what is the point of microsoft sending out xbox one xdks if you can just enable it on retail? is retail meant to turn in to a test kit or something?
So they made it retail consoles can turn in to xdks just for the cost of making xdks? If so why make xdk xboxs at all?
Xbox One consoles are all XDKs but are separated by software setup which is essentially the only thing making it work as a retail unit or an XDK. Assuming you know how to "turn on" or "switch to" XDK mode on it you can make any retail Xbox One into an XDK. It's entirely based around cost effectiveness. Why manufacture different boards and software when you can have the same hardware internally and retail but just managed by software to lock it out of XDK mode?
Lets ask someone who may know something about the subject. March 2, 2016 - Phil Spencer Before the Xbox One launched, there was a rather intriguing idea doing the rounds- that every single retail Xbox One unit sold would be able to double up as a development kit, effectively allowing every single consumer the console was sold to to become an Xbox One developer. It was a cool idea, and would have probably seen more indie game support for the Xbox One than the console has now- but alas, it never came to be. Like a lot about the Xbox One, good and bad, that was announced before the system’s launch, and lost in the transition to its release, this was another idea that never saw the light of the day. But Xbox head Phil Spencer hasn’t given up on the plan- or at the very least, he is willing to openly profess his love for it, even as he evades questions about it ever happening. “I cannot update on that front right now, but I think the idea that you’re talking about is a perfect example of … way back in the day, third-party publishers paid thousands of dollars for console dev kits,” Spencer said in an interview with Polygon. “That clearly kept you and I from starting a game company, because it would soak up most of our money just buying the dev kits.” “Then, indies were embraced — Sony did a great job, I’m not saying we were unique on this — we had our ID@Xbox program where, when you’re accepted, we sent you two dev kits. Which was a way to say: ‘Go start building games!'” Spencer continued. “We don’t want the price of the hardware to be a barrier. And you can distribute them digitally so you don’t even have to deal with all the retail stuff and make that work.” He added that he still finds merit in the original idea, though. “The idea that you and I might just want to riff on something on our own at home and see if we can create something very very easily even before we submit to ID — that makes a lot of sense to me.” But of course, we still don’t have any official word on if it will ever happen. Perhaps the logistics of it are simply too unfeasible. Read more at http://gamingbolt.com/phil-spencer-...becoming-development-kits#cxruBzz7jo5G2wW5.99
I feel they originally did this to save cost, then used it as marketing leverage... Making software and games is hard..... Very few consumers will actually bother even learning... It's like with people asking for help on tech youtube channels, saying they are building a PC and NEED am i7 as they are going to be rendering videos for youtube in 60FPS blah blah blah... I'm yet to actually see anyone follow through... people are lazy
I'm in this boat right now actually. I could absolutely make some stuff with these tools and software, but I don't because I don't feel like it because it takes effort and time. All the resources are there to make and create, but in the end people just want instant gratification, but it will never end up like that. Also LeHaM, in regards to the i7 part, my i5 seems to be handling rendering very well.
You poor soul... Anyway, back to the point. It's still related to cost efficiency. Look at all the variants for the 360 that happened. Various hardware revisions, various sidecars, various RAM additions (on XNAs), various internal reworking. And to be fair, even if the inclusion of HDMI threw things off a bit it's still worth mentioning that even the high failure rate of the damn things caused production issues and money loss. The Xbone was made to last as an all in one solution to home consoles (as a PC is). It should not fail in any capacity in 6-7 years of operation (excluding maybe HDD or BD drive).
