14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft was quick to cash in on the whole independent games mania with its Xbox Live Arcade concept. As part of the Xbox Live Marketplace, any gamer can browse and eventually buy small, fun and interesting games from the service all through his gaming console.
Inspired in part by the success Microsoft enjoyed with this initiative, both Sony and Nintendo have launched initiatives that mirror it and aim to offer small independent publishers the pace they need to present their creations to the public. There are, on Sony's side, the exclusive titles for the PlayStation Network, while Nintendo has been working hard on promoting its Wii Ware concept that's already available in Japan and is set to arrive in North America on May 12.
But Microsoft XNA general manager Chris Satchell doesn't think that Microsoft is threatened in any way by this development. He says: "I think we still get an amazing amount of interest. Normally we have way more interest than we kind of have publishing slots to put things in."
The main advantage that Microsoft still enjoys is that its platform is more accessible and that the company shoulders much of the costs associated with the publishing and promotion of games, leaving developers with just the creation process to worry about.
Chris elaborated: "And when you think about the community and what we're doing with distribution on XNA Game Studio, nobody is going to have that combo. I don't think anybody has got that level of innovation integrated the way we have. We've really got the right tools and distribution mechanisms for that range of content, so I feel really confident about all parts of the ecosystem and I'm going to keep working to make sure we support them correctly."
It will take some time from the launch of Wii Ware to see how the fight for independent developers and their games can influence the wider console conflict.