Sault Ste. Marie and surrounding area has six new up-and-coming video game studios to watch out for. Steel Rush Studios, Fear Da Cow Studios, Toad Shade Studios, Kwest Studios, Turbo Sloth Studios, Ace of Flaming Tree Hill Studios all showcased their video games today as part of the ProtoLaunch summer competition hosted by the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC). Each studio is made up of four local high school students who act as game designer, art director, programmer and more. All 24 students competed in a five week video game design competition where they worked in teams to conceive, design and program a fully-playable original game. The competition concluded today at Algoma University with presentations, live demonstrations of the games and an awards ceremony. The finished games will be hosted shortly and available to the public on the SSMIC website at www.ssmic.com.

Ace of Flaming Tree Hill Studios made up of Jordan Allard, Kang Wang, Matthew Lowe and Joshua Collins won the ProtoLaunch title and the grand prize for their game Prism Break. The premise of Prism Break is involves trying to escape from Prism (prison) by manipulating the forces of gravity to destroy guards and use their body parts to solve puzzles. In addition to the title, all members of the winning team will receive an all expenses paid trip to Montreal in August where they will tour Ubisoft, the largest video game studio in the world.

“Congratulations to Jordan Allard, Kang Wang, Matthew Lowe and Joshua Collins for winning the first ever ProtoLaunch summer competition title,” said Dwayne Hammond, strategic advisor for computer games technology, SSMIC and director of ProtoLaunch. “We were truly impressed by the high calibre of work by all of the ProtoLaunch participants. The judges certainly did not have an easy time deliberating due to the quality of all of the games. All ProtoLaunch participants worked incredibly hard during the summer competition and should be proud of what they accomplished. Any of these students who would like to pursue a career in video games certainly has the capacity and we hope that this experience gives them an added edge.”

Achievement scholarships of $1500 each were awarded to:
• Joshua Cappelli -Top Rookie award
• Teddy Leger
• Will Lannigan
• Joshua Collins

Dr. Richard Myers, president of Algoma University presented Algoma University scholarships of $2000 each to:
• Samantha Luck – Top Artist award (co-winner)
• Matthew Lowe – Top Artist award (co-winner)
• Joshua Collins – Top Designer award
• Jordan Allard – Top Programmer award

“We are extremely excited by the potential of all of this year’s ProtoLaunch participants. Not only do they continue to impress us and exceed our expectations, but they have blown away industry leaders such as Ben Mattes from Ubisoft with their knowledge and ability to grasp often complex video game concepts,” said Tom Vair, executive director, SSMIC. “We congratulate all of the ProtoLaunch summer participants for their work and we’re looking forward to seeing what local high school students will come up in the following two years.”

ProtoLaunch is funded with a $461 800 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. During the school year a series of free 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, Flashbang Studios, Bedlam Games and Enemy Airship. When the school year ends, the five-week 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.

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.

The new ProtoLaunch season will be kicking off in October 2010. High school students interested in participating should contact Dwayne Hammond: Dwayne.hammond@algomau.ca or 942-7927 ext. 3186 or join the ProtoLaunch Facebook Fanpage: www.facebook.com/ProtoLaunch

About the Games:

Pop Can Bob - Steel Rush Studios
Help Bob save the party by directing him through downtown, fighting killer pop-cans and a crazy ex-girlfriend, to the store for lemonade.

- Matthew Doherty
- Alexander Pelletier
- Megan Reid
- Joshua Cappelli
- Ozy Flamard

Cyborg Soldier – Fear Da Cow Studios
A futuristic 1st-person shooter where you assemble ally robots from parts of fallen machinery in an effort to inflitrate and destroy the evil alien civilization.
- Ian Graham
- Cody Moreau
- Brian Irvine
- Marc Tremblay

Goblos – Toad Shade Studios
Navigate a maze while being hunted in an effort to rescue your friends lost inside.
- Andy Payette
- Will Lannigan
- Corey Chambers

Nakama – Kwest Studios
Navigate a parallel world with the help of your animal friends in search of the path which will take you home.
- Johnathan Townsend
- Matea David-Steel
- Samantha Luck
- Noah Aslett

Infected – Turbo Sloth Studios
A fast-paced and unique blend of puzzle and action.
- Brent Seaton
- Gavin Orchard
- Daniel Imre
- Teddy Leger

Prism Break – Ace of Flaming Tree Hill Studios
Escape Prism (prison) by manipulating the forces of gravity to destroy guards and using their body parts to solve puzzles.
- Jordan Allard
- Kang Wang
- Matthew Lowe
- Joshua Collins

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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