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I’ve been reading and thinking about the gaming industry these days. EA Game’s CEO said in an interview (lost the link, I’m sorry!) that current game development costs make it impossible for new companies to get to market. And I wonder whether the gaming industry needs its “2.0″.

Now before you curse me for “attempted use of buzzword”, think about it. Web 2.0 exists because platforms were created that allow for bootstrapping companies and quickly creating web-based services and applications. If the gaming industry had such a movement, anyone could get in and put their ideas into games.

XNA - half-assed solution

Coincidentally, a couple of days ago Microsoft launched XNA and the XNA Game Studio Express, which is, and I quote “a new game development solution targeted primarily at students, hobbyists, and independent game developers”.

It allows anyone to create their own games for PC and the 360. But you still have to pay the subscription price ($99/yr or $49/ 4 months), and even then other people won’t be able to play your games without an XNA subscription for themselves.

So Microsoft gives you the cake, but not the knife to cut it. Which is a shame because the potential of anyone creating their own games and generating revenue from them is mind boggling.

User generated games, mashups

We won’t see a “games youtube” listing games created by the community soon, because the only platform you can actually “download and play” on is the PC, and people are moving towards consoles (no wonder, with stuff like the Wii out there).

Now, the ball is in the hands of gaming console makers. Indie developers can’t afford the development systems, or want to pay for services that don’t allow anyone to experience their creations. We need better platforms for game creation, and we need them now.

Most people (like myself), don’t entertain the thought of creating games - despite having ideas - because the necessary monetary investment is hard to come by. Allowing this kind of people to create games (easily and cheaply) is an untapped money source that could benefit console makers, indie developers and everyone who plays games.

Screenshots above from Assassins Creed (coming 2007 from Ubisoft) and Gears of War (from Epic Games, already released)

Tags: gaming, industry, games, xbox360, microsoft, xna