Microsoft to add "community games"

SAN FRANCISCO — The companies that make video-game consoles are opening more avenues for developers — professional and amateur — to create and distribute their games.

With consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo connected to the Internet, games and other content can be downloaded to them, expanding the catalog of titles available for each. These capabilities are becoming a key selling point as they vie for market share and potential revenue.

Microsoft announced a new initiative Wednesday to allow amateur developers to build games for Xbox Live, an online network with more than 10 million subscribers. The development tools for these games also allow them to be run on a PC and, eventually, Microsoft's portable digital media player, Zune.

With the addition of these "community-created games," Microsoft expects to have more than 1,000 titles available for the Xbox 360 by the end of the year, said John Schappert, a Microsoft corporate vice president leading the effort.

"At Xbox, our mission is to do everything we can to break down the barriers between creators — all of you — and consumers," he told a large gathering of the artists, programmers, engineers and others at the Game Developers Conference here. "Because for each professional developer in the industry today, there's thousands of amateur programmers out there with new ideas ... for their own games."

Would-be game developers will need some basic programming and logic background. They will use Microsoft's XNA Game Studio software to build the games.

For a $99 annual subscription, amateur developers can publish their games to a community of peers who will review them, screening for violations of intellectual property and whether the game has been appropriately rated.

The game would then be distributed over Xbox Live, where small games are typically sold for $5 or $10.

Microsoft would not say how much these community-developed games would cost and whether or how it would share any revenue with the amateur developers.

Meanwhile, Nintendo said it would launch its previously announced WiiWare downloadable games effort May 12, and a top company executive predicted the Nintendo Wii would surpass the Xbox 360 in machines in use across the U.S. by the end of June.

Billy Pidgeon, a gaming analyst with IDC, said these downloadable games "help to further define the online platform for each console and provide unique content that you can't get on the competition."

It's more than just a way to differentiate, however. Combined with advertising, sponsorship, subscription fees and other online revenue sources, "it's going to be a multibillion-dollar business this cycle," he said.

Microsoft has the early lead in the digital distribution race. The original Xbox was the first "connected console" and it has amassed the largest online audience for its Xbox Live Network and the largest base of U.S. units in use for its current-generation console, the Xbox 360.

But the Xbox 360 launched a year ahead of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii. In January, the Xbox 360 was outsold by both of them. Microsoft blamed supply shortages.

The Wii has consistently outsold both the Xbox and PS3, and on Wednesday Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said the Wii's U.S. customer base will exceed the Xbox 360's "probably in the first half" of this year. Through last month Nintendo had sold almost 7.7 million Wiis in the U.S., trailing Xbox 360 sales by about 1.7 million, according to NPD Group data.

"We've already done it on a worldwide basis," he said.

In addition to WiiWare, Nintendo has two major product launches planned. Its new game controller, the Wii Balance Board, is set to hit the U.S. market May 19, along with the Wii Fit software. A player stands on the weight-sensing balance board and completes a series of exercises, including yoga and other disciplines. The Wii Fit has sold 1.4 million units in Japan, where it was released Dec. 1.

The next installment in the popular "Super Smash Brothers" series is set for U.S. release March 9.

In addition to discussing its plans for delivering more amateur content, which will consist mainly of simpler, arcade- and puzzle-style games, Microsoft threw some "red meat" to the audience of hard-core gamers Wednesday.

The company showed extended clips from "Ninja Gaiden II," an exclusive title set for June release. The game takes advantage of Xbox Live by allowing players to record and share video clips of their best gaming exploits.

Also, "Gears of War 2," a follow-up to the exclusive Xbox 360 title that has sold 4.5 million copies, is due out in November from Epic Games, the company said.

Benjamin J. Romano: 206-464-2149 or bromano@seattletimes.com