CONTRAST

A 24-Hour Game Design Jam.

Yes, a 24-hour game design competition is going to be organized in my university for the very first time. The theme is called Contrast. It is sponsored by Electronic Arts. I signed up and will start in the competition next weekend. This is to me more of a platform for getting some exposures in the industry as well as socializing with people with the same wavelength. Haha!

I am particularly impressed by the top two judges of the competition. I looked through their profiles and in awe of their experience!

Judge A
She has worked in a variety of companies, ranging from 3D graphics research in Institute of Systems Science, Singapore to building air traffic controller systems for MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates in Canada. Also, she was with Electronic Arts Canada on developing games such as FIFA and NBA and Reboot on different consoles. Before joining Lucasfilm Animation, she lectured at the Nanyang Polytechnic on games design and development. When she was with NYP, she was also the games group head as well as the business manager for the Games Creation Community in Singapore.

Judge B
He has been in the US game industry since 1999, working for Interplay Entertainment's reknowned Black Isle Studios as a programmer on the Icewind Dale series, and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 for the PS2 and Xbox. He joined Pandemic Studios on the Mercenaries team and shipped the million selling title before returning to Singapore to start Cabal Entertainment Software with partners in the US.

With people who had worked in Electronic Arts and Interplay before being your judges, you have to be damn proud if you achieve something in this competition!

Wish me luck people! I hope I have fun! During the competition, I heard you can view from the website the LIVE updates of the teams in the computer lab. We are not allowed to leave the room in the 24-hour competition.

On another news:

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said the attitude of neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia towards Singapore was shaped by the way they treat their own ethnic Chinese minorities.

"Our neighbours both have problems with their Chinese. They are successful. They are hardworking and therefore they are systemically marginalised," he said.

Indonesia and Malaysia "want Singapore, to put it simply, to be like their Chinese -- compliant", Lee said.