Supposedly MS is releasing a developing platform for game creation that is open to anyone. It's designed to eliminate the problem of burned-out developers and fewer programmers coming out of college. They say you can develop anything from pacman to halo 2 with it. In terms of publishing, PC games created with it are published for free, but to publish xbox games, you must pay $99/a year to be a part of MS's Creators Club.
It sounds like an interesting idea to me. Honestly I'd love to make a game but the time and training I'd need to do it are too great, so naturally I myself would see this thing as a good idea. The only thing I'd have concerns about is that, maybe I don't want to develop for the Xbox or PC. Maybe I want to make a game for the Wii or the PS3.
You can read more on it here