I'm pretty sure it can be done, but if I actually write the "game", will Microsoft allow me to run it on my Xbox 360 or even possibly sell it in the marketplace?

My plan is to build an internet web browser in XNA Game Studio for the Xbox 360. I want to know, will Microsoft allow it, and if it will, does the Xbox have capabilities to connect to web servers and retrieve http/php/etc files? If not, can it connect to a server I set up which will act as a sort of proxy and retrieve the info the 360 needs and convert it to another type of data that the 360 is compatible with?

Basically, can it be done, and if it can, will Microsoft allow it?

Blake:

does the Xbox have capabilities to connect to web servers and retrieve http/php/etc files?

 No

 

Blake:

If not, can it connect to a server I set up which will act as a sort of proxy and retrieve the info the 360 needs

 Yes, but someone else also tried this, and the perf wasn't too great

 

 

Catalin Zima:

 

Blake:

If not, can it connect to a server I set up which will act as a sort of proxy and retrieve the info the 360 needs

 Yes, but someone else also tried this, and the perf wasn't too great

 

If by server you mean a local PC to which you connect using the XNA networking APIs, then yes. Anything else, no. As for performance, I gave this a shot and quite honestly it's a pain. You have two routes to try:

1) Retrieve all the necessary data, send it over to the Xbox, and write an entire HTML parsing and rendering system by hand or

2) Render the data on the PC and send that texture data over.

Being that the first is a gigantic task that most PC web browsers struggle with, I tried the second. Needless to say it was excruciatingly slow and that was just to load up the Google homepage. Then I still would have had to find a way to handle input and all that sorts of stuff. Big pain for no real gain considering I had a PC sitting right there. I might as well just use the PC to surf the web.

Long story short, there is no technical way to implement this without requiring the user to have a PC running a copy of the game. At that point, you cannot put it into the Community Games because games that have been approved receive new identification and therefore can no longer connect with your PC version rendering your "game" completely useless.

As a personal comment, I don't see why you'd want a browser on the Xbox 360 anyway. You have a PC. Why not use that? If you want it on the TV, they make plenty of adapters that allow you to connect a PC to the television and then you'll get the ability to use a mouse and keyboard with it and not have to do any work (besides purchasing whatever hardware and hooking it up).

Nick Gravelyn:

[...]

1) Retrieve all the necessary data, send it over to the Xbox, and write an entire HTML parsing and rendering system by hand or

Not to mention various plug-in...

Nick Gravelyn:

As a personal comment, I don't see why you'd want a browser on the Xbox 360 anyway. You have a PC. Why not use that? If you want it on the TV, they make plenty of adapters that allow you to connect a PC to the television and then you'll get the ability to use a mouse and keyboard with it and not have to do any work (besides purchasing whatever hardware and hooking it up).

To add to this: Most websites ain't designed for a couch audience, e.g. it would be rather unreadable/ugly on a SDTVs and require quite some stretches to generate a useful output on HDTVs. This might be one reason why these internet boxes for TV didn't really got mainstream.

Nick Gravelyn:

Long story short, there is no technical way to implement this without requiring the user to have a PC running a copy of the game. At that point, you cannot put it into the Community Games because games that have been approved receive new identification and therefore can no longer connect with your PC version rendering your "game" completely useless.

 

Wait, what?  You mean that if I make a cross-platform game that it'll break when it's published to Live?  That's a big disappointment and a bit surprising.  I was really looking forward to making a cross-platform game that utilizes the strengths of each platform.

Here is what the FAQ has to say on the subject

Can I create a game where Xbox 360 and Windows users can play over LIVE together?

Yes. XNA Game Studio 2.0 supports cross-platform play between Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows LIVE. However, if you wish to create a game for Community Games on Xbox LIVE, you and all other players sharing the Xbox LIVE connection must have an XNA Creators Club Premium membership in addition to an Xbox LIVE Gold membership for the duration of the Community Games Beta on Xbox LIVE. Starting in Holiday ’08, a player won’t need an XNA Creators Club Premium membership to play Community Games. An XNA Creators Club membership is not required for players sharing a Windows connection.

That FAQ is correct in terms of games not pushed onto the Community Games section. However games that are pushed onto Community Games are redesignated so that you cannot connect to them with a PC version. I don't know the reason, but it's logical to assume that since the Community Games are end-user designed, the security implications of allowing a PC version to connect to the Xbox 360 are probably a factor whereas games not pushed to Community Games require a CC subscription and which requires a user agreement likely absolving Microsoft from any potential damage done to the system. Another reason is that, with a connection to a PC, you can push new content to the Xbox which will circumvent the review process and open up another liability for Microsoft.

So yes your Xbox 360 and PC games can still play together as long as you don't publish through to the Community Games with the Xbox version. Of course they could change this some how or perhaps offer a way to do a Community Games on Windows where it gets the same, new ID as the Xbox one, but for the time being that is how it will work.

[Edit: Source: http://forums.xna.com/forums/p/8916/47699.aspx#47699]