Forum Nokia announces winners of Mobile Games U...

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Student developers work against the clock to submit "the mobile games
of tomorrow"

GDC - San Francisco, CA - Forum Nokia, the largest mobile development
community worldwide, has today 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, being chosen above the other participating
Forum Nokia PRO universities. 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."

Please visit us at GDC! The N-Gage by Nokia booth is #5605, North
Hall, Moscone Center.

Riku Suomela, Nokia, will be giving a talk on the Forum Nokia Mobile
Games University Competition from 11.00 - 12.00pm on Wednesday 25th
March. The winning designs will be demo'd straight after.
About Forum Nokia
Nokia's global developer program, Forum Nokia connects developers to
tools, technical information, support, and distribution channels they
can use to build and market applications around the globe. From
offices in the U.S., Europe, India, Japan, China, and Singapore,
Forum Nokia provides technical and business development support to
developers and operators to assist them in achieving their goal of
successfully launching applications and services to consumers and
enterprises. More information is available at www.forum.nokia.com.

About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and
growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. We
make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that
enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television,
imaging, games, business mobility and more. Developing and growing
our offering of consumer Internet services, as well as our enterprise
solutions and software, is a key area of focus. We also provide
equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through
Nokia Siemens Networks.

About Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School for Design is one of the most prestigious and
comprehensive schools of art and design in the nation. Parsons
graduate and undergraduate Communication Design and Technology
programs encompass a diversity of perspectives and practices connect
by a human-centered approach to design. Experimentation,
collaboration and exploratory research are central to a Parsons
education, with the overriding goal of inspiring a new generation of
designers to create the messages, experiences and platforms for a
more sustainable and imaginative future. Areas of study include game
design, animation and motion graphics, information design,
publication design, advertising and persuasion design, physical
computing and interation design.  For more information, please visit
www.parsons.newschool.edu/dt.

About The Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, Campus
Hagenberg
The Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences offers an
internationally recognized, well-established, practice-oriented
education at four locations for over 4000 students.  With its unique
combination of education, research, and business, the Campus
Hagenberg has established itself as a dynamic center of computing and
software development with an international reputation. It offers a
wide range of degree programs in the field of Information Technology,
including Mobile Computing. Modern infrastructure and equipment,
strong ties to the IT industry and a dedicated teaching staff ensure
a focused education with excellent career opportunities.  For more
information please visit 

http://www.fh-ooe.at/en/hagenberg-campus/

Media Enquiries:

Nokia
Communications, Americas
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Nokia
Communications
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

www.nokia.com


 
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