Premium members don’t just get to submit games – they get to review games, playing them before they are released and giving feedback. All submitted games must be reviewed, and it’s creator reviews that decide whether a game is approved for distribution on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. As a Premium member, keep the community safe and fun for everyone; be a reviewer.
| Find a Game to Review |
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Before you get started, it’s important to note that in order to review games made by other creators in the XNA Creators Club, you must be an XNA Creators Club Premium member. Also, you must have XNA Game Studio installed on your computer and XNA Game Studio Connect running on your Xbox 360 console. See the Create Your Game tutorial for more information on how to do this.
As a Premium member of XNA Creators Club, you have the ability to play and review games before those games are available to the public on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
Verify the classification of the game. Make sure the creator accurately identified any mature content. Also, look for and report any prohibited content or errors.
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Start your review by signing in to the XNA Creators Club Online Web site. From the main menu, select Games, and then click Games Catalog. You will then see a list of games currently submitted to the XNA Creators Club Online Web site.
You can filter your results by a genre of your choosing. You can even jump to games made by a specific creator by typing the creator’s name in the Find a creator box.
The games you can review will be in a Submitted state – you’ll see a link named Review This Game. Click the link to start the review process.
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| Download and Verify Game |
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After you’ve selected a game to review on the XNA Creators Club Online Web site, you’ll see a review page with several steps.
First, you must download the game and play it in order to complete the review. Click Download under the Game Info section.
While the game is downloading, start XNA Game Studio Connect on your Xbox 360 console. To start XNA Game Studio Connect, power on your Xbox 360 console, and sign into your Xbox LIVE profile. Navigate to the My Xboxchannel and select Games Library, All then click XNA Game Studio Connect. Make sure that XNA Game Studio Connect has a connection to your computer. After you download the game, click Open. XNA Game Studio deploys the game to your Xbox 360 console automatically.
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As you play the game, take note if the game crashes, becomes unplayable, or lags severely. Also, look at the media for the game on the review page – media such as the video, screenshots and descriptions. Take note if you feel the media content is inappropriate or misrepresents the game in any way.
You’ll see check boxes for these problems. Check them if you found problems with the game. Indicate in the details box where in the game you found the problems. If you didn’t find problems, leave the boxes unchecked.
Click Next to move to other parts of the review. If you checked the boxes indicating that the game has defects, go to the end of the review to verify the review summary. If the game does not have defects, indicate in the check boxes whether the game contains prohibited content.
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| Check for Prohibited Content |
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While indie games on Xbox LIVE have a wide variety of content, content that is suitable for different players, there is some content that is never acceptable. This type of content is prohibited content.
If you find any type of content matching the prohibited content descriptions on the review page, check the appropriate boxes and provide accurate feedback explaining where in the game where you found the prohibited content. If you’re not sure what qualifies as prohibited content, click the question mark above each type for more information.
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When you’re done, click Next. If you checked any boxes indicating prohibited content, the review process ends at that point. You will be directed to the review summary. Otherwise, you will go to the Classification review of the game’s content. |
| Verify Game Classification |
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When a creator submits a game, the creator classifies the content included in the game. This allows players to know what to expect. As a reviewer, it is your responsibility to determine whether the creator’s classifications are accurate.
You will see a list of categories with a number and slider bar associated with them. Roll over each category to understand what the category means, and what each number means. For each category, slide the bar to the number you feel correctly represents the game content that you experienced.
If you aren’t sure what a particular category or number means, click the question mark above the category for more information.
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When you’re done, click Next to go to the review summary. Review all the information and send your results.
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| Review Summary |
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When you get to the review summary page, you are nearly done with the review process for the current game. Please check the summary carefully for accuracy. If you need to make changes, click Previous to return to the last page. However, if you are certain all information is accurate, check the box at the bottom of the page, and click Submit Review to send your review.
If you indicated the game has any technical problems; problems with its description, screenshots, or video; or prohibited content, you will see a rejection summary. If you see a rejection summary, look over your comments carefully.
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Make sure they are accurate. Click Previous if you need to make any changes. If you are satisfied, click Submit Review.
This will complete the review process and send feedback to the creator. Thanks for making indie games on Xbox LIVE great.
Try reviewing a game now!
Next: Playing Indie Games
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