There’s a lot that could be said about Microsoft’s handling of XNA games on 360 over the last few years, but with the current Xbox UI I think that all that should be said is that they are no longer something that Microsoft consider relevant. The ease of use and great developer tools just aren’t enough, and unless the next generation Xbox does something better, which is a possibility, then homebrew on consoles is once again dead.
I do think that there is a non-zero chance of there being an app store on the next generation Xbox as it’s worked out well for Apple as a revenue source, but Microsoft are masters at not utilizing what they have and letting other beat them. I’ve always assumed that it’s various groups inside of Microsoft fighting away and pulling in different directions depending on who has won that month. XNA is being pulled towards phones and the Xbox UI is being pulled towards, well who knows what that mess of a UI is meant to be for now? It makes everything to do with games harder and hides some content so well that even Microsoft community people send you to youtube to find videos rather than the Xbox dashboard now.
It’s sad to see independent games on the consoles go away once again, but maybe we will get better support next time.
