XBOX ONE DEVELOPMENT KIT

INTRODUCTION

Software Development Kit created by Microsoft used to write software for the XBOX gaming system.

XDK includes libraries, a compiler and various tools used to create software for the Xbox.

XDK has the option to integrate itself into MS Visual Studio 2002 or 2003 which is needed if one wants to develop applications

or games for the Xbox.

XDK also includes a tool to record in-game footage, which has been widely used to create high-quality screenshots and trailers.

Purpose

XDK was also designed to be used in conjunction with an Xbox console with the XDK Debug BIOS. It includes features to link

to the console for real-time debug feedback, including system activity and network monitors.

According to the XDK license agreement, only developers that are licensed by Microsoft may compile code and release binaries

(.XBEs) of their software with the XDK. In response the OpenXDK project was created as an open source replacement for the

XDK.

Many people who are supplied with XDKs are required to sign Non-disclosure agreements so they do not disclose any

information about Microsoft's development technology.

WHAT IS AN XDK?

An Xbox Development Kit is a special type of Xbox 360 console produced by Microsoft.

They are solid to official Microsoft developers so that they can develop content for Xbox 360 console.

They, like Jtags, can run unsigned code, but they are intended to be able to do this from production.

They come in four different types,

1. Stress Kit

2. Demo Kit

3. Review Kit

4. Test Kit

5. Development Kit

They are not able to connect to Xbox Live.

However, they do have access to a different community, called Pnet.

As they have been intended to be used by developers, there is virtually no use for buying an XDK unless you are an experienced

and a very good programmer/coder.

If you are only looking to have fun with modding and making Call of Duty patches, you have no business buying one of these.

XDK's are very expensive compared to Jtags, this is mainly due to the fact that they are rare as Microsoft does not allow them

to be released to the public, but a few have slipped through and some people own them.

A lot of illegal homebrew has been created using XDK's, and a lot of this homebrew is used on Jtagged consoles, the XDK's

are practically essential for developing content for Jtags.

TYPES OF XDK's

Here I will go into a brief description of what each of these XDK's can do.

1. Demo Kit:

The "Demo Kit" allows you to play Xbox 360 games that are still under development and are yet to be officially released

to the general public.

The "Demo Kit" does not support DVD Emuation, making it not as useful for developers who need to debug and edit their

game.

These types of Kits are best used for presentation of a game in development, for explain, at E3 or other trade shows.

They can run unsigned code and do not have access to Pnet.

2. Reviewer Kit:

These kits are usually sent to reviewers for magazines and/or websites etc.

They can run unsigned code and can also use a sidecar.

They do not have all the functions as a Development Kit, as these are intended to be used by reviewers.

They come with a 20GB HDD.

3. Test Kit:

This type of Kit is intended to be used by game designers, artists and game testers.

The test console does support DVD Emulation the same as the "Demo Kit" does, allowing the owner to debug there games

from there computer HDD without needing to install the game to their XDK HDD.

These usually come with a large HDD.

Some of these kits may come with a sidecar, others may not.

4. Development Kit:

The Development Kit has the hardware and the software to allow you to completely develop and release an Xbox 360

game, assuming you know how to make one.

It allows you to debug games using Visual Studio and you can also use PIX to analyse the games' performance.

Needs a sidecar attached to fully function as a Development Kit, although it is not necessary to have in order to use it.

Without a sidecar it you will not be able to use its extra functions.

XBOX ONE PROS

Kinect:

Cloud Storage

Play a saved game on multiple consoles:

If you have more than one Xbox 360 console or you want to play games at a friend’s house, you can store your saved

games in the cloud (on our Xbox Live servers). Because your saved game is stored in the cloud, you can continue

playing the game on a different console, right from where you left off.

Fast Streaming:

You can stream music, pictures and video to your Xbox 360 console from your computer by using Windows Media Player,

Xbox Music or Xbox Video.

Motion sensing for security reasons:

Personal Home Screen

Xbox One, with unparalleled voice, vision, and motion technology, automatically signs you in when you enter the room,

and gives you control via gestures and spoken words. It can recognize you, so you get to your own, personal home

screen effortlessly, complete with all the games and entertainment you like best.

Switch in an Instant

When you stop playing to watch a movie or TV show, if you go back to your game, it starts right where you left off,

even if you were in the middle of a battle or race.

Never Switch Inputs

Connect your cable or satellite box to your Xbox One using HDMI pass-thru, which enables you to watch TV through

your Xbox, and makes switching inputs seem almost pre-historic.

Independent Developer Publishing Program for Xbox One

The ID@Xbox program enables developers to self-publish their games on Xbox One. First, developers apply to the program

to become registered developers and receive a loan of two Xbox One development kits and access to the Xbox One developer

documentation and support forums. Then developers submit a Title Information form, receive a Title ID and begin

development. Games that come through ID@Xbox have full access to the entire Live suite of tools and technology, including

Gamerscore, Achievements, and Kinect.

Do two things at once.

Why choose between two things you love when you can do both at the same time? Xbox One lets you switch between

entertainment and games. You snap them side by side to do two things simultaneously. Games and live TV. Skype voice calls

and YouTube. Split your screen, not your time.

Switch in an instant.

When you get multiplayer game invites while you’re in the middle of a movie, Xbox One makes it easy for you to switch and

join in instantly. If you stop playing to use an app, the game starts right where you left off when you return to it – even if

you’re in the middle of a battle or race.

Use Skype in HD

Skype has been specially designed for Xbox One. Chat with friends one-to-one on your TV in stunning HD. Use Chat while

you watch TV. Or participate in group video Skype calls with up to three people around the world, all from the comfort of

your living room.

HD cameras - Attach an Xbox Live Vision camera to your Xbox 360 console to use video chat, attach pictures to messages

and add pictures to your profile.

Enjoy video chat with the Vision camera or a Kinect sensor and an Xbox Live membership.

Advanced storage facilities - Attach an Xbox 360 Hard Drive to increase the capacity of your console.

Sync to cloud - Play games on multiple consoles

If you have more than one Xbox One console, or if you play Xbox One games on friends’ consoles, you’ll find it handy to store

your saved games in the cloud (on the Xbox Live servers). You can then continue playing a game on a different console, right

from where you last left off.

Back Up Save Files Automatically

Rather than sync any changes immediately, you may want to just make regular backups. For example, you can use GameSave

Manager to set up scheduled save file backups. GameSave Manager will run at the time you specify, backing up the save files

of the games you choose, and placing them anywhere. You could choose to have GameSave Manager place the backup files

inside a cloud storage folder and your service of choice would sync them normally.

If you’re playing a game, you’ll probably want to use cloud syncing for its save files. It’s useful if you’re playing it across

multiple devices, but it’s also useful to ensure you’ll have a backup copy of your game saves just in case. Luckily, this is

becoming more and more integrated with new consoles and services like Steam, Battle.net, and Origin over time. Ideally,

your save games should sync in the background without you even having to think about it, and we’re moving closer and closer

to that day.

Breakthrough technology that keeps getting better.

Xbox One is designed to start ahead and always stay ahead. Experience cloud-powered performance and intelligence on Xbox

Live. Get instant recognition and enhanced voice control with our 1080p HD Kinect Sensor. And with our industry-leading

controller with immersive Impulse Triggers, nothing will hold you or your games back.

VIDEO FEATURES:

Enjoy your video collection

Rent and buy the newest movies on your Windows 8/Windows RT device

Get the latest TV shows the day after they air

Watch instantly in HD

Use customer and critic ratings when choosing programs

Purchases and rentals can be watched at any time on your Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows 8/Windows RT device, Windows

Phone, and on the Web from your browser.

Find what you're looking for quickly and easily

Get detailed descriptions of your favorite movies and TV shows

Closed Captioning available for most movies and TV shows

Shift your viewing from PC to Xbox 360 with the touch of a button

Xbox Video to your Xbox 360

When you buy or rent a video from the Xbox Video Store on your Xbox 360, on a Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 RT PC or device,

or on a Windows Phone, you might have to decide whether to stream or download the video. This article helps you decide.

Streaming to watch now

Streaming a video is a good option if you have a fast network and a fast Internet connection and you want to watch a video

immediately.

On your Xbox 360 console, a connection test runs the first time you try to stream a video to determine whether streaming

the video is practical. If your network isn't fast enough to stream the video, you'll be notified before you confirm payment. If

your network is too slow for HD (high-definition) streaming, you might be able to stream the SD (standard-definition) version

as an alternative or simply download the video instead.

Downloading to watch later

Downloading a video is a good option if you have a slower Internet connection, if you want to make sure you get the best

possible video quality, or if you'll be offline when you watch the video. Although a broadband Internet connection (cable, DSL,

or LAN) is recommended for Xbox Video, especially if you want to stream videos, most Internet connections support

downloading a video.

After you confirm payment, the download will start immediately. When a certain percentage of the video has been downloaded,

the Play button will appear, and you can then starting watching the video. Or you can complete the download and go to your

Video Collection to play the video later.

MICROSOFT XBOX ONE AND THE FUTURE OF OTT

TV Takes Center Stage

Throughout the history of home videogame consoles one thing has remained constant: gaming and watching TV were two

separate activities living on two separate boxes connected to two separate television inputs. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has nibbled

at the edges of this issue for several years now, via support for Netflix and other OTT apps, and a few experiments with

integrated pay-TV apps from Verizon FiOS and others. Xbox One, by contrast, takes the live TV bull squarely by the horns

and supports full HDMI pass-through from the console itself.

While this does not break any truly new ground technologically—Google TV boxes have taken the same approach since 2010—

it is a first for a mainstream videogame console; a platform that remains the most popular platform for OTT TV delivery.

The goal here is clear: Microsoft wants everyday TV viewing going through the Xbox. And given that there are still a lot more

hours of TV consumed than there are hours of console videogames played, this means the Xbox will spend most of its time in

TV mode. For these users, the new Xbox’s gaming capability becomes a little like “four-wheel drive” on the family SUV. A

check-box feature that users want to know is there just in case they need it, but not really part of the everyday routine. A

game console not built explicitly to play videogames? Yup, you heard it right.

Pay TV UI Bye-Bye

The Xbox One demos spent a lot of time highlighting the cool new UI features that are available while watching TV. Change

channels with your voice? Check. Microsoft-cool program guide with supplemental program information? Roger. Integrated

Skype calling? Of course.

Whether one agrees with every design choice is really beside the point. The larger issue is that, for Xbox owners, the pay-TV

provider is disappearing from view. Sure, the channels are still there, as is the monthly bill. But the pay-TV interface is gone.

Remember how Microsoft Windows first appeared as a user interface on top of DOS? (Younger readers ask your parents.)

Well, the traditional pay-TV interface just got DOS’d. Yes, there remains some technical unpleasantness around DVR and VOD

content from pay-TV providers (neither of which work at the moment on the Xbox interface), but the direction is clear. Google

and Microsoft now both offer experiences that turn live TV into a data feed underneath their own overlays. Do we really think

Apple and Amazon will be any different?

Game Console = Smart TV for the Millennial Generation

In the run up to the announcement, a fair amount of speculation revolved around the name of the new platform, with the

consensus supporting the “Xbox 720” (i.e. 2 x 360). If the positioning had been around gaming performance, this would have

indeed been the logical choice. Microsoft is clearly aiming for a different target with Xbox “One.” Namely, Microsoft wants

Millennials (think 18-34) who will comprise the lion’s share of Xbox One users to see the Xbox as their preferred platform for

an all-in-one living room entertainment experience.

The operator’s set-top box? Buried out of sight. What about iSTBs or smart TVs? What’s the point? The Xbox does all of the

same things already, plus supports advanced gaming. I expect the hard-core gaming community will likely grumble at this

positioning because it means that the Xbox is no longer just for them. But in terms of mass-market appeal, it is hard to argue

with Microsoft’s thinking. TDG continues to conduct its own primary research into this topic, and will have some interesting

data confirming or denying Microsoft’s thesis moving forward.

XBOX DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT

The Xbox BIOS is based on Win32, but does not have all of the resources or capabilities of the Windows NT operating system,

(for example: neither DirectShow, registry, nor DLLare natively supported on the Xbox). Because of the constraints on the

hardware and environment of the Xbox, all software development for the Xbox (and all video game consoles systems in general)

are focused on reserving the limited resources that exist, the main limitation of which is the amount of available RAM.

Compiling games and applications for the Xbox

The Xbox Software Development Kit (SDK) (with libraries) is required to compile video games and applications for the Xbox.

Also required to compile (and program in) is Microsoft Visual Studio .NET

Xbox embedded operating system

The Xbox does not have an operating system per se, instead it only has a simple BIOS.

o Everything else must go into the main executable and its (XDK and own-made) libraries.

Only a single thread (executable program) can run at a time on the Xbox.

Xbox hard drive file system (FATX) has many limitations, among them a maximum file name length of 42 characters.

The Xbox has four non-standard USB ports but the Xbox SDK does not contain a full USB stack, thus to add support for

USB hardware devices, the developer would have to code the entire USB stack from scratch.

APPLICATIONS

When Microsoft unveiled the latest iteration of the Xbox, known as Xbox One, the company executives referred to this as "the

beginning of truly intelligent TV."

Microsoft is doing a few notable things with Xbox One. First, the company is staking a more significant claim in the living room.

Xbox One seems to be much more of a living room console than the current Xbox 360; it's more comprehensive than Roku, and

it will come to market before Apple has made any major announcement in this space.

Second, while Microsoft is not eschewing the die-hard nature of their gaming customers, its executives are clearly positioning this

as an "entertainment" console, and not a game console. Ultimately, Xbox One as a comprehensive entertainment solution could

be awesome, or it could massively backfire. Nintendo did remarkably well with the Wii when it was first released by targeting

casual gamers instead of die-hards.

The "HDMI in" capability which seemed to capture much attention. This is what lets you watch traditional pay TV (i.e., cable or

satellite) without switching inputs. If it's done correctly, the Xbox can become the primary input to your TV, and this can really

shift the tide in Microsoft's direction for ownership of the living room battle.

List of XBOX One Applications:

Application Type of

Software Developer Kinect

Amazon Instant Video Video on Demand

Amazon.com, Inc. Supported

Crackle Video on Demand Sony Supported

Comedy Central Video on Demand Viacom Media Networks Supported

The CW Video on Demand The CW Network, LLC Supported

ESPN Video on Demand, Live broadcasting

ESPN Supported

FOX NOW Video on demand

Fox Entertainment Group Supported

FXNOW Video on demand

Fox Entertainment Group Supported

Halo Channel Content delivery, Digital network, Game Add-on

Microsoft 343 Industries

TBA

Halo Waypoint Content delivery, Game

Add-on

Microsoft 343 Industries

Supported

Hulu Plus Video on demand Hulu Supported

Internet Explorer Web Browser

Microsoft Supported

List of XBOX One Games:

Title Genre Developer Publisher

1001 Spikes Platform Nicalis Nicalis

AE Lucky Fishing TBA AE Mob Inc. AE Mob Inc.

Alien: Isolation First-person survival horror, stealth

The Creative Assembly Sega

Alpha Muse Music, Rhythm Current Circus Current Circus

The Amazing Spider-Man2

Action-adventure Beenox Activision

Angry Birds Star Wars Puzzle, Strategy Rovio Entertainment Exient Entertainment

Activision

Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition

Action-adventure game

Martial Hesse-Dreville The Digital Lounge

Assassin’s creed IV: Black Flag

Action-adventure, Open world, Stealth

Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft

Assassin’s Creed Unity Action-adventure, Open world, Stealth

Ubisoft Toronto Ubisoft

Awesomenauts Assemble

Battle Arena Ronimo Games Ronimo Games

Aztez Beat ‘em up, Strategy

Team Colorblind Team Colorblind

Batman: Arkham Knight Action-adventure Rocksteady Studios

Warner Bros. Interactive

Battleborn Action, MOBA Gearbox Software 2K Games

Battlefield 4 First-person shooter EA Digital Illusions CE

Electronic Arts

CONCLUSION

To its credit, Microsoft appears to have fully grasped the scope and significance of Xbox to its overall business. The recent sale

of Microsoft’s operator-focused Mediaroom business to Ericsson signaled that the folks in Redmond were going all-in on Xbox as

the centerpiece of their living room strategy going forward. Yesterday’s announcement of Xbox One demonstrates that this was

and is the case. The battle has been joined and the big technology ecosystems are all setting their sights squarely on TV again.

If the last few months are any indication, change in the TV ecosystem is starting to accelerate. Don’t be surprised if we look back

in a few years and identify 2013-2014 as the tipping point.