March 23rd, 2009 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Game Awards | No Comments »
Forum Nokia revealed the winners of its global Mobile Games University Competition. Parsons The New School for Design in the US and The Upper Austria University have scooped the two prestigious top spots.
Students were invited by Nokia to design, prototype and showcase new ideas for future mobile games. The two winning teams will receive a trip to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, March 23rd to 27th.
Forum Nokia PRO universities participated in the competition, submitting 44 games in total. The two winning games, not ranked in order, were:
'Weekness': Parsons The New School for Design, US
By Drew Cogbill, Yumi Endo and Rabia Malik, 'Weekness' is a game built upon the concept that friends share their SMS activity, resulting in social interactions that reflect individual communication styles, extending the functionality of text messaging into a game. User generated content plays a key and innovative role in the game-play. Weekness is developed for Flash Lite 3.0 and the Adobe Flash Lite Distributable Player.
http://dave.parsons.edu/courses/course/view.php?id=5&topic=1
'MooLan': The Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, Hagenberg
By Michael Holzl and Bernhard Aufreiter from the department of Mobile Computing, 'MooLan' is a space shuttle pilot maneouvering game which utilizes handset accelerometer and proximity sensors as well as the camera. The game concept is adapted from the classic 'Moon Lander' game but takes it in a new direction through the innovative use of platform functionalities and fully sensor-based control mechanics.
http://www.symbianresources.com/projects/moolan.php
"This competition reveals how the next-generation of game designers will help redefine the very essence of gaming by emphasizing the crucial role of social communication," said David Carroll, Assistant Professor of Media Design, Parsons The New School for Design. "It signals a new era of socially intertwined games where the distinction between the producer and player are completely blurred."
"We're thrilled to have been picked as a winner," said Bernhard Aufreiter, Upper Austria University. "We really wanted to maximize our use of handset features like sensors and camera technology – there are so many exciting innovations that can be applied to mobile games now. It has been great to have the opportunity to work with Nokia and be rewarded for our efforts. We're looking forward to being able to network with other like-minded developers at GDC and pick up some real industry insights."
"We were really impressed by the standard of entries we received, especially seeing as the students had to develop these concepts in just a few weeks," said Dr Mark Ollila, Director of Technology and Strategy and Head of Games Publishing, Nokia. "Games were judged on criteria including entertainment value, creativity and usability. This kind of competition really showcases the raw talent of our next-generation of mobile games developers and provides an insight into the potential of our industry."
