UW-Whitewater: Play Expo seeking game entries for April 3 event

Contact: Elena Bertozzi

(262) 472-1725

bertozze@uww.edu

WHITEWATER – Attention, gamers: Are you ready to come out and play?

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is seeking entries for its third annual Play Expo Saturday, April 3. Submissions are judged on interactive entertainment, 3D, 2D, aural, virtual, animated and creative work. The deadline for entries is midnight Monday, March 15.

“The ideal entry is a very creative, compelling piece of interactive media: a Web site, game, 2D or 3D animation or a Web video,” said Elena Bertozzi, Play Expo organizer.

The top submissions will be entered into the competition and individuals must attend the Play Expo and present their work to be eligible for $200 cash prizes. Entries must be original and cannot have been distributed commercially or sold. Individuals will be notified on March 23 if their entries have been accepted into the competition.

The cost is $10 per entry and is nonrefundable. Individuals can enter submissions online at http://playexpo.org/entryform.php, or by mail to:

Elena Bertozzi

Multimedia Digital Arts, Communication and Games

Andersen Library

800 W. Main St.

Whitewater, WI 53190

Entries must be clearly marked with contact information on the package and on all materials inside.

The competition categories include:

* Game for fun

* Game for programming

* Serious game

* Levels, mods and machinima

* Game design document

* 2D gesture

* 3D gesture

* Interactive conversation

* Sound with eyes open

* Interesting Web site

* Web video

Bertozzi, also an associate professor of media arts and game development at UW-Whitewater, said approximately 200 guests attended last year’s event, which featured 50 entries. She said this year she expects to receive submissions from throughout Wisconsin and across the Midwest.

This year’s Play Expo will feature a keynote address by Cory Barlog, the writer and director of the “God of War” game series for Sony’s PlayStation gaming systems. Scott Kohl, a producer at Raven Software in Madison, will conduct a question and answer session on how to get hired in the gaming industry.

The 2010 Play Expo is free and open to the public. The event runs from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 3, in the Hamilton Center in the James R. Connor University Center on the UW-Whitewater campus.

Sponsors include UW-Whitewater Chancellor Richard Telfer, Raven Software, Jellyvision, Film Wisconsin, Maxon Software and UW-Whitewater’s media arts and game development program.