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Imagine Cup Game Design Competition

Who says saving the world isn't fun? First, it's thrilling to make a difference, and with the power of gaming, people can have fun while fighting global issues. Blow us away! Build a full game from scratch. Make it something that is truly outside the box. Think of this competition as an important step in your budding career either as a game developer or an entrepreneur in the game business.

The 2010 Imagine Cup theme is: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.” When coming up with game ideas, get inspired and educated by reviewing the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The competition pushes you to use your creativity and drive to make it to the United States Finals. And don't forget—you can also enter your project in the 2010 Worldwide Imagine Cup to compete for a chance to make it to the Worldwide Finals in Poland!

Here's how it works:

• Create a team of up to four people, 16 years or older, including you. Ask a teacher or business professional to mentor your team—it helps!
• Register your team for the competition. You can compete in the fall or spring competitions—or both.
• Get to work on the storyboard for your game for Round 1. We'll review your entry, and everyone is automatically included in Round 2 of the competition.
• From Round 2 entries, we'll judge your game demo, play instructions, and playable game (at least one level).
• Ten finalists (five teams from the fall and five from the spring) will move on to the United States Finals in the spring. (If you compete in the fall but don't make the finals, you can keep working on your project and re-enter in the spring!) By the time the Finals roll around, we'll expect you to have a complete, working game, along with screenshots, instructions, and a summary of your project.
• The ten finalists will be flown to Washington, D.C., to compete for the grand prize—$8,000 in cash! Unfortunately, we can't guarantee you a spot in the Worldwide Finals, but you're definitely encouraged to enter the project you created for the U.S. Imagine Cup into the Worldwide Site competition.

You can submit your project as soon as today, but the deadlines are:

• Fall Round 1: October 9, 2009
• Fall Round 2: November 20, 2009
• Spring Round 1: February 1, 2010
• Spring Round 2: March 15, 2010
• U.S. Finals: April 2010

What you'll need to provide:

• Fall/Spring Round 1
  • Storyboard
• Fall/Spring Round 2
  • Game demo
  • Playable game application, with at least one (1) playable level that illustrates the game play and features of the final Game that you would like to develop; final graphics are not required
    • All games must have been developed either using Microsoft® XNA™ Game Studio 3.0 or later; Microsoft Visual Studio or Microsoft Silverlight technologies.
    • Your game must be developed for working on one or more of the following: a browser (Internet Explorer 7 or later), a Windows Operating System (Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, or Windows 7), a Zune, or an XBox 360.
    • The content of the Game must address a social cause connected to the 2010 Imagine Cup Theme: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems”
    • The content of the Game must be equivalent to an Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating of “E” for Everyone. (See http://www.esrb.org for details).
    • The judges must be able to play the Game, as specified in the XNA Game Studio Toolkit .
    • All entry materials must be submitted and presented in the English language.
  • Game summary
  • Game play instructions
• US Finals
  • 100% playable game
  • Game summary
  • Three (3) game screenshots
  • Game play instructions

Cash Prizes (to be shared equally among team members):

• Grand Prize: $8,000
• First Prize: $4,000
• Second Prize: $3,000