ADDING MULTIMEDIA Westwood College’s Gathering of Video Game Legends Helps Students Plan Careers

Winners of 2D Game Development Competition Honored

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Westwood College (www.westwood.edu) in Anaheim, Calif. held its annual Gathering of Video Game Legends this past weekend in an effort to help future interactive entertainment leaders learn more about this cutting-edge industry. For the third consecutive year, the college brought together more than a dozen “Legends” – accomplished professionals from across the gaming industry – to share their experiences about getting started in gaming, what they’ve learned along the way, and to discuss current trends and the future of the gaming profession.

“By actually having students interact with professionals, helping them understand what it takes to get into the business in addition to obtaining their degree, is very important.”

The event provided attendees with a unique opportunity to interact one-on-one with leading professionals in the industry. “Westwood College goes out of its way to bring industry alumni together to educate future programmers, artists and designers,” said Justin Lloyd, Infinite Monkey Factory founder. “By actually having students interact with professionals, helping them understand what it takes to get into the business in addition to obtaining their degree, is very important.”

Speakers discussed several aspects of the gaming industry including:

• The influence of technology on big budget games
• The secret to making casual games successful
• The future of mobile gaming

They also offered valuable advice to attendees interested in entering the gaming industry.

More than 400 people attended the third annual event at Westwood College’s Anaheim campus. It was hosted by Westwood College’s gaming program, which offers two bachelor’s degrees in gaming: one in Game Art and the other in Game Software Development.

The full lineup of participating Legends included: Harvard Bonin, senior producer at Sony Computer Entertainment; John Cooney, head of game development, Armor Games; Noah Dudley, CCO, Realities Unlimited; Cecil Kim, lead concept artist, Sony Computer Entertainment; Giovanni Luis, manager, technical art group, Sony Computer Entertainment; Dave “Fargo” Kosak, game designer, Blizzard Entertainment; Justin Lloyd, chief evolutionary officer and founder, Infinite Monkey Factory, Daniel McNeely, team member, Armor Games; David Perry, chief executive officer, Gaikai, Inc.; John Say, founder, Say Design; Tommy Tallarico, co-founder, Video Games Live; Voldi Way, Tyrannical Overlord and founder, Way Forward.

The event also included an award ceremony honoring winners of Westwood College’s annual 2D Game Development Competition. The competition featured original 2D Adobe Flash games created by students from Westwood College’s Game Software Development and Game Art programs. Twelve games were submitted by students from campuses in Chicago, Denver, Los Angles as well as Westwood College Online, and finalists were judged by industry practitioners. Judging criteria included artwork and coding, originality, game concepts, interactivity and player experience.

The winning games and teams included:

• First Place - “Spooky Minds,” created by a team of nine students from Westwood College – Los Angeles
• Second Place - “Nuts & Volts,” created by a team of nine students from Westwood College – Denver North
• Third Place - “Save the Night,” created by a team of four students from Westwood College –Anaheim

Attending Legends also offered kudos to the winners and emphasized the importance of participating in game development contests. “This is not something you can learn on your own,” said Voldi Way, founder of Way Forward. “This is something you need the whole Westwood community to provide.”

All of the contest submissions, including the winning games, can be viewed and played on Westwood College’s website here. To view a brief video from the event, click here.

About Westwood College

Westwood College is an institution of higher learning with 17 campuses located in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Texas and Virginia. Westwood offers a hands-on, career-focused curriculum featuring three-year bachelor’s degrees in many in-demand fields. Westwood is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) and the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), depending on the campus. For more information, visit http://www.westwood.edu.

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