Setting up an Xbox 360 to Run XNA Games

If you want the full game developer experience, there is no substitute for actually using a genuine console. In this tutorial, you're going to find out how to set up an Xbox 360 and make it ready to receive the games you are going to write.

To deploy games on your Xbox 360 console, it must be fitted with a hard disk. This is where the XNA Game Studio Connect application and the programs that you create will be stored. Your console must also be connected to the Internet and you need to be signed up for a Silver Xbox Live subscription or better. You must also be a member of the XNA Creators Club.

XNA Creators Club
Xbox Live accounts can be made members of the XNA Creators Club. Creators Club members pay a membership fee on an annual or a quarterly basis. You can learn more at http://creators.xna.com where you can also find sample games and forums for club members. You can purchase an XNA Creators Club membership from the Xbox LIVE marketplace, where it is listed under Game Store > More... > Genres > Other. However, you don't need to join the XNA Creators Club to write and deploy XNA games for the PC.

When you are developing XNA programs and running them on an Xbox 360, the two different machines use a network connection to communicate. There is a special procedure that you need to go through to set up both ends of the conversation between a Windows PC and an Xbox 360 console.

  • Start up your Xbox and sign in using your Xbox LIVE account.
  • Join the XNA Creators Club on your Xbox.
  • Download and run the XNA Game Studio Connect application on your Xbox from Xbox LIVE.
  • Run XNA Game Studio Device Center on your computer.
  • Connect your Xbox console to your computer.

    • A detailed description of these steps can be found in the Help information for the XNA Game Studio Device Center application, which is provided as part of your XNA installation. You can find the XNA Game Studio Device Center application on your Start menu. The very first time you run the application, there will be no Xboxes connected. You can get detailed help on the procedure for connecting your Xbox to your PC by clicking the blue question mark on the right-hand side of the application.

    Once you have completed the connection procedure, the PC and Xbox 360 will retain the settings that you entered; when you attempt to send a program to the Xbox 360, it should work.