Glad you asked! We are bringing some exciting changes to the contest this year:

• Addition of Windows Phone games
• Open to 14 years old and above
• Total cash prize of $112,500 USD!!
• Windows Phone device awarded to all Xbox 360 and Windows Phone finalist entries
• Finalist games will be reviewed and considered for Xbox 360 Registered Developer Program (RDP)! Read the RDP FAQ .

Yes, as long as you:

• Are at least 14 years old
• Can create and submit your game in English
• Legally live within a qualifying region
• Create a game for Xbox 360 or Windows Phone

For complete eligibility details, read the Official Rules. If you’re employed in the game development field, you are eligible as long as your submission was not developed as a part of your job or for pay. Again, see the Official Rules for details.

You retain ownership in your originally-developed game. Microsoft does not claim ownership of the materials, feedback, or suggestions you provide to Microsoft or to any of its associated services.

However, by posting, uploading, inputting, providing and/or submitting your game, you are granting Microsoft, its affiliated companies and necessary sublicensees permission to use your Submission in connection with the operation of their Internet businesses (including, without limitation, all Microsoft Services), including, without limitation, the license rights to: copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, translate and reformat your Submission; to publish your name in connection with your Submission; and the right to sublicense such rights to any supplier of the Services.

Read the Terms of Use and the Official Rules for additional detail.

By entering a game in the contest, you give Microsoft and its designees permission to feature your entry and any associated materials in its promotional materials and campaigns for this Contest. For example, we might feature information about your game on our websites, on TV, on the radio and/or in print. If you ask us, it’s a win-win. You help us promote Dream.Build.Play, and we give you exposure in the gaming community.

Yes, as long as you abide by the license agreement for the given middleware product.

In Dream.Build.Play 2012, you can enter both Xbox 360 and Windows Phone games or pick one of those two development platforms. If your game is really fun, innovative and high-quality, winning prizes in both categories is definitely a possibility.

RDP licenses independent professional development companies of Xbox 360 games to obtain full Xbox 360 Development Kits. With these development kits, you can now create innovative new games for Xbox 360 Retail and Arcade! Visit the RDP site to learn more about the program.

Sure! Games that are already available on the Xbox 360 or Windows Phone can still be submitted the Dream.Build.Play Challenge. Just make sure that your game meets the criteria of the Dream.Build.Play Challenge.

A CCGAME file is accepted for Xbox 360 games, and a XAP file is accepted for Windows Phone games. Read the Official Rules for additional detail on the submission requirements.

Yes. The maximum installation file size is 500MB for Xbox 360 games, and 225MB for Windows Phone games. Read the Official Rules for additional detail on the submission requirements.

You can download the free developer tool (Windows Phone SDK 7.1) regardless of whether you are creating an Xbox 360 game, a Windows Phone game, or both.

Notes:

• Xbox 360: Create an XNA Game Studio 4.0 project for Xbox 360
• Windows Phone: Make sure to choose Windows Phone 7.1 as a target platform

Getting Started

• Building Windows Phone Apps with Visual Studio 2010

Choosing between Silverlight and XNA

• The Silverlight and XNA Frameworks for Windows Phone
• Appendix B - Silverlight and XNA in Windows Phone 7

Combining Silverlight and XNA:

• Step-by-step instructions for creating a basic application that combines Silverlight and the XNA Framework
• App Hub - Code Sample Details: Paddle Battle (Mango, C#/VB)
• Get to Windows Phone Mango #1: From XNA to SLXNA

The Dream.Build.Play Sponsor and Administrator do not provide any technical support or advice on your game development. However, App Hub (portal for Xbox 360 and Windows Phone developers) offers various useful tutorials and forums where you can find answers to most of the questions you might have.

Each team selected as a finalist team receives one Windows Phone device. The device will be sent to the Team Captain. The exact device version or model will not be disclosed until later.

Dream.Build.Play 2012 does not offer App Hub membership codes. If you reside within in the App Hub supported regions, you can sign up for a membership for $99.00USD. However, membership is not required to participate in this contest. You can debug/test your game using your PC and Windows Phone Emulator (for Windows Phone games) or a PC and Xbox 360 controller (for Xbox 360 games).

Sure. As long as your game did not win any Dream.Build.Play prizes, you can still submit it to this year’s contest.

Download and study some of the top rated Xbox LIVE Indie Games and/or Windows Phone games. Also, learn different features and tips from the MSDN site. A couple examples of features that might help raise the quality of your game are:

• Windows Phone: Implement Fast Application Switching (FAS) feature. FAS allows applications to stay dormant (in memory) after deactivation, when an event (phone call) interrupts the app. It allows the app to have quicker resume times, putting the user right back where he/she was in the game.
  • Adding FAS to XNA
  • Adding FAS to a Typical Silverlight Application
• Xbox 360: Often overlooked by indie developers, tactile feedback through rumble can make your game more engaging and polished. The Camera Shake sample on App Hub shows one system for using the rumble functionality of the Xbox 360 controllers.