if you get a publishing contract, you will be able to still use XNA code. They have a set of "extensions" for developers that want to use XNA professionally, which include achievements, leaderboards, and other things a registered developer might need. But you only get access to these AFTER you sign your publishing deal.

There are a few games right now that are being written in XNA, and bound for XBLA, like The Dishwasher, or Schizoid

newclyusinju:

Is the commercial channel via community distribution model actually confirmed?

I've heard alot of quotes to the contrary so far.. :(

So far they say they WILL offer the option to price your games. I personally think it is pretty much certain that the commercial side WILL exists. However, many things are unclear, like: will you ask for $ or mspoints; how much percentage does MS keep from that, how do you receive your money, and many other factors that most likely have to be condidered by Microsoft's legal team.

Chris Satchell said on several ocasions that the commercial side was not the primary objective until now. It will be present, but they can't tell any details, because they didn't give much thought to the details. They had to make the system work first, and then deal with legalities and commercial stuff.

Catalin Zima:

newclyusinju:

Is the commercial channel via community distribution model actually confirmed?

I've heard alot of quotes to the contrary so far.. :(

 

So far they say they WILL offer the option to price your games. I personally think it is pretty much certain that the commercial side WILL exists. However, many things are unclear, like: will you ask for $ or mspoints; how much percentage does MS keep from that, how do you receive your money, and many other factors that most likely have to be condidered by Microsoft's legal team.

Chris Satchell said on several ocasions that the commercial side was not the primary objective until now. It will be present, but they can't tell any details, because they didn't give much thought to the details. They had to make the system work first, and then deal with legalities and commercial stuff.

newclyusinju:

However I can't for the life of me consider the value of trying to pay developers by MSpoints if that was the path they decided to choose (how would you pay for office space & pay employee wages for the next project for example..? & even as an aside, if your game sells well then what in the world would you do with 100,000 mspoints for instance?).

If developers are paid with MSPOINTS, Ms might decide not to take any percentage, because those points will be used in their system anyway :). So it's a kind of win-win. You get points which you can spend on Xbox Live, and MS gains some money from those points. Also, mspoints allow for an easier way of handling your payment, since no bank tranfers are requiered, no accounts, no nothing... just your gamer profile. These are the reasons why this solution might be attractive for Microsoft.

If you are really succesfull, you might receive a publishing contract from MS, and go to the real XBLA, where you would make real money.

We'll just have to wait and see what they announce next.

Catalin Zima:

If developers are paid with MSPOINTS, Ms might decide not to take any percentage, because those points will be used in their system anyway :). So it's a kind of win-win. You get points which you can spend on Xbox Live, and MS gains some money from those points. Also, mspoints allow for an easier way of handling your payment, since no bank tranfers are requiered, no accounts, no nothing... just your gamer profile. These are the reasons why this solution might be attractive for Microsoft.

But not very attractive to developers for the reasons I expressed earlier.. & if you have no developers publishing great quality content this way (if your IP is good enough to sell & make money off then why wouldn't you choose to hunt out a publishing contract & go down that route?) then it reflects overall on the quality of the service being offered & in turn, consumner interest.. I don't think that outcome would be particularly attractive to MS either..

Catalin Zima:

If you are really succesfull, you might receive a publishing contract from MS, and go to the real XBLA, where you would make real money.

We'll just have to wait and see what they announce next.
 

Agreed.. I'm keen to find out more info as & when it's released..

newclyusinju:

But not very attractive to developers for the reasons I expressed earlier.. & if you have no developers publishing great quality content this way (if your IP is good enough to sell & make money off then why wouldn't you choose to hunt out a publishing contract & go down that route?) then it reflects overall on the quality of the service being offered & in turn, consumner interest.. I don't think that outcome would be particularly attractive to MS either..