Welcome to the
US Game Design Invitational (Viewer's Choice)
Competition Timeline
Round 1 |
Round 1 of this Contest begins at 12:01 AM Pacific Time (PT) on September 1, 2007, and ends at 11:59 PM PT on February 1, 2008 (“Round 1 Entry Period”). |
Round 2 |
Round 2 of this Contest begins at 12:01 AM PT on February 15, 2008 and ends at 11:59 PM PT on March 16, 2008 (“Round 2 Entry Period”). |
Public Voting Period (Viewer's Choice) |
The Public Voting Period begins at 12:01 AM PT on March 23, 2008, and ends at 11:59 PM PT on April 4, 2008 (“Public Voting Period”). |
At the conclusion of the Entry Period, all eligible entries received will be reviewed by a panel (or panels) of qualified judges based on the judging criteria set forth below to determine the top twenty (20) entries (each, a “Finalist”).
Finalist Judging Criteria
- 25% Fun Factor: Creativity and technical uniqueness
- 25% Theme Adherence: The game incorporates the Imagine Cup 2008 theme
- 25% Innovation: Intensity, excitement, and entertainment attributes
- 25% Production Quality: Completeness and polish of design, functionality, and thematic execution
Rounds
Round 1 - Qualifying
At the conclusion of the Round 1 Entry Period, all eligible entries received will be reviewed by a panel (or panels) of qualified judges based on the judging criteria set forth below to determine the top thirty (30) entries (each, a “Semi-Finalist”).
Round 1 - Judging Criteria
- 25% Fun Factor: Creativity and technical uniqueness
- 25% Theme Adherence: The game incorporates the Imagine Cup 2008 theme
- 25% Innovation: Intensity, excitement, and entertainment attributes
- 25% Production Quality: Completeness and polish of design, functionality, and thematic execution
Round 2
At the conclusion of the Round 2 Entry Period, all eligible entries received will be reviewed by a panel (or panels) of qualified judges based on the judging criteria set forth below to determine the top twenty (20) entries (each, a “Finalist”) based upon the Judging Criteria described below.
Round 2 - Judging Criteria
- 25% Fun Factor: Creativity and technical uniqueness
- 25% Theme Adherence: The game incorporates the Imagine Cup 2008 theme
- 25% Innovation: Intensity, excitement, and entertainment attributes
- 25% Production Quality: Completeness and polish of design, functionality, and thematic execution
Round 1, 2 and 3 Content and Technical Requirements
To be eligible for this Contest, your entry must meet the following content and technical requirements.
- The game portion of your entry may be localized in any language; however, the supporting materials (i.e., Game Design Summary, Gameplay Instructions, Game Development Plan, Storyboards,etc.) must be presented in English.
- The game portion of your entry must be created using:
- XNA Game Studio Express
- Visual C# language
- Microsoft Visual Studio Express
- The content of the game portion of your entry must be equivalent to an ESRB rating of “T” for “Teen” (see www.esrb.org for rating details).
- The code and content of the game portion of your entry can be built using XNA Game Studio Express for play on either the Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista or Xbox 360* platforms.
- The game portion of your entry must be in the .ccgame package file format and must not exceed a maximum filesize of 200MB. Do not include your source code with the .ccgame package.
- All screenshots submitted as part of your entry must be in the .jpeg file format.
- Any Gameplay Instructions submitted as part of your entry must be included within the game either on the game screen or in a Readme file.
- Supporting materials (i.e., Game Design Summary, Gameplay Instructions, Game Development Plan, Storyboards,etc.) submitted as part of your entry must not exceed a combined total file size of 2MB.
- Your entry, including all required supporting
materials (i.e., Game Design Summary, Gameplay Instructions,
Game Development Plan, Storyboards,etc.)) must be submitted in
the .zip file format
*Building games for Xbox 360 requires access to an active subscription to the XNA Creators Club. Game applications for the Xbox 360 platform must conform to the XNA Creators Club Service Terms of Use.
Public Voting Period
The Finalists’ entries will be presented online for public voting at www.imaginecup.com (the “Site”) beginning at approximately 12:01 AM PT on March 23, 2008, and ends at approximately 11:59 PM PT on April 4, 2008 (the “Public Voting Term”). Throughout the Public Voting Term, registered visitors to the Site minimally 18 years of age will have the opportunity to visit the Contest Gallery and “vote” for an entry by clicking on the “vote” button (a click on the “vote” button will be tracked by the Site as a “vote” for that specific entry). Limit three (3) votes per visitor during the Public Voting Term. Public vote totals will assist, but not control in determining one (1) United States Grand Prize Winner.
Grand Prize Winner Judging Criteria
- 55% Judge’s Scores based on application of Finalist Judging Criteria
- 45% Public Voting
All decisions of the Contest Judges are final and binding. If we do not receive a sufficient number of entries meeting the entry requirements, we may, at our discretion based on the above Judging Criteria, select fewer than the number of winner stated. In the event of a tie between any eligible entries, the tie will be broken by an additional judge who will the judge the tied entries based on the criteria listed above.
Grand Prize Winner Judging Criteria
Up to twenty (20) of the top entries will be judged based on the following criteria:
- 55% Judge’s Scores Round 2
- 45% Public Voting
All decisions of the Contest Judges are final and binding. If we do not receive a sufficient number of entries meeting the entry requirements, we may, at our discretion based on the above Judging Criteria, select fewer than the number of winner stated. In the event of a tie between any eligible entries, the tie will be broken by an additional judge who will the judge the tied entries based on the criteria listed above.