Actually, the Xbox development model is more similar to iPhone than MS would like to admit:<p>- Cost per-seat to even get your hands on the SDK, check. $99/year for Apple, rumors put the 360 Dev Kit at $10K+ per seat, which is in line with historical numbers for Playstation also.<p>- Strict review and approval process, often taking a very long time. Developers have long complained that much-needed patches have been submitted to MS, but are stuck in approval/QA limbo.<p>- Strict control over distribution channel, onerous rules on what can or cannot be included.<p>- "App Store" model where MS handles all transactions between customer and developer.