Microsoft outlines development drive for 2009

Microsoft has outlined its efforts for developers, marking 2009 as the year it looks to ‘reduce risk and cut the cost of art development’

As part of that drive, the platform holder has announced a new version of the Xbox 360 development kit, and detailed a new version of its hobbyist- and independent-aimed XNA Game Studio express with a focus on content. It’s also released the Xbox Live Arcade Extensions for XNA Game Studio, and announced the third installment of its popular Dream Build Play Competition.

Full details on all of these efforts can be found below:

XNA Game Studio 3.1 revealed
New point release adds avatar and video support

Xbox Live Arcade Extensions for XNA Game Studio now available
Free download enables XBLA development in XNA for licensed developers

Third Dream Build Play detailed
XNA competition starts Monday, April 6th

Microsoft launches updated Xbox 360 dev kit
New hardware doubles memory as platform holder promises to ‘reduce risk of development’