Ever Wanted To Try An Xbox 360 Dev Kit? Here Is How Much They Go For Today
Ahead of every new generation console release, and the games targeting it, brands like Sony and Microsoft create custom hardware for development and stress testing. Known as dev kits –- short for software development kits –- these are primarily created for writing game software, testing performance, and demonstrating games. Microsoft calls them XDK (Xbox Development Kits), but keeps them a closely guarded secret.
That's because XDKs are targeted exclusively at game developers and studios. They are not sold, and any information about them is strictly prohibited from making it into the public domain. Bans from Xbox network, firings, and even law enforcement raids have happened to protect the secrets these Xbox dev kits hold. But as they age and new generation consoles arrive, the dev kits of older models often make it to online auctions because developers no longer have any use for them.
Take for example the Xbox 360, which was launched in 2005. It got a total of three trims and multiple devkit variants such as Xenon, Jasper, and Zephyr, depending on the motherboard. It came in both black and white shades. At this point in time, Microsoft has long shuttered official development on the Xbox 360 development platform, which is why these dev kits can be found on platforms like eBay owing to their collector's value. But you might have to pay more for these aging kits than the current-gen Xbox Series S and X consoles.
What you need to keep in mind?
According to an analysis by PriceCharting, you can expect to pay roughly $500 for these Xbox 360 dev kits, of which Microsoft launched multiple iterations. But we are mostly talking about the beta models. The alpha builds of the Xbox 360 dev kit are extremely rare. These were custom-modded by Microsoft's team on the foundations of Apple PowerMac G5. A contractor named Michael Hanscom was actually fired for posting a picture of these PowerMac G5 bundles at Microsoft offices. These have rarely ever hit online auction platforms.
The beta kits are what developers and studios got, however, Microsoft never actually revealed the official asking price of these XDKs publicly. But even with a comparatively wider availability, some of these beta kits are quite rare. The blue version released in 2009, which had a massive 1GB memory for its time, is even harder to find. To a collector, they are worth thousands of dollars easily. For example, the Durango dek kit sold for a whopping $20,100.
But even if you manage to snag a functional Xbox 360 dev kit and the sidecar attachment, there is no certainty that they will run those classic games. That's because Microsoft doesn't link these Xbox dev kits to public gaming services like Xbox Live. Instead, they run on a custom network with a validation key system that is only accessible to registered game developers and studios. As such, chances of being able to enjoy an online game are slim, and depending on server availability, even offline games may not work as expected.