Develop: Microsoft keynote on new markets

Microsoft are, as you all know, getting serious about the 'casual' gaming market, trying to break into the area currently controlled by the Nintendo Wii.

With new products like Scene It?, Viva Pinata and Banjo Kazooie in the forefront of the company's push for casual dominance, how does Microsoft see the industry developing?

Chris Satchell, the chief technology officer at Microsoft Game Studios, believes escalating development costs are making it more and more difficult for developers to create games.

Creativity is being stifled by a lack of retail space, unless the title is an AAA game - like, say, Halo or Gears of War.

A lack of talent coming through in the industry, for various reasons, and the problem of developers losing touch with what people actually want makes things even more difficult for companies and game makers.

Satchell thinks that reducing the impact of these friction points will help - Making games more 'socially relevant' is one major thing that can be done.

Games need to be made easier to make and Microsoft believes its XNA game studio programme can help a lot of people who are trying to make the jump.

A million people have downloaded it so far, although only 200,000 or so have turned into 'proper' customers, but Satchell thinks the future for XNA is definitely rosy. Indeed, universities have jumped on board - 700 and counting apparently - using XNA in courses.

It can also be used to help current developers to create Xbox Live Arcade titles.

Tackling diversity is another Microsoft core concept - aiming to change who games are aimed at and who they are made by.

Getting women 'into' development and gaming is crucial, Satchell believes, especially from a young age. Between 11 and 14, the numbers of girls getting involved with gaming development projects drops massively, for example - i.e. the younger a girl is, the more likely she will be receptive to games and/or their development.

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Microsoft, as you may know, have changed the 'blades' on the Xbox interface. 'Bubbling up' the content in the interface, Satchell says, is less intimidating for the wider audience.

Building communities is another useful tool for bringing people together through games. Microsoft are going 'full-on' down this path, something that really hasn't been done successfully anywhere but on PC on a large scale.

A melding with traditional presentation is Microsoft's way of making casual gaming appeal to the 'virtual sofa' customer. 'Primetime' will allow people to 'play' game shows, at specific times of the day, which is like a fusion of gaming and television.

Microsoft and others already have a broad portfolio of games, aimed at all sorts of people. Satchell says 'distribution friction' is the main reason as to why so many still haven't embraced gaming.

Removing the difficulty of getting people involved in the development process with XNA is Microsoft's way of doing this. 'Anyone' will be able to do this and, if it gets through the quality control process - which Satchell says won't be like a critical review - you can even begin to charge people for it.

Satchell also believes both creators and employers will be using XNA to both show off their talents and recruit people from this 'community'.

It also won't impact on AAA game sales, Satchell believes - it will actually have far more influence on passive media sources (TV, film and so on).

As for social relevance, Microsoft believes people want to 'feel connected' with gaming, in terms of community and impact on their actual lives.

Mobile and 'always connected' experiences are also important to this social relevance - people want to be involved with their 'community' whenever they want to be, via the iPhone, laptops and so on.

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Satchell sees digital publishing as the future, but not to the extent of replacing retail stores. Community will become 'pervasive', content will be 'long-tailed' (i.e. downloadable content after launch, lots of stuff with few sales but, collectively, with large profit figures).

In the long-term, academia will be crucial in rejuvenating the 'talent pipeline', bringing new people from different backgrounds into the industry, thereby expanding the experiences available in games.

Connectivity and constant involvement in 'communities' will be more and more important, with mobile gaming becoming increasingly high tech.

'Transmedia,' a hideous media buzzword, will fuse traditional media with the new, gaming-centred kind, potentially impacting on the revenues of said old media.