Kodu

Today marks the release of a very cool project from Microsoft. It is called "Kodu", and I even call it inspiring. Kodu is a "Game Lab", and it allows you to make your own games. You can create your own worlds, populate those worlds with characters, and then program your character's actions. The games you can make range from shooter, to racers, to tag... really I feel that you are only limited by your imagination.

Why am I talking about Kodu? Well, I had the distinct pleasure of working with the design team last year, as a character/prop designer. Project lead Matt MacLaurin was really awesome to work for, and he let me run pretty free based on the general ideas the team gave me. The look was "simple, but cool" and I think that comes through. I played a very small part in the development, but I am very very proud of what this Microsoft Research team pulled off.



Check out the "Kodu Game Lab" on XBox Live Marketplace now, in the "Community Games" section. I believe it is coming out for the PC as well. For any kind of creative person, this is a real treat. And if you enjoy what you see, be sure to tell your friends. Post messages on the development blog. Really let the dev team know how much you appreciate their hard work. This is their baby, and it means a lot.

I will be posting a bunch of additional concept art for the Kodu characters over the next few days.