Whilst clearly not written for the eyes of mainstream gamers, information on the penned for potential developers certainly offers a few hints at the types of games we're likely to be playing, and how perceive the console's likely audience. The information on the official website is perhaps not designed with existing game creators in mind, but rather to interested parties who have yet to commit by acquiring full 360 kids or the like.

Indeed, the information is potentially sufficient to allow developers to proceed with game creation, even before garnering all the bespoke tools unique to the 360. One early example of this suggests that Microsoft don't expect gamers to have gaming experience (a very mainstream audience), urging designers to "Design for controller input" and affirming that "Console players press simple buttons - they don't move the mouse or tap the keyboard."

Despite the optional hard-disk planned, Redmond are urging developers to be wary of using this feature, despite its presence in the original Xbox. "Console games don't install to a hard drive - they run directly from the game disc." The information also encourages developers to "Minimize load times," one of Microsoft's key aims in making their new platform as accessible as possible.

Finally, developers are told to make their games playable irrespective of hard-drive presence, suggesting that the might be used sporadically, to enable extra features and parts of games - like the N64 RAM pack of yesteryear. Those interested in this document can find it on the Microsoft website.

By Luke Guttridge