Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Education Game Development Contest for Collegiate Programmers

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the edutainment-beyond-bdp dept.

Stealthgirl writes "Check out Hidden Agenda, a game development contest with a twist. College students are challenged to build entertaining games that 'secretly' teach middle school subjects. The contest focuses on 'stealth education' in gaming, pushing students to create primarily entertaining games that also teach topics such as forces, statistics, or the solar system. Students have complete freedom in their game designs. They can work in teams of up to 8 people, build games on and for any platform, and use existing engines. Games will be judged in May, with 5 finalist teams flying to Austin to present in front of game legends such as Richard Garriott for their final shot at the $25,000 prize. While all submitted games must fulfill teaching requirements to be considered, final judging is based on 70% entertainment and 30% educational value."

20 comments

  1. Read the fine print. by ScorpiusFan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hmmm. I think if you do manage to get a college-level team to come up with an excellent "stealth-education" game or prototype, the team would do better off marketing the game themselves.

    Note in exchange for $25,000 that in the fine print:

    3. OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES:
    AS A CONDITION OF ENTERING THE CONTEST, AND TO THE EXTENT LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE, ALL ENTRY FORMS, GAME ENTRIES, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE CONTENT, AND ALL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS THEREIN WILL BE OWNED EXCLUSIVELY BY THE FOUNDATION. EACH ENTRANT WILL BE REQUIRED TO ASSIGN ALL OWNERSHIP OF A GAME IDEA AND THE GAME ENTRY, AND ALL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN THAT GAME IDEA AND GAME ENTRY, TO THE FOUNDATION IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST.

    IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE WORK ON YOUR GAME IDEA AFTER THE CONTEST, OR WANT OR HOPE TO SELL IT TO A THIRD PARTY SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, DO NOT ENTER YOUR GAME IDEA INTO THIS CONTEST."

    This means the foundation will own _all_ of the game entries, and can take any of the gaming prototypes and use them as they see fit. Sounds like they win and everyone else loses for a mere $25,000.

    This could be the main reason why this contest is not open to non-college students, such as unemployed game developers. Perhaps it's easier to exploit the enthusiasm of college kids who may not have any idea how much money their fresh ideas could be worth.

    1. Re:Read the fine print. by tessaiga · · Score: 1

      Heh, guess cynics think alike :) I'm of the opinion that it might not necessarily suck for the winners (after all, you get the money in return for not having to do marketing/support/etc) but it definitely bites for everyone else.

      Slightly off-topic, but how did you get the /. filters not to flip out over all the caps in the contest rules? I had to retype them before it'd go through.

      --
      The bold print giveth, and the fine print taketh away ...
    2. Re:Read the fine print. by ScorpiusFan · · Score: 1

      Off topic:

      I think I selected the text with my browser (I'm using IE under WinXP), then did a CTRL-INSERT to copy it and SHIFT-INSERT to paste it into my message, in which the default setting was HTML Formatted. Let me try it again:

      3. OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES:
      AS A CONDITION OF ENTERING THE CONTEST, AND TO ...

      Yep, worked like a charm. I wasn't trying to bypass the filters. And, this is is the text's original format. I was also able to type in CAPS with no problem, as you can see here.

      I wonder if text format is important to maintain in order to avoid plagerism?

    3. Re:Read the fine print. by Phleg · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, what college student is likely to even have his game noticed by a possible publisher? Not very likely. I'm sure the $25,000 and the recognition of having developed the game are far better than what you would be able to get doing it on your own.

      This is exactly why they're targeting college students. These guys have no other way to get into the business, and the simple opportunity to have your game published and have credit for the original design going to you is a significant step in getting there. Hell, I'll bet it would be worth it without the $25,000.

      --
      No comment.
    4. Re:Read the fine print. by Felgerkarb · · Score: 1

      While I understand that the idea of signing away your rights to your IP is anathema to supporters of OpenSource, I think this situation is unique in some respects:

      1. The only way to get a sponsor to put up $25K, when they could be doing a lot of other things with their money, is with a guarantee to the IP rights of what they eventually develop...

      2. The only way to get a group of college students to try and create a project, when they could be doing a lot other things with their time, is to put up $25K. I agree in the ideal world, those with skill and good will would contribute to a group/distributed project under an OpenSource kind of model, but, truthfully, I don't think most college students are the most passionate advocates of OpenSource (though I could be wrong about that...)

      3. Finally, I think that the people that make gobs and gobs of money in the game industry make it from publication and distribution. I don't think most people who come up with the 'idea' for the game are the ones cashing out. Unless you have a super great idea, and the resources and money to publish and distribute it yourself, you would probably be selling off your rights to your game in any case...

      my $0.02.

  2. Ownership by tessaiga · · Score: 2, Insightful
    From the Sponsoring A Contest As Game Development department:
    Each entrant will be required to assign all ownership of a game idea and the game entry, and all intellectual property rights in that game idea and game entry, to the Foundation in order to be eligible for participation in the contest.

    If you want to continue work on your game idea after the contest, or want or hope to sell it to a third party sometime in the future, do not enter your game idea into this contest.

    $25,000 as an R&D/development cost in return for a large bunch of new games is a pretty good deal for the organizers. It's not as good a deal for the participants, particularly for the vast majority who won't win, and yet have signed away all rights to their game. In the interests of fairness, contests like this really should only be allowed to take your game publishing rights if you're a winner.

    (Retyping the rules by hand was fun. Why does Slashdot have an ALL CAPS checker and not a spellchecker?)

    --
    The bold print giveth, and the fine print taketh away ...
  3. Still not a bad deal... by Stealthgirl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you're a college student who is sure your idea is worth zillions, don't enter. But chances are, it's not. This contest is still a good deal for college students because

    A) $25K is still the most a college game dev contest has ever offered
    B) They get to present their ideas to top gamers like Garriott (and they are adding more)
    C) They even might be able to get college credit for it.
    D) Their final entry will probably be a great addition to their resume and help them get a job when they graduate.
    E) it's put on by a nonprofit educational foundation -- they aren't exactly out to screw college students.

    1. Re:Still not a bad deal... by ScorpiusFan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Those are good points, but keep in mind that $25,000 would be split between the team members, and with three or four people that average $7,000 each before taxes.

      Also, there is no guarantee that Garriott will judge the entries. He's on as a board member/sponsor, and he may even be receiving a fee for having his name associated with the contest. He's no stranger to advertising, as I saw him in a magazine Merryl Lynch ad a few years ago, right before Ulitma 9 was released.

      I think a better plan for the college teams is to build their game prototype, get a copyright on their materials or ideas, and then pitch the game to publishers, distributors, and educators.

      They could even sell the game themselves to a local system, and use that success to attract the attention of a major publisher. Marketing a game on your own is difficult, but it's not impossible, especially if it's a quality product.

      The $25,000 price can still stand, but I think the authors should get some type of royalty if their game content is used to make a professional product, which appears to be the goal of this foundation. The same royalty arrangement should be available to all entrants, regardless if their game wins or not.

      Also, if this nonprofit foundation decides to disband, who would retain ownership of the game content? I don't think the students would automatically get their ownership back, which means someone could still profit from their ideas.

  4. How about.... by evilty · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about games that teach people to think constructively rather than trying to accommodate the standardized curriculum of memorizing crap that state and local governments institute in schools? From what I've seen of "educational" games the developers are always having to stretch themselves to try and incorporate the mundaneness of multiplication tables or historical facts and figures. I would see games which explore the process of learning and open peoples minds to the ideas which have shaped our society as much more valuable than 70% entertainment 30% boring. After all, what do we walk away from middle school with more than a broad understanding of a few topics and a general feeling of dislike for the institution we attended.

    I guess something is better than nothing, at least some people are considering games as proper educational tools where you don't have to be bored to death to learn about a few good ideas.

    1. Re:How about.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, I learned about Saladin and El Cide from AoE II, so it can be sort of educational.

    2. Re:How about.... by pkhuong · · Score: 1

      Zork?

      --
      Try Corewar @ www.koth.org - rec.games.corewar
  5. winning entry for biology/physics by Hubert_Shrump · · Score: 2, Funny

    WHAT is your name...
    WHAT is your quest...

    --
    Keep your packets off my GNU/Girlfriend!
  6. Typing of the dead ... by Bazouel · · Score: 1

    There was a game based on House of the Dead that was released a while ago. To kill zombies, you needed to type words written on them. The end result is that you have no choice but to learn how to touch type :)

    Type of the dead

    --
    Intelligence shared is intelligence squared.
    1. Re:Typing of the dead ... by tessaiga · · Score: 1
      PopCap Games has a free online shark-hunting game ("Typer Shark") based on the same premise. It was actually pretty fun for a while even though I already knew how to touch type.

      Of course, none of these types of games are particularly innovative since Mavis Beacon has been doing this since at least the 80's.

      --
      The bold print giveth, and the fine print taketh away ...
  7. "stealth education" edutainment? by mcmonkey · · Score: 1

    "I am perturbed by the way puppets are portrayed in your program. And in your position of prominence, you need to penetrate and personify proper puppet power! Perhaps you need to ask yourself what is edutaining? Is it fleshy propaganda? And then you need to answer yourself, yes! Keep the boat afloat!"

  8. Am i the only one who thinks by lidocaineus · · Score: 1

    that Richard Garriott is a complete tool? Now I fully credit him with creating a great set of games, however the extent as to which he BELIEVES himself to really be Lord British borders on psychotic. And my god, couldn't he have at least picked a better name? Lord British sounds like something an idiot would come up with to sound old, royal, gothic, regal, and middle agean. It's like if someone from the UK made a cowboy shooting game and named the main character "Cowboy American".

    If anyone has a link to that story where all those brits look at him like a complete fool as he struts around overseas trying to portray lord british, i'd love to see it.

  9. Street Smarts by Black+Mage+Balthazar · · Score: 1
    I totally agree. Too many people today lack street smarts, the ability to judge a situation and act accordingly. My main example: the bus.

    I ride public transit everywhere I go, and the average bus rider has almost no idea where they are going. I am often helping people out to get where they want to go.

    On the other hand: I found out that one of the cashiers at work can't do 8+5 without a calculator. So fundamentals such as math and spelling are still important.

    Mind you, skills like that are taught in elementary school, while these programs are made for the middle school level.

  10. I was seriously pondering entry by PktLoss · · Score: 1

    I was really thinking about entering this, I have a friend quite interested in game programming (It is what he would like to do after he graduates), and I am always looking for ways to push myself.

    Unfortunatly, Giving away software that wont win, but will have some good ideas doesnt sound like an all star plan.

    That and I am Canadian, so no entry for me.

    :

    --
    paul reinheimer
  11. Super Mario Bros 3 Superplay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.emptylogic.com/suprnova/torrents/299/sm b3.torrent Bittorrent file for an amazing video of Super Mario Bros 3. It's pretty sweet, I'm spreading the .torrent link everywhere that I can.

  12. Hidden Agenda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    From http://www.hiddenagenda.com/Sections/411/Technical _req.html

    The Hidden Agenda team reserves the right to build your game for a platform other than the one for which you designed your game. We also reserve the right to, or not to distribute and/or sell your game through whatever distribution channel or method we see fit.


    I guess they are called hidden agenda for a reason...