So in my previous post on this topic I was trying to made an effort to discover some details about who, exactly, can become an Xbox developer, and have access to the Kinect API. The information is not readily available, and the most info I could find was from this page.
There it states that to apply to the Xbox 360 Registered Developer Program, you need to send an email to xboxrdb@microsoft.com with your contact info and a game concept. If the proposal is of interest, you will be contacted.
Cool! So I applied, describing who we were and what we wanted to do- which would be of great benefit to all mankind by the way. I figured that they would probably ignore it if it wasn’t interesting , but if they responded I could glean some information about what there entry requirements were. And maybe… just MAYBE we would get in!
I figured it would take some time for them to respond so I prepared for a wait…
But to my surprise, I had a response the next day! I think I may have hit a nerve though, here’s what I got back:
“Thank you for your interest in developing for the Xbox 360 and Kinect for Xbox 360.
The Xbox 360 Registered Developers Program works exclusively with professional game developers. It is only open to qualified professional game development companies with a wealth of previous professional industry experience, financial backing and solid game concepts. As such, your inquiry lies far outside the scope of this program.”
Well! So not only did they just pooh-pooh the request, they managed to sound a bit snooty about it as well. Excellent.
But anyways, now what can we learn from this?
- To be in the Xbox 360 RDP you need to be a professional game developer
- You must have a wealth of previous professional experience
- You must have lots of money (how do they know we do or not?)
- You must have a solid GAME concept.
That’s the interesting part to me- GAME concept. I take this to mean that unless it’s a game, you cannot be on the Xbox 360 platform. Healthcare app to help people? Nope. App to assist in the home for the elderly? Not likely.
But I won’t cry about this. I think the SDK is improving rapidly. With a commercial version set for Q1 of 2012 and active development it would appear to have a bright future indeed.
Ah well, back to my Kinect SDK development!