July 26, 2010 – The Sault Ste. Marie area is home to an up-and-coming generation of video game developers and the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) is inviting the public to see their talents on display as they compete for a chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to Montreal where winners will tour Ubisoft, the largest video game studio in Canada. The competition presentations and awards ceremony take place on Friday July 30 at 2 p.m. in the Great West Life Amphitheatre at Algoma University.

The afternoon event marks the conclusion of the ProtoLaunch year one summer video game design competition. 24 local high school students have been participating in the competition, which began on June 28. The students have been grouped in six teams of four, with each team responsible for conceiving, designing and programming a fully-playable original video game. Winners will be announced at July 30’s event. Guests will also have the opportunity to see and learn about the students’ work and to also play the games themselves.

Dwayne Hammond is the Strategic Advisor for Computer Games Technology at SSMIC and is also the lead coordinator for ProtoLaunch.

“I’m constantly being amazed by the work of our participants,” said Hammond. “They’re all so young and new to many of the concepts of game development, yet they have been consistently delivering work of exceptional quality and creativity.”

Participants in the competition are vying for some lucrative prizes. The first place team, as determined by Hammond and the ProtoLaunch competition supervisors, will receive an all expenses paid trip to Montreal in August. While there, they will tour Ubisoft’s Montreal studio – the largest video game studio in the world. Seven scholarships will also be awarded to individual participants, worth a total combined value of $12 500.

ProtoLaunch has been funded with a $461 800 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. During the school year a series of free-to-attend ProtoLaunch workshops are held featuring expert guest speakers from the gaming industry. The 2009-2010 year saw speakers from game studios such as Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Rockstar Games, Bedlam Games and Enemy Airship. When the school year ends, the five-week long game design competition begins. In addition to having the chance to win prizes, participants in the competition are paid for their time (40 hours per week) and gain a unique summer job experience. The finished games will be eventually hosted and made available to the public on the SSMIC website at www.ssmic.com.

ProtoLaunch is run in partnership with SSMIC, Algoma University, Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology, YMCA Employment and Community Services, Anishinabek Information Technology Centre (AITC) and Children’s Rehabilitation Centre – Algoma. The program has initially been funded for three years: 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

“ProtoLaunch is a trailblazing program that shows the positive results that can be achieved when local organizations work together,” said Tom Vair, executive director, SSMIC. “We’re very excited to see the finished products of these very talented and dedicated young people. The ProtoLaunch workshop series and summer competition has reinforced our belief that there is tremendous potential gaming talent in our midst here in Sault Ste. Marie and area. We’re looking forward to continuing the momentum of this exciting program and to developing the skills of our youth during ProtoLaunch’s next two years and beyond.”

To learn more about ProtoLaunch visit www.facebook.com/ProtoLaunch or contact Dwayne.Hammond@algomau.ca  

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About ProtoLaunch

ProtoLaunch is a series of hands on, industry led workshops followed by an annual game development competition targeting youth in the community who are interested in a career in video game development. Students selected to participate in the annual game development competition held in the summer months will be paid as part of an exciting summer job experience. ProtoLaunch received $461, 800 funding from The Ontario Trillium Foundation and is run in partnership with the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC), Algoma University, Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology, YMCA Employment and Community Services, Anishinabek Information Technology Centre (AITC) and the Children’s Rehabilitation Centre – Algoma.

About Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre
The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre was founded in 1999 and serves as a catalyst for growth in the IT, science and knowledge based sectors in the Algoma District. In 2009, they integrated with science enterprise Algoma (seA) and Upper Lakes Environmental Research Network (ULERN) to combine resources and accomplish their mutual goals of enhanced innovation capacity for both the IT and science sectors. The Innovation Centre works closely with community partners to enhance and improve science and IT sector opportunities.

The Innovation Centre is focused on four core areas: operating a business incubator to encourage the establishment and growth of business start-ups; providing support services to the SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) IT and science community; supporting the establishment and enhancement of advanced research projects in the region and undertaking strategic market development projects such as the highly successful GIS project.

The Innovation Centre operates an award-winning GIS department that has been recognized internationally for its unique community information utility model and advanced work in the health and human services sector.

For More Information Contact:

Mei Ling
Communications Manager
Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre
1520 Queen St. E., Rm. NW307
Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 2G4
705-942-7927, Ext. 3122
mling@ssmic.com
www.ssmic.com
www.itssm.com