Build a game in 48 hours – win a Kinect or Windows Phone 7

Microsoft and Rochester Institute of Technology have teamed up to bring the We <3 Games to upstate New York on the weekend of February 11 to 13.

Students will be challenged to form teams and create a game concept and storyboard for minor prizes then put to the test to build a prototype of their game over the course of a non-stop 48 hour period. Prizes up for grabs include an Xbox 360 + Kinect, a standalone Kinect and a Windows Phone 7 cellphone as well as games.

The weekend won’t all be hard work – we’ll also have Kinects and games set up for some down time and fun evening challenges (think you can sing? Let’s test that theory! Or how about dancing? We’ll have that covered too).

Here’s how it’s going to go down:

On Friday evening, we’ll introduce the weekend and talk about the games industry and cool stuff like free software and Imagine Cup, and reveal the theme for the games that will need to be developed over the weekend. Then we’ll have a game concept challenge – all you need is come up with the best, most innovative, creative or intriguing game concept with a storyboard layout to show it off and we’ll give you some cool stuff. We’ll finish off the start of the weekend with some gaming – that’s what we’re all about after all.

Saturday morning you’ll really get started – there are mostly no formal presentations or sessions – it’s a free form, game creation festival to see just what you can come up with. Sunday early afternoon we bring everyone together and award the top games.

Sounds simple, and it pretty much is – go to the registration page and get your intent to attend and compete in before the spaces fill up.

Register here: https://igm.rit.edu/imaginecup

Oh, and just to be clear – you don’t have to be a student at RIT to compete – you just need to be a student who wants to showcase their talent.