometimes gives me some free advertising that's incredible, but it's not something I expect for the amount I'm paying them to develop on their console. Sometimes I forget that.

We've all been wishing to get more exposure for XBLIGs, which Microsoft this far hasn't seemed to do a lot for, but then appears to be willing to push their own game much stronger. That's more my issue... not that they won't push MY game more but they haven't been willing to push XBLIGs more until they had their own game out on the service. On the other hand, the exposure that Kodu will get (assuming it's well received/reviewed) could do a lot to bring new people to the XLIG service. So there is a bright side too... and maybe that is Microsoft's way of finally promoting the service.

Well Major Nelson has been mentioning Kodu and since his last (and only) XBLIG mention - Fireplace - went right to #1 on the chart I'm assuming this will too.

It appears the trick is to get a mention on Major Nelson...... Hmmm "Massage The Major"....

George Clingerman:

Except Microsoft isn't the publisher of those other games...we are. So then shouldn't we re-phrase that "it's too bad I'm not doing more to advertise my games" or maybe "man, I wish I had the money to put an ad on the dahsboard for my game"?  :)

I thought with Arcade games, that Microsoft took a percentage for advertising them on the dash. Which may be why they won't do CGs; it won't make them as much money. I could be wrong with that one, though.

Let's not turn this into another thread about Microsoft's responsibility to advertise the general XBLCG/XBLIG. Why not keep the topic to Kodu?

Personally I'm very excited to get home and download it. It might not be the ultimate game maker, but it still could be fun to play with. :)

I agree with Nick. I personally think Microsoft should advertise this similarly with Apples app store. (But I want it to be viewed as games, not just applications)
But, when I saw this, I knew it will be a hit. Seems like something people would like also.

A better question is should Kodu be on the list at all?

Was it written by a small indie team using XNA and C#?

Its certainly written using XNA and c# becuase thats the only kind of app that XBLIG will accept. It uses exactly the same tools that you have access to.

I have no idea on the size of the team, but I've not known many big teams at MS Research I'd bet les than 10 people... I'm sure they had additional part time folk for doing art and sound and testing... either way team size isn't something that is relevant. If EA wanted to put 10 games a week through XBLIG then they absolutly could..

Yes, actually it was :)

The ZMan:

Its certainly written using XNA and c# becuase thats the only kind of app that XBLIG will accept. It uses exactly the same tools that you have access to.

I have no idea on the size of the team, but I've not known many big teams at MS Research I'd bet les than 10 people... I'm sure they had additional part time folk for doing art and sound and testing... either way team size isn't something that is relevant. If EA wanted to put 10 games a week through XBLIG then they absolutly could..

If that's true, then I guess my comment was unfair, but I still don't consider a Microsoft title (or an EA title) to be a "community" or "indie" game.

They can do what they like of course, but it would sound a little odd if their sales pitch were "Come to the Indie games section and see all the new Indie titles developed by Microsoft and EA.".

EDIT: Out of curiosity (I'm not a premium member): Did Kodu go through peer review?

Captain Comic:

Out of curiosity (I'm not a premium member): Did Kodu go through peer review?

Yep, no special treatment there, it went through the same process every other Creator goes through as far as that goes. And even cooler is that they stuck it in Playtest first! That was freaking awesome :)

Captain Comic:

Out of curiosity (I'm not a premium member): Did Kodu go through peer review?

Yes, just like any other XBLIG game.

Yes it went through the same peer review as everyone else. They even spent a week in playtest and several new bugs were found as a result... though NONE of them were things on any of the checklists! Of course that still won't convince some people who think they write perfect code and will keep repeating 7 day cycles through peer review.

I think it unlikely that Kodu is going to convince EA or Microsoft to move any of their AAA business here - my point was that they could as there is no measure of size or experience - it wouldn't be practical.

better question: will we see massage apps on Kodu? :)

they should put a feature in Kodu that prevents massage apps... ;)

The ZMan:

Yes it went through the same peer review as everyone else. They even spent a week in playtest and several new bugs were found as a result... though NONE of them were things on any of the checklists! Of course that still won't convince some people who think they write perfect code and will keep repeating 7 day cycles through peer review.

I think it unlikely that Kodu is going to convince EA or Microsoft to move any of their AAA business here - my point was that they could as there is no measure of size or experience - it wouldn't be practical.

Well it sounds like I was out of line with my comment in any case. I definitely want to check it out. It will be very interesting to see how it does.

LOL, I just had to chuckle when I realized Kodu is an APP! :)   Guess apps will continue to rule XLIGs ;)