Imagine Cup 2006 Calls Student Gamers to Represent the UK

[Tami]

PRESS RELEASE
Imagine Cup 2006 Calls Student Gamers to Represent the UK

$15,000 of prizes up for grabs in 4th annual Imagine Cup for students who can "Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives"

Reading, Berkshire, 14th December 2005 - Microsoft? has announced the start of its fourth annual international student competition, the Imagine Cup (www.imaginecup.co.uk), the global final for which will take place in Delhi, India, during August 2006. The competition pits teams of students from across the UK and the rest of the world against each other in six invitationals, to win glory, a share of the $125,000 total prize fund and the chance to kick-start their careers.

The overarching theme for this year's competition is "Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives." And students entries need to reflect the real-world worth and applicability of their innovations. The competition takes the top young technologists from around the globe and gives them the opportunity and exposure to help solve some of the world's most challenging problems.

In Project Hoshimi - Programming Battle, students write the code representing the behaviour and the strategy of a team of characters going through different types of missions. The results are not only fun to create but also fun to watch as the programs play it out in a virtual 3D environment for all to see. Project Hoshimi uses a background story, comic style graphics, and very real challenges to test the skills of programmers everywhere and allow them to compete, directly online, with people all over their nation and eventually the world to see who has the fastest program to save the day.

Kevin McDaniel, Academic Manager, Microsoft Ltd, said "Project Hoshimi pits a student's skill, expertise, determination and flare against their peer's. It's a fast paced development competition that plays out on a virtual stage. If you think you've got what it takes to be a great developer, this is the place to show off and prove it!"

The other five categories in the Imagine Cup 2006 are Software Design, Short Film, Algorithm, IT and Interface Designer.

Students wanting to represent their country and compete in this year's Imagine Cup for an all expenses paid trip to the Delhi finals ? and the chance to be crowned World Wide champions are urged to visit the Imagine Cup website at http://www.microsoft.com/uk/academia/im ... efault.asp.

About The Imagine Cup

The Imagine Cup, now in its forth year, is a competition sponsored by Microsoft designed to provide an outlet for students to explore technological and artistic interests outside the classroom. More than 15,000 students from over 90 countries competed in last year's competition. The six different invitationals or categories that comprise this year's competition: Software Design, Algorithm, Information Technology (IT), Short Film, Interface Design and Project Hoshimi ? Programming Battle.

Further details about the competition can be found on the UK Imagine Cup portal at www.imaginecup.co.uk/ and additional details can be found on the global Imagine Cup portal at www.thespoke.net/imagine.