Imagine Cup Australia : au-news

XNA Gamefest Presentations are now available online

ausic — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 05:19:00 GMT

Gamefest is probably the biggest game technology event on the Microsoft calendar. The 2007 conference hapened earlier this year (in the U.S, of course), and the presentations and some of the audio from speaker sessions have now been posted online for download. There's some very useful stuff here f you've been playing with XNA. The best thing is, the content's very 'accessible' - I've never been a games dev guy (I play games, and leave the hard part to the genii) and I can still understand alot of the slides.

I'd recommend checking theses slides out if you're interested in joining the Games Development category of Imagine Cup - some very useful, XNA / DirectX specific information there which could help you out with your entries quite a bit. I know there's also a number of lecturers wanting to begin teaching XNA - these materials would provide some good teaching references (in addition to the XNA curriculum that is available at the Academic Resource Centre.)

In other XNA news, Glenn Wilson has informed me that Dream Build Play will be starting up again soon. For those of you at the Melbourne Mix On Campus, the video that Glenn showed at the start of his demo were the finalist entries from 2007's Dream Build Play - the idea is essentially that a whole bunch of amateur/hobbyist games developers get together and build some fun stuff. I'll keep you posted with more details as they come in - Glenn is looking at get something nice from Australia included at Dream Build PLay in 2008, and will be looking for collaborators, so if you're interested, watch this space.

Glenn is also starting an XNA users group (it will be country wide). You can sign up for the group at www.virtualrealm.com.au. Joining user groups is a fun and easy way to share your knowledge with other but also to learn alot of stuff from other enthusiasts in your community. If you are serious about being a games developer, I'd sign up at Glenn's blog now - you really have nothing to lose.

Mentor Application Closed; AU Imagine Cup Registration still Open

ausic — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 06:26:00 GMT

The first ever AU Imagine Cup industry mentor application is now closed. I would like to thank all the different universities that have taken the time and effort to submit their application design proposal. There were a several bright ideas in those submission but I will not review them at this stage. I hope with the help of these industry and academic mentors, we will have some brilliant entries during the AU and WW finals.

That being said, the registration for the Australia Software Design competition is still OPEN (till 29 May 2007). Good luck to all participants!

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Nicholas (Nick) Ellery to the AU Imagine Cup community. In the next two weeks, Nick will be busy matching the strengths of your proposals with the revelent industry mentors. Any questions? Please contact us.

- Berno (i-berno) and Nick (t-nice @microsoft dot com)

An Interview with 2004 Imagine Cup Champions - Made in Australia

ausic — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 04:18:00 GMT

Last week, Nick Hodge and I interviewed the members of the 2004 Imagine Cup Software Design Imagine Cup champions (Aymeric Gaurat Apelli and Francois Beaussier)

- Click on the picture to download the video (17mins, .mp4 format)

We spoke to them about their journey to WW finals in Brazil, the experience of competiting and sharing the stage with some of the brightest young minds in the world and got them to share their exclusive tips to excel in this competition.

PS: The Australia Imagine Cup Software Design proposal (for an industry mentor application) due date has been extended, click here for more information.

AU Imagine Cup Registration and Application Design Proposal Due Dates Extended

ausic — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 03:44:00 GMT

There is no better time to get involved in the 2007 Australia Imagine Cup than right now!

The AU Imagine Cup registration due date has been extended to 29 May 2007!

The application design proposal submission is now due on 30 Mar 2007 (previously 15 Mar 2007). This extension is to allow students who just got back to Uni to have sufficient time to prepare an application design proposal submission.

(2 Apr 2007) CLOSED: Download the application design proposal today!

FAQ

1. What is the application design proposal?

A: The application design proposal submission is an opportunity for registered* Australia Imagine Cup Software Design team to acquire an industry mentor into their team. It is an optional submission and does not affect a team's eligibility to participate in the Australia Software Design Finals. Submission is due on 30 Mar 2007.

2. Does the industry mentor replace the need for an academic mentor?

A: No. You still need an academic mentor as part of your team.

3. Can I use my own design proposal template?

A: No, to ensure fairness and consistency to all registered teams, all application design proposal submission for industry mentoring MUST use the standard template available from http://download.microsoft.com/documents/australia/imaginecup/aus-ic-07-submission-template.doc

* Registered meaning teams that have been registered their participation on www.imaginecup.com

Australia IC Industry Mentor Opportunity

ausic — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 07:48:00 GMT

This year's Australia Imagine Cup competition, I am pleased in conjunction with the leading developers from Readify, to offer an industry mentor onboard (subject to availability, on a first come first served basis) the AU software design invitational (SDI) candidate teams . These volunteer mentors are able to provide an industry perspective to our budding SDI teams.

This is a free service available for all Australia IC SDI candidate teams who have registered their participation on http://www.imaginecup.com/. This proposal is an optional submission and does not affect a team’s eligibility to participate in the Australia Imagine Cup Finals (Jun 2007).

If you are participating in this year's AU Imagine Cup SDI, you are encourage to submit your proposal and I will do my best to match you with an appropriate mentor.

For more information and obtain a copy of the proposal documet, please refer to the Australia Imagine Cup 2007 SDI submission template.

- Berno (t-berno)

Check out the new Australia Imagine Cup 2007 Web Site

ausic — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 03:03:00 GMT

The new Australia Imagine Cup 2007 web site is out. There are listings of the latest news and information, competition details, resource pack to download and a link to the Austrlia Software Design forum.

Check it out now - http://www.microsoft.com.au/imaginecup

Don't forget to show your support for the Australia Imagine Cup Team!n Stick your free Aus Imagine Cup button(s) on your blog today!

Australia Imagine Cup Blog Buttons

ausic — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 02:53:00 GMT

The new Aus Imagine Cup blog buttons are out! There are two to choose buttons based on the Australia Dreamtime Theme – the Waugal (Raindow Serpent) or the Kangaroo.

You can now download them from the download pack (under Resources) and upload them onto your blog!

Don’t forget to link them back to http://www.microsoft.com.au/imaginecup. Show your support for the Australia team in this year’s Imagine Cup 2007!

The Australian Imagine Cup Software Design Forum

ausic — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 01:43:00 GMT

Good news budding Aussie Imagine Cup Software Design entrants!

The new Australian Imagine Cup Software Design forum has been specially setup for us.

You are encouraged to post your questions and thoughts about the Aus IC Software Design competition on this forum. You can also syndicate this forum via http://imaginecup.com/community/forums/rss.aspx?ForumID=56&Mode=0

I promise to check this forum at least once a day to answer your questions.

Cheers,

Berno (t-berno at microsoft dot com)
Aus Imagine Cup 2007, Organiser

Check out the Imagine Cup 2007 Video

ausic — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 09:23:00 GMT

Hey check out the Imagine Cup 2007 promo video. There are 9 categories to participate including some old favourites like Software Design, Project Hoshimi and new competitions like Photography too!

Video: Imagine Cup 2007 Promo Video

For more information, visit www.microsoft.com.au/imaginecup or contact me t-berno [at] microsoft.com.

한국에서 만나요 - Hangukeseo Mannayo - See you in Korea!

Welcome to the Aus Imagine Cup 2007 News Central

ausic — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 12:47:00 GMT

This is the Australia Imagine Cup 2007 News Central blog, the place to grab up to the minute on the latest on the premier student technology competition.

I'm Berno, one of the organisers for the 2007 Australia Imagine Cup competition. I'm very excited about the upcoming competition and here is a sneak preview of the new Australia Imagine Cup 2007 look-and-feel. We try to infuse a blend of technology aspirations and the Australian Aboriginal dreamtime creativity elements.

For more information, check out www.microsoft.com.au/imaginecup or email me [t-berno] [at] [microsoft] [dot] [com].