Q&A: Microsoft's Pete Isensee on XNA and Xbox Live development

If you're a gamer, then the chances that you've had some sort of exposure to online services such as Xbox Live is high, but how tough is it for developers to get their games on there? At the recent Game Connect Asia Pacific Conference 2007 (GCAP) held in Melbourne, Australia, GameSpot AU caught up with Pete Isensee, Microsoft's director of XNA development connection, to discuss the Xbox Live marketplace, the Xbox Live Server Platform (XLSP), and the future of disc-based media.

GameSpot AU: During your GCAP presentation, you pushed the value of disc-based expansions to developers, including discussion on new tools to make it easier to roll them out. Given the strength of the Xbox Live Marketplace, why are you pushing publishers away from online distribution?

Pete Isensee: I guess we look at it as another opportunity for game publishers to get in front of their audience, because not everybody is going to be online. Demos are a very effective way for publishers to get the word out about their title and to sell more copies. If we can enable that, we'll do it. Xbox Live is our ideal solution for getting demos out and that will always be our number one, but if we can do things that make life easier and better for publishers, it's good for everybody and it's an easy thing for us to do.

GS AU: Is it an incentive to get them developing on the platform because they know they can hit a large install base by releasing an expansion for their game or a demo?

PI: I think the point of the tool was that we already have the technology to pack everything up and to build a demo package. That package is currently distributed on Xbox Live, but there's no reason we couldn't plop it on some other form of media like a disc, CD, whatever. It's an easy thing for us to do that makes publishers happy, and it's good for business.

GS AU: Do you think the Xbox Live Server Platform (XLSP) is a prohibitive feature for small publishers and developers who might not have the capital to support their own servers?

PI: It's definitely a lot to take on for a small publisher; it's a commitment in terms of time, money, and energy to make sure they can run a data centre or support an existing data centre for a long period of time. But not necessarily knowing how long that might be, or what that might entail if their game is really successful in terms of hardware cost, in terms of support and maintenance, so it's a long-term commitment that has the potential to be a significant commitment.

GS AU: Obviously developers need the financial backing to take on adding XLSP support to their game. Do you think the terms of support will scare off potential implementers, especially when they don't know how successful their title will be?

PI: That's really what the costs are, the hosting costs. Not just what we would think of as the typical hosting costs, but the guarantee that the data centre will run 24/7.

GS AU: Is there a typical time frame for support on an Xbox 360 title?

PI: I don't know the answer to that question.

GS AU: Does it vary by publisher?

PI: It varies by title.

GS AU: During your presentation you mentioned the submission and validation process of games being slowed by incorrectly labeled items in the preduplication process. How big a role does that play in companies missing shelf dates?

PI: I wouldn't say it's a major cause of slipping ship dates; it's a hiccup in the process where something got missed. It's at the last stage of the project, where everything is focused on getting that game on the shelf, and any hiccup in the process is painful, even if it's just an hour or a day. Typically with submission errors it really is a matter of hours or days; it's not weeks or months. I wouldn't say it impacts release dates.

GS AU: You mentioned Microsoft's R&D commitment to improving compression for Xbox 360 games. Given that we are in the high-definition era and that the console is currently limited to a dual-layer DVD disc format, how long do you foresee compression being able to keep up to the media's physical limitations?

PI: Actually we're pretty bullish on compression technology as well as Xbox Live itself, which gives you the ability to get extra content for games, where you're not limited by the original storage media. So between those two things we don't have huge amounts of concern. You look at titles today that have managed to ship on one disc with hours' and days' worth of content, clearly game developers can make it happen, and we're trying to address the challenges they have with tools like game layout, game disc layout, compression, and so forth.

GS AU: Do you think, then, that regardless of which type of compression or format is used, physical media limits the creative freedom of developers?

PI: I certainly haven't found that to be the case. It usually makes them more cognisant of space issues, but that tends to refocus them in a different creative direction than they may have originally taken.

GS AU: Do developers innovate, then, because they want to, or they need to?

PI: For most titles it hasn't been an issue. It may be an issue years out, but for right now there has only been a handful of [publishers] who have come to us and said that's a big problem, and we've helped them through it with these tools we're providing. All I can say is look at our title lineup and look at where we're at, and it hasn't been a significant issue for us. In the future? (shrugs)

GS AU: Pete Isensee, thanks for your time.