Well, one of the bigger problems in Ugly Duck's request is that the Game Department, if there even is one, doesn't hire people for Microsoft. Human Resources would. It's my guess that Microsoft hires smaller studios, and that this includes publishers, lawyers and well-known names in the field.

I think it's incredibly certain you'll get nowhere with this. You don't give any info, or say whether you even have a visa to work in the US, or what games you have produced. I mean, it's one thing if you have a company over there and you're the hottest selling Russian games; then, with some lawyers, maybe Microsoft would be into heading into that market. But if you're just 18 year old Vithold, who made twelve mods of scrollers, you'll have a hard time.

At any rate, good luck contacting Microsoft.

Quote: Original post by Obscure

If want to develop a game for the Xbox then you need to join the developer support programme. Visit http://www.xbox.com/en-us/dev/default.htm for that.

TNX, my game which I plan to discuss isn't for Xbox, it's a very funny proposal but I wouls like to receive the judiment form the first hands

Quote: Original post by jollyjeffers
I don't wish to be negative, but its unlikely you'll get anything from them - just think who you're talking to
hth
Jack

Yes, I agree that they are big enougth... but in my life I have some meeting with very very important persons and... the are humans too
1 head, 2 legs, 2 arms, good sense of humor:)))

I don;t like to be annoyng for them, just 1 question about their own old brand. That' is the reason why I would like to contact with Micrisoft.

The size dosen't matter for me in that case:))))

Quote: Original post by ellis1138
You don't give any info, or say whether you even have a visa to work in the US, or what games you have produced. I mean, it's one thing if you have a company over there and you're the hottest selling Russian games; then, with some lawyers, maybe Microsoft would be into heading into that market. But if you're just 18 year old Vithold, who made twelve mods of scrollers, you'll have a hard time.

At any rate, good luck contacting Microsoft.

I haven't any plans to work in USA:)
Be frank our team is young but our first projecy was nominated as the most on standard game 2006 at our game coference so I fell the wind of success nearby

I am over 18 years.... of cource but it's rude to ask woman about age... let's suppose that my age is nearby 18++:)))))

Quote: Original post by Ugly Duck
The size doesn't matter for me in that case:))))

In any deal there are at least two parties and both have needs that must be met. You may not care that they are Microsoft (the multi-billion dollar multi-national company) but they care that you are not an experienced developer with a track record of producing block buster hit titles.

Successful business comes from considering what both parties needs and ensuring that those need can be satisfied. You don't think this is a problem because you are thinking only of what you need and not what they need. They have a zero risk profile. They need high profile developers with proven track records and if you aren't one then the effort is doomed to failure before it starts.

Having said that, follow the link I posted earlier and you will be able to find out for yourself.

Good luck

Quote: Original post by Ugly Duck
TNX, my game which I plan to discuss isn't for Xbox, it's a very funny proposal but I wouls like to receive the judiment form the first hands

To be quite blunt, in this industry ideas are a dime a dozen and utterly worthless. Microsoft could care less about any submission and you would never hear back because it gets deleted the minute they receive it.

You'll have to realize that companies couldn't care less about 'great game ideas', or 'this game will be a best seller', etc. All they care about is having a proven team and/or members that have built AAA games. Otherwise the only response your email would get is a deletion.

If you have a game design proposal then it probably be better asking for critiques/advice from your peers or other individual Game Designers. Going straight to a larger developer/publisher is unlikely going to get you any useful feedback.

Quote:
If you have a game design proposal then it probably be better asking for critiques/advice from your peers or other individual Game Designers. Going straight to a larger developer/publisher is unlikely going to get you any useful feedback.

The typical response to this advice is that "I don't want to discuss my idea because it is new/revolutionary/super-secret and I am afraid somebody will steal it."

I want to pre-empt that response by pointing out that your idea is, as others have said, probably not as unique and groundbreaking as you think (or perhaps it is less implementable than you think, or perhaps it is less marketable than you think, et cetera et cetera): basically, ideas are a dime a dozen. They are a devalued currency. The ability to execute an idea is the coinage you want (this is why publishers like Microsoft work only with developers with track records that prove they not only have decent ideas, but they can implement those ideas as well).

Security through obscurity is no security at all and by hiding your idea you are cheating yourself and your idea; you aren't going to get the feedback from your peers that will help you evolve the idea to a more mature state and help you realize the deficiencies with the current state its in, and how to overcome them.

Talking about your idea is a Good Thing. So what if somebody looks at your idea and says, "ooh, I want to make that game too!" By and large, the kind of people who would rip off another's work wholesale are usually not the kind of people who have what it takes to implement the idea in the first place, so it does them no good. Likewise the kind of people who have what it takes to implement it won't want to rip off your idea because they'll have plenty of their own.

Quote: Original post by Ugly Duck

Quote: Original post by ellis1138
You don't give any info, or say whether you even have a visa to work in the US, or what games you have produced. I mean, it's one thing if you have a company over there and you're the hottest selling Russian games; then, with some lawyers, maybe Microsoft would be into heading into that market. But if you're just 18 year old Vithold, who made twelve mods of scrollers, you'll have a hard time.

At any rate, good luck contacting Microsoft.

I haven't any plans to work in USA:)
Be frank our team is young but our first projecy was nominated as the most on standard game 2006 at our game coference so I fell the wind of success nearby

I am over 18 years.... of cource but it's rude to ask woman about age... let's suppose that my age is nearby 18++:)))))

Dan is generally good with links, as above. Since you have a hot game that won an award in Russia, that affords you a tad of .. something.. Anyhow, my first thought is that your company should contact a good lawyer and find out what the options are for it. The lawyer will know who to contact, and how to go about it.

ellis wrote:

>your company should contact a good lawyer and find out what the options are for it.

A good game lawyer, or a licensing lawyer with game experience - yes. Most other lawyers - no.

>The lawyer will know who to contact, and how to go about it.

Not necessarily. The two game lawyers I know (both excellent) do not double as agents. Good agents are extremely picky about who they take on as clients. The OP's biggest problem, IMO, is that she has only one product.

Tom