Microsoft flogs consumer Xbox tools

The XNA Game Studio Express program is a cut down version of the XNA Framework and will hit the shops at the end of the month.

You need to pen the code on a Windows PC but the goal is for hobbyists to sit down and create their own code.

Peter Moore, a Microsoft vice president said that it was Vole's the first step in creating a "YouTube".

He said that the program would be a first for consoles, which traditionally have been the exclusive domain of skilled programmers, artists and designers.

The software is designed to eliminate much of the tedious hand-coding involved in making a game from scratch. However the hobbyists who use the consumer versions are still going to be needed for the consumer version.

Of course they will also have to be serious geeks with an ability to do multi-media, mathematics, programming and games development skills.

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