As promised – another game and phone camp is headed to New York City – this time at Pace University.

Here are the details:

Ever thought "hmm, I wonder how hard it would be to build a video game?" or "man, I have this fantastic idea, but I bet I couldn't make it myself"? You're not alone - and while it is true that developing a successful video game takes a lot of talent and technical knowhow, it actually turns out to be not so difficult to get a good introduction to creating your own simple games that can entertain your friends and family.

So, we're holding a 2 day event at Pace University in downtown NYC for students to come face to face with a fantastic opportunity - develop their own video game for Xbox 360 or the Windows Phone 7.

We're going to kick off the weekend on Friday evening and go into what's cool about video games and also talk about how easy it is to enter Imagine Cup's Game Design category and potentially win thousands of dollars and get your game showcased to people in the games industry.

We'll also give you the chance to install thousands of dollars worth of software on your laptop - at no cost to you (check out www.dreamspark.com to get more information on the software we'll give you)!

But then Saturday we kick into gear with hands on labs to teach you XNA to build games for Xbox 360, Windows and the Windows Phone 7, and Silverlight to build games and applications for the Windows Phone 7 and your regular web browser.

The rest of the weekend will be filled with game challenges - wanna see if you can be top Spartan in Halo Reach, exercise your lungs in LIPS, or really get physical with Dance Central and Kinect Sports with a Kinect or two? - as well as more serious challenges like "best game concept" or even best "game prototype" for the more keen.

Microsoft people will be there for the entire weekend too - an opportunity not to miss, and lunch and dinner will be provided throughout the event.

The cost? Nothing.

That's right - thanks to Pace University, we've got the venue and rooms fully covered and Microsoft is bringing games, Xboxes, prizes and going to make sure you're fed.

You just need to come ready and willing to learn how to make games - sound good?

Well, don't miss out - you must register to attend this event, and we have limited availability. You'll kick yourself if you leave it too long - this event will go incredibly quickly (the last camp "sold out" in less than a week).

Important notes:

1. This is open to students from all colleges, but there is no overnight accommodation available at Pace, so if you're coming from interstate or afar, you will need to organize somewhere to stay.
2. While you don't absolutely need programming experience, without it you will likely find it hard to keep up in the hands on labs. You can still come and learn presentation-style but to accommodate for those students who have programming knowledge, we will be keeping the momentum going.
3. A week before we will be emailing all attendees to ensure they are still coming. It is essential that you respond to this confirmation email so we can provide the appropriate catering. If you do not respond to this email, we cannot guarantee that you will be catered for on the weekend.

Register here: http://ic11gc03.eventbrite.com/

Details:

Friday February 25, 5pm through to Sunday February 27, 4pm

Pace University
One Pace Plaza
New York, New York 10038