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[J-Snake]

If you have experience or opinion on this particular subject then thank you for dropping it here.

I am considering to start my first commercial game on xblig.

[moi]

XBLA is A LOT BETTER

[eyeliner]

XBLA status is harder to get, though.

[moi]

		XBLA		XBLIG 2012/2013
ACCESS		needs publisher or being famous		everybody in selected countries+$99/year
QUALITY		must be a very good, polished game		doesn't care lol
PRICING		$10 to ?		$1,$3 or $5
LANGUAGE		generally C++ (or XNA ?)		C#+XNA (visual studio)
TESTING		Microsoft quality process, takes forever		peer reviewing, a lot easier, but can be dum sometimes
PERCENTAGE		Microsoft takes 70%		microsoft takes 30% + 30% from the remaining sum stolen by the US if non-US citizen and no W8BEN
SUCCESS		can make you rich or lose money dpending on marketing/media darling status/love received from microsoft		more interesting than generally believed revenue is in average, better than corresponding game on mobile or flash. But not for casual games

[Kinaetron]

Couple of things, first you can use XNA for XBLA titles as proved by  , Bastion and The Dishwasher series. Second, where did you get the information about selling averages in comparison to flash and mobile ?

[rivon]

LOL 70% taken by Microsoft? People who put their game on XBLA must be really dumb.

[Kinaetron]

Usually it's 30% taken by Microsoft and 40% taken by the publisher you're working with.

[moi]

Second, where did you get the information about selling averages in comparison to flash and mobile ?

I'm just comparing the information I get from the "share your sales number" in the xblig dev forum, and all the mobile/flash sales stats I have witnessed over time (for amateur/solo devs, not pro or semi-pro studios)

[Kinaetron]

Second, where did you get the information about selling averages in comparison to flash and mobile ?

I'm just comparing the information I get from the "share your sales number" in the xblig dev forum, and all the mobile/flash sales stats I have witnessed over time (for amateur/solo devs, not pro or semi-pro studios)

Ah fair enough, I haven't looked at either in a good while myself.

To get back to the question it all depends on the game you're making, do you have a prototype or something ?

[F8_Sean]

Patch costs on XBLA are supposedly absurd ($40K?). On XBLIG, if you want to patch your game, it has to go through peer review again.

Personally, I'd go with XBLIG as a primary development target, assume most sales would come from Steam and other Windows markets, then port to everything else with Monogame after completion. If your title does well, do a sequel or enhanced release on XBLA.

[J-Snake]

To get back to the question it all depends on the game you're making, do you have a prototype or something ?

I am done with the game on my part, only the final music and visuals will take up to 2 months to complete. After that I want to show the game to the public.

It is an original (and very brainy) action-puzzler. There is only one problem with it: It doesn't look like it on the first glance, instead I think people have the impression it is similar to a cross between pac-man and boulder dash.

I have the option to enter the upcoming (if there will be one) dream build play. The game has a good chance to get to top 20 in case it is not reviewed by graphic whores. But it will take over half a year from now on to wait for the evaluating process. And even then it is not sure the process to get to xbla will be an easy and ensured one. So may be it is a better idea just to release it on xblig very soonish instead and working on alternative versions for pc- and smartphones/tablets.

[Kinaetron]

I would probably go with the release it on XBLIG and start working on a ports. If anything comes of it you could always enter Dream Build Play and IGF. 

[PompiPompi]

XNA is being abandoned by MS. Not sure it works on Windows 8.
Also, I took a glimpse at a news headline saying the new XBOX is just around the corner or some such. And it might not support XNA.
Also, I am not sure XNA is portable between anything but Windows 7 and XBOX 360. If you will want to port it to something else, you will likely have to rewrite large portions of your code.
Though, people have done that, as in copy pasting your code from C++ into C# and doing minor changing is a bit easier(though tedious) than writing a new game from scratch.

[Gregg Williams]

Take a look at using MonoGame to port your XNA to most other places.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

last I heard XNA doesnt work in Metro but hilariously enough Monogame is adding that support back.

[Gregg Williams]

last I heard XNA doesnt work in Metro but hilariously enough Monogame is adding that support back.

Oh neat, they must be plugging in a DirectX backend as well then, considering OpenGL apparently doesn't work for Metro either last I heard.

[J-Snake]

I would probably go with the release it on XBLIG and start working on a ports. If anything comes of it you could always enter Dream Build Play and IGF. 

From what I understand the game is not allowed to enter dbp once it is released (not sure xblig-release counts though atm).

[J-Snake]

XNA is being abandoned by MS. Not sure it works on Windows 8.
Also, I took a glimpse at a news headline saying the new XBOX is just around the corner or some such. And it might not support XNA.
Also, I am not sure XNA is portable between anything but Windows 7 and XBOX 360. If you will want to port it to something else, you will likely have to rewrite large portions of your code.
Though, people have done that, as in copy pasting your code from C++ into C# and doing minor changing is a bit easier(though tedious) than writing a new game from scratch.

My use of XNA should work on recent and older windows systems having directX9, windowsXP included. Next gen were assummed to be around the corner in 2010, all of that has been a constant flow of rumors since years. We won't know until Microsoft announces it itself or the Wii U steals all multiplats.

[aheydeck]

I would probably go with the release it on XBLIG and start working on a ports. If anything comes of it you could always enter Dream Build Play and IGF. 

From what I understand the game is not allowed to enter dbp once it is released (not sure xblig-release counts though atm).

Sure it is. There were a lot of released games submitted to this years D.B.P. like Brand and Take Arms.

[J-Snake]

Ok, good to know.