Anyone else picked this up?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OFRGD1s74c&fmt=35

Just got it today, it's a really interesting way to teach people how to program. You can also do some very cool stuff with it as seen from some of the samples that are provided (there are also lot of tutorials supplied too). You have the ability to share your game online too when it's done all through your Xbox, you can make singleplayer and multiplayer games.

I don't agree with the video that it's kid friendly, definitely teenage friendly but anyone who's quite young might find the menu scheme daunting and takes some time to learn. But nonetheless, the games created with Kodu are kid friendly.

I'm still getting used to the interface, but I'm liking it so far. It's a lot like Game Maker but with some more power for level design similar to Radiant/Hammer. I want to make a Multiplayer or Coop game eventually.

Haha, I love how, in that video, When the girl is introduced it says "Sparrow Buerer - Actual 12 Year Old Girl"

how to program? o_O

it's click'n'pray, even worse than XNA

What a good way to show the graphic capabilities the 360 is still capable of compared to the PC/PS3 ....

Seriously those guys are missing Love.

Tam

Sevenz writes...

Thats what i was thinking, looks to me like you have a few different models you can drop on your map

Similar to the editors you already get in games now.

It is a simple program but there is a lot of depth/possibilities to it. I agree that the library of assets isn't the largest, but if you're creative enough you can do a lot of cool things with what you're given.
I've seen someone make a really good PacMan game already, and someone is working on a promsining 'Left 4 Kodu' knock off of Left 4 Dead. I've also seen a cool soccer game early in stages. There isn't a central HUB at the Xbox or XNA forums, the Kodu team or Microsoft need to really step up and make some sort of community for Kodu devs/players to talk and share games at one central location.

It would be hard to make a decent professional quality game/mods out of it, but that isn't expected, get XNA or Visual C++ for if you want a larger library of assets and really express yourself. This is a great tool for creating minigames for you and friends, and I could see Kodu eventually being used in elementary/high schools as a teaching tool to encourage kids to get into Game Development or at the very least into Computer Science/Graphics. Kodu scripting language is intuitive but it is a bit daunting at first glance since there are a lot of options available, but the Kodu devs help you out by releasing tuts and preMade games (any game you make or get from someone else is open source allowing you to view and edit them which I find to be a good thing since people can learn or improvise together).

I wouldn't be quick to knock it based on that video, that Actual 12 Year Old Girl was doing very basic scripting in it. You can do a lot more complex stuff.

XNA isn't bad either but no where near as easy as Kodu; have you even tried and completed making a game in XNA?

edited on Jul. 2, 2009 05:08 pm by SparkyMcSparks

XNA is noobish compared to pure C++/OpenGL/D3DX, but you simply can't write your own A+ game as a single developer with a real life.

Call me pessimistic but I only see that as a marketing move from M$FT to cash on some kiddies thinking they'll have something better than the wee while their elder brother with will be fighting tooth and nail to get the console for themselves (in order to play the lastest mindless FPS).

So it might be impressive coming from MSFT to be willing to open up their plateform but I see that only as a market driven 'innovation'.

That being said, I thought VS C++ wasn't the official language supported by XNA (C#). If I am right, C#==Java as far as programming language is concerned, except it is yet another MSFT product which has it ups and downs.

Still not very impressed at the demo, it feels that they could have been briefing the toddler (oups little girl) before and script the entire thing.

Remember that the console market is never won to anyone, as SEGA and so many other are _NOT_ there to remind us.

Tam

J# == Java != C#, but yeah, there are a couple similarities

XNA is a C#.NET framework, but it should (technically) work with every .NET language 'cause everything translates to .NET IL anyway.

Kodu looks like a console game for children rather than a programming tool. i share your oppinion that it's nothing but another try of M$ to earn even more money.